The idea that most of the Muslims of northern Arakan were either recent illegal arrivals, or at best Britsh-era immigrants, was accepted without question. Few if any in the rest of Burma had ever heard the term “Rohingya” before. The British had not used the term, and neither had the military regime. Many Burmese saw the name as part of a drive to force acceptance of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh not only as Burmese citizens but as taing-yintha, an indigenous race.
