Area of operations Rakhine State | Strength 800–2,500 | |
Active 1972 (1972)–1974 (1974) Ideology Rohingya nationalism
Islamism Leaders Zaffar Kawal
Abdul Latif
Muhammad Jafar Habib Headquarters Buthidaung, Rakhine State | ||
The Rohingya Liberation Party (abbreviated RLP) was a Rohingya insurgent group in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). The group consisted of Rohingya fighters led by former mujahideen leader Zaffar Kawal.
History
On 15 July 1972, mujahideen leader Zaffar Kawal 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 up to 2,500 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.