About Rasa Boks
Rasa Books is a multilingual Rohingya publishing house that brings valuable stories and voices of silenced and marginalized writers and thinkers to inform the world about the ongoing annihilation of the Indigenous Rohingya and the military oppression of many others in Myanmar. We print groundbreaking titles in Rohingya, Burmese and English, promoting imagination, knowledge, social and environmental awareness, and respect for humanity and the planet.
Rasa, originally a Sanskrit term meaning “essence,” is ironically equivalent in Rohingya and Burmese. The concept of “Rasa” was widely popular in medieval poetry and literature in Arakan and is still phenomenal in Burmese literature.
The Rohingya are an Indigenous people of Arakan, presently known as Rakhine State in Myanmar. Because of their distinct ethnicity and religious identity, the Myanmar government has refused to recognize them as one of the country’s official ethnic groups, instead labeling them as “Bengali” or “illegal immigrants.” Successive governments, including the military regime, have pursued policies that amount to genocide, including stripping the Rohingya of citizenship, subjecting them to violence and ethnic cleansing, and systematically suppressing their history, language, and cultural identity. For decades, the Burmese authorities have advanced a deliberate campaign of cultural erasure aimed at denying the Rohingya’s existence, even excluding the term “Rohingya” from Burmese history and literature. To oppress a people is to suppress their voice and stories.
In this context, the preservation and promotion of Rohingya literature, history, and cultural identity are vital to enabling the Indigenous Rohingya to affirm their fundamental rights, citizenship, and legitimacy, and to maintain their way of life both in Myanmar and across the diaspora. In response to this continuing cultural erasure of the community, we established “Rasa Books” in Ottawa in 2026.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the rich “essence” of Rohingya literature, language, history and cultural identity, while asserting the fundamental rights, citizenship and legitimacy of the Indigenous Rohingya in Myanmar. We aim to encourage the production and presentation of literary arts – fiction, poetry, history, biography, cultural and children education books – that reflect Rohingya and Burmese experiences, cultural values, traditions and histories.