Rohingya Liberation Party
Rohingya Liberation Party | |
---|---|
Participant in the Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar | |
Active | 1972 | –1974
Ideology |
Rohingya nationalism Islamism |
Leaders |
Zaffar Kawal[1] Abdul Latif Muhammad Jafar Habib |
Headquarters | Buthidaung, Rakhine State |
Area of operations | Rakhine State, Myanmar |
Strength | 800–2500[1] |
Became | Rohingya Patriotic Front |
Opponents | Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma |
Battles and wars |
The Rohingya Liberation Party ( abbreviated RLP) was an Islamist insurgent group in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). The group consisted of Rohingya fighters led by former Mujahideen leader Zaffar.[1]
History
During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, weapons were smuggled across the border into northern Rakhine State. On 15 July 1972, Mujahideen leader Zaffar founded the Rohingya Liberation Party (RLP), after mobilising various Mujahideen factions under his command. Zaffar appointed himself Chairman of the party, Abdul Latif as Vice Chairman and Minister of Military Affairs, and Muhammad Jafar Habib as the Secretary General, a graduate from the University of Yangon. Their strength increased from 200 fighters in the beginning to 500 by 1974. The RLP was largely based in the jungles of Buthidaung. After a massive military operation by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) in July 1974, Zaffar and most of his men fled across the border into Bangladesh.[1]