During World War II in Burma (present-day Myanmar), Rohingya Muslims, who were allied with the British and promised a Muslim state in return, fought against local Rakhine Buddhists, who were allied with the Japanese. Following independence in 1948, the newly formed union government of the predominantly Buddhist country denied citizenship to the Rohingyas, subjecting them to extensive systematic discrimination in the country. This has widely been compared to apartheid[44][45][46][47] by many international academics, analysts, and political figures, including Desmond Tutu, a famous South African anti-apartheid activist.[48]