Conversation so far:
what were the precipitating events involving the rohingya people?
the Myanmar military began arming and training Rakhine Buddhist natives in northern Rakhine state, and.
why were they arming them?
in late summer advised that any ethnic Rakhines "wishing to protect their state" would be given the opportunity to join "the local armed police..

Question: who were they protecting their state from?
Self-contained rewrite: Who were the Rakhines protecting their state from?