Maung Zarni

Maung Zarni (Burmese: မောင်ဇာနည်; born 1963) is a Burmese educator, academic, and human rights activist.[1][2] He is noted for his opposition to the violence in Rakhine State and Rohingya refugee crisis.[3]

In this Burmese name, Maung is an honorific, not a surname.
Maung Zarni
မောင်ဇာနည်
Born
Zarni

1963 (age 56–57)
Mandalay, Burma
Alma materUniversity of Mandalay (1984)
University of California, Davis (1991)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (1998)
OccupationHuman rights activist
Spouse(s)Natalie Brinham
ChildrenNilah Zarni
Websitemaungzarni.net

Early life and education

Zarni was born in 1963 into a Burmese Buddhist family in Mandalay, Burma. He migrated to the United States on the eve of Burma’s 1988 uprisings. He graduated with a BSc (Chemistry) from University of Mandalay in 1984, MA from University of California, Davis in 1991, and earned his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998.[4]

Career

Zarni founded and led the Free Burma Coalition, the then pioneering Internet-based human rights movement and spearheaded a successful international boycott against Myanmar’s military dictatorship from 1995 to 2004. Zarni has held a series of academic positions, or research and leadership fellowships, including at the London School of Economics' Human Security Research Unit.[5] He resigned from an academic post at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam in 2013, citing academic censorship.[5]

Zarni is a member of the board of advisors of Genocide Watch and a non-resident fellow at Genocide Documentation Center in Sleuk Rith Institute, Cambodia.[6] He served as a member of the Panel of Judges for the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) in Sri Lanka in 2013 and initiated the PPT in Myanmar in 2017, which found the Government of Myanmar guilty of genocide against Rohingyas.

In 2014, Zarni co-authored an academic paper, "The Slow Burning Genocide of Myanmar's Rohingyas", with Alice Cowley, an academic study that examines the plight of the Rohingya using the genocide framework.[7] In 2015, he was awarded the "Cultivation of Harmony Award," by the Parliament of the World's Religions, an international interfaith dialogue.[8]

Personal life

Zarni is married to Natalie Brinham, an English researcher,[9] and has a daughter, Nilah.[10]

Books
  • Myanmar’s Enemy of the State speaks: Irreverent Essays and Interviews (2019)
  • The Free Burma Coalition Manual: How You Can Help Burma's Struggle for Freedom (1997)

References
  1. "Maung Zarni: Myanmar feels like a big cage for Rohingyas". Dhaka Tribune. 19 February 2018.
  2. "Maung Zarni". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  3. Tanaka, Chisato (25 October 2018). "Activist for Rohingya Muslims calls on Tokyo to speak out over refugee crisis". The Japan Times Online.
  4. Rahman Khan, Mizanur (11 October 2017). "'Don't be swayed by Suu Kyi's poisonous snakes'". Prothom Alo.
  5. Tin Htwe, Nan (14 January 2013). "Myanmar activist, professor resigns over Brunei university 'censorship'". The Myanmar Times.
  6. "Broader global coalition can solve Rohingya issue". Anadolu Agency. 9 December 2018.
  7. Zarni, Maung; Cowley, Alice (2014-06-01). "The slow-burning genocide of Myanmar's Rohingya". Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  8. Parliament of the World's Religions (2016-12-07), Cultivation of Harmony Award - Dr. Zarni, retrieved 2017-09-08
  9. "BURMA: "Rohingyas utsätts för ett långsamt folkmord"". AmnestyPress (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  10. Gindin, Matthew (2017-11-27). "Voices from Inside the Rohingya Refugee Camps". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
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