community, as they became fresh victims of escalating conflicts in the region. The AA, as reflected in the views of its leader (who is also commander in chief of the AA), Twan Mrat Naing, promulgates the idea of establishing an autonomous federal Rakhine State governed by the indigenous ethnic Rakhine people. In 2017, he made an emotional appeal for freedom and sovereignty for its own ethnic community. In his appeal to people, he stated that the freedom of the land of the Arakan is deeply enshrined in the hearts of all Arakanese. He proclaimed, "Every Arakanese carries a dream in their hearts that one day they will become free citizens of our fatherland. The land of Arakan belongs to us." In theory, this doctrine is also supported by a belief called ‘way of Rakhita’ that envisages unity among various ethnic groups to fulfill this dream. However, in reality, this so-called inclusive doctrine that allows people of Rakhine to fight irrespective of one's ethnicity and religious identity completely fails to integrate the Rohingya ethnic minority of the region. It is extremely important to mention that, irrespective of huge claims, the group in its operations against the Myanmar military has also inflicted tremendous atrocities on the ethnic Rohingyas. The AA have burnt down the entire neighborhood of Rohingya community in Buthidaung and Maungdaw township and have displaced hundred of thousands of Rohingya community from their ancestral lands and have severely restricted the movement of the Rohingya community from one village to another village, started money extortion in the name of taxes and seizing people produce especially from the farmers. The AA have disconnected the Rohingya community from the rest of the world living in Rakhine State, Myanmar by confiscating the Bangladeshi sim used by the Rohingya community to communicate with their relatives abroad. The AA further confiscated the land of the Rohingya community including the cemetery used by Rohingya for generations to bury their dead bodies. The AA, very similar to the Myanmar military’s approach, rejects the Rohingyas as ethnic minorities in Myanmar and treats the community as Bengalis and outsiders. On the one hand, we see that the AA proposes that the oppression of Arakan’s minority groups and discrimination based on religion and race are unacceptable and will not be tolerated, however, the very same group has also perpetrated unimaginable violence on an ethnic minority community. From 2019-2024, the clashes between the AA and Myanmar’s military killed countless and displaced thousands of their families. For instance, during intensified fighting in northern Rakhine, the community faced immense threats from the group that forced them to vacate from townships like 9