How a former Myanmar military man, who converted to Islam & married a Rohingya woman, escaped from Tula Toli. Podcast with Mabia, his widow

The carnage that took place in Tula Toli in Myanmar on 30 August 2017 has produced some remarkable stories of survival and defiance. One of these is the story of Nojumu Islam. Born in Yangon, he was a military man and lived with his Rakhine wife in Wut Kyein near Tula Toli . He converted to Islam out of his own volition in 2002, and two years later, whilst at a Muslim gathering in Tula Toli was introduced to Mabia, a Rohingya woman, by a moulvi.

His story is remarkable not just because he was a Bamar who converted to Islam and married a Rohingya woman but also because of the attempt to reconvert him to Buddhism by the security forces operating in Tula Toli. His escape from their clutches is also nothing short of epic.

During the clearance operations launched by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) in August 2017, Tula Toli was razed to the ground and hundreds of Rohingya were massacred. Significantly, even the Burmese government now accepts that there were very high numbers of deaths in Tula Toli. Three days before the massacre, Nojumu was lifted by members of the BGP ( Burmese border force) from his home and forcibly taken to the BGP barracks near the Rakhine hamlet of Tula Toli. Nojumu himself explained, when he was still alive, that the reason for apprehending him was an attempt to get him to turn his back on Islam and return to his original faith, Buddhism. It was clear that the BGP knew what was about to befall Tula Toli, and so they snatched him for his protection and for his reconversion.

According to Mabia, Nojumu was incarcerated for one month and three days. The story of their reunion in the refugee camps of Bangladesh, after one month and nine days, is extraordinary. Nojumu escaped his captivity when his guards left him to attend the Dool Poornimar religious festival. He crossed the Purma river, near Dokhin Fara ( the hamlet closest to the BGP barracks) and made for an Ahmaddiya Madrassah in Sadullah char (picture below)

Myanmar border guards, the BGP, spotted him. They called out to him and when he failed to stop they fired six rounds. Nojumu was unhurt and managed to make his way to Maungdaw town. His intention was to withdraw some money as he received a military pension.

Whilst in Maungdaw he unexpectedly met his adult son ( from his first wife). Nojumu informed him that his objective was to go to Yangon. The son asked Nojumu if he needed money and then offered to go and get some. Whilst his son was gone, Nojumu had some concerns. He feared that he would be taken back to the BGP barracks. He did not wait for his son’s return and instead headed for the border. He crossed the channel into Bangladesh at Shaporir Deep, the obvious crossing point from Maungdaw.

Once in Bangladesh, the BGB ( Border Guard Bangladesh) apprehended him. His appearance suggested to them that he was Rakhine, and they wondered why he was crossing into Bangladesh. In detention, he was able to phone Mabia’s sister in Malaysia. He convinced the BGB that he was married to a Rohingya woman and that she was in the camps with their children having escaped mass slaugther. And that he could prove his connection to her if they allowed him to make a phone call. Fortunately they permitted him to do this using a BGB mobile phone. Nojumu had memorised the sister’s number and got through to her. She in turn alerted Mabia of Nojumu’s presence in Bangladesh. Mabia immediately went to Teknaf and got him released.

He died on 11 August 2018 with tuberculosis. His time in Bangladesh was not a happy one, and he suffered from various ailments including an injury he sustained in captivity. In this podcast, Mabia, the woman he was married to for 16 years, remembers her husband.

Interview: Noor Hossain Production: Mojaffor Ahmed Text: Shafiur Rahman

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