Communal violence in Rakhine, Myanmar

Galaxy

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Distrust Feeds Myanmar Muslim Hatred

Wednesday, 06 June 2012

NAYPYIDAW – The grisly killing of several Muslim passengers by Buddhist vigilantes is reflecting a growing anti-Muslim hostility in Myanmar and a pervasive discrimination of the sizable minority.

"The daily relationship with Buddhists is good as long as you know your limited ground and do not cross it," Ko Aung Aung, of the exiled Burmese Muslim Association (BMA), told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, June 6.

For the majority of people "any crime is a crime", but when a Muslim is suspected "it could be a good reason to riot against them."

At least nine Muslim passengers were killed Sunday after Buddhist vigilantes attacked their bus western state of Rakhine.

The attack followed the rape and murder of a woman in the state, which borders Bangladesh, for which three Muslim men have been detained.

"These innocent people have been killed like animals," said Abu Tahay, of the National Democratic Party for Development, which represents the country's much-persecuted stateless Muslim Rohingya community.

"If the police cannot control the situation, maybe the (unrest) is going to spread."

But Muslim groups see the anti-Muslim violence as the most visible expression of a pervasive discrimination.

"Riots are always possible at any place and any time. So we must be very careful," said Ko Aung Aung, who fled Myanmar in 2004 fearing for his safety because of his activism.

Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, has a Muslim population of around 100,000 and dozens of mosques.

But a Muslim leader in the town, who asked not to be named, told AFP there was "no religious freedom".

He added that authorities rarely granted permission for new mosques to be built, or repairs to be carried out.

Muslims make up nearly five percent of Myanmar's more than 53 million population.

The largest group of Myanmar Muslims is the ethnic-Bengali minority, generally known as the Rohingyas, who mainly live in the western state of Rakhine.

Less numbered are the Indian-descended Muslims who live in Yangon and ethnic-Chinese Muslims, known as the Panthay.

Pockets of sectarian unrest have occasionally broken out in the past across the country, with Rakhine state, which has the largest concentration of Muslims, a flashpoint for tensions.

In February 2001, the then-ruling junta declared a curfew in the state capital Sittwe after clashes between Muslims and Buddhists.

The authorities this week warned against "anarchic acts" after the mob killings and an attack on a police station by an angry crowd in Sittwe.

Distrust

Many believe that the latest episode of violence reflects the deep divisions between the majority Buddhists and the Muslim minority.

"There is a feeling, a fear among the country's Buddhists about being invaded," a foreign researcher told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Shwe Maung, of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, which represents the ethnic Rakhine people, says many Buddhists harbor deep fears of Muslims.

"One day it will be a serious problem, they caused trouble in Thailand, Europe, USA. They try to make trouble in Rakhine State."

Many Buddhists share similar anti-Muslim sentiments.

"They are fighting to own the land, occupy the entire state," Khaing Kaung San, a local activist in education and other areas, said of Muslims.

"They don't need weapons, just by their numbers they can cover the entire land."

Muslims entered Myanmar en masse for the first time as indentured laborers from the Indian subcontinent during British colonial rule, which ended in 1948.

But despite their long history, they have never fully been integrated into the country and are seen as foreigners.

"For many people, a Burmese is a Buddhist by definition. Buddhism forms an essential part of their identity," said Jacques Leider, a historian at the French School of the Far East based in northern Thailand.

"The situation is explosive and from friction to the clashes is only a matter of lighting the fuse."

Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.

Every year, thousands of minority Muslim Rohingyas flee Myanmar in wooden boats, embarking on a hazardous journey to Thailand or Malaysia in search of a better life.

While some find work as illegal laborers, others are arrested, detained and "repatriated" to a military-ruled country that washed its hands of them decades ago.

Rohingyas say they are deprived of free movement, education and employment in their homeland.

They are not recognized as an ethnic minority by Myanmar and say they suffer human rights abuses at the hands of government officials.

Distrust Feeds Myanmar Muslim Hatred - Asia-Pacific - News -
 
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Ray

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It is just because of some fanatical radicals going berserk and interpreting religious scriptures to suit their purpose to change the world that people around the world are dead scared that Muslims mean trouble!

I have met the Rohingyas in Malaysia and Singapore. They are a pretty docile lot, at least in Malaysia and Singapore.

Even Bangladesh does not want them!
 

Galaxy

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This is the time to ponder why Non-Muslims hate Muslims everywhere. Myanmar is just an example. Muslims have created problem for Non-Muslims everywhere from Thailand to India, Pakistan to Africa. They come as migrants and start the process of islamization by growing number and on other side Non-Muslims persecution keep growing in Muslim countries.
 
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parijataka

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Rohingyas are migrants from Chittagong region of present day Bangladesh and speak a language similar to Chittagongian, nothing to with India. Arabs called 'Thambu Kya' Muslims came to Myanmar by sea - they are a different group and live along Arakan sea coast
 

ejazr

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These Muslims in Myanmar are not migrants. The are Indian origin people who went to Myanmar during the British and have lived there for generations. Just like Indian origin Hindus and Muslims live in Fiji today or in Suriname in South American. Bangladesh was part of British India at that time.

What we have here is well Muslims like the Jews in the 19th centruy Europe

Here Muslims are getting killed, Muslims who don't have even citizenship rights after being in Myanmar for generations, they form less than 5% of the population of Myanmar and yet the blame is on Muslims that they are some how going to take over Myanmar? In any case, this persecution didn't start suddenly post 9/11. This has been going on since the 1960s. It is a case were the majority ethnc or religous group in this case Buddhists have opressed the minority group which happened to be Muslims. Just like in Sri Lanka the Buddhist majority opressed the Tamil Hindu minority. Or how we have the Hans Chinese opress the Tibetan Buddhist or the Turkistani Muslims among others.

Wasn't that the same thinking that was prevalent in Germany were Jews were considered the root of evil and that they control all money and are freedy. And basically have a cabal like the Elders of Zion forgery of taking over the world. Similar reasons though not to the same extent are used by other illeberal states around the world wether it be the Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka or the Hans Chinese or the Buddhists in Myanmar.
 

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MYITKYINA, Burma: Sectarian violence could put Burma's transition to democracy at risk, the President, Thein Sein, has warned as the government declared a state of emergency in the country's west after clashes between Buddhists and Muslims left at least eight people dead and 17 wounded.

Authorities had earlier imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew on four towns in Arakan state, where tensions have been steadily growing since the killing of 10 Muslims aboard a bus in early June.

In a televised addressed, Mr Thein Sein said the violence had been fanned by hatred and the desire for revenge.
Advertisement: Story continues below

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A 12-year-old girl, identified as Razen Bibi, became the eighth person to die in the unrest after reportedly being shot on Sunday by riot police outside her home in the town of Maungdaw.

Foreigners are barred from entering Maungdaw but local staff working undercover for The Arakan Project, an international non-government organisation that monitors the situation in the state, said they saw the body being taken away by police.

The opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi appealed for calm amid the rioting.

The unrest appears to have its roots in the incident on June 3 in which a group of Muslim pilgrims were beaten to death by Buddhist Arakanese, allegedly in response to the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old woman by three Muslim men in late May. The three accused had already been arrested and are awaiting trial.
Emergency declared after Burma unrest
 

LurkerBaba

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Refugees fleeing unrest in Burma are being turned away by Bangladesh coast guards and border security.

On Tuesday, three boats carrying refugees were turned back, reports say. Officials say they had earlier sent another 11 boats back.

Meanwhile, unrest continues in Rakhine state with reports of gunshots and buildings torched.

The area in western Burma has seen deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims since last week.

At least seven people have been killed since Friday, but one report puts the number of dead at 25.

Reports on the number of Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh vary, but as many as 1,500 are said to have been turned back in recent days.

"We are keeping our eyes open so that nobody can enter Bangladesh illegally," a police official told the Associated Press.

"Women on the boats said they have lost husbands and relatives in the violence. Their houses were torched," a Border Guard Bangladesh official told AFP news.
BBC News - Burma unrest: UN envoy visiting Rakhine state
 

A chauhan

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We'll have to look seriously into the matter before reaching to any conclusion, but we Indians should make it clear that we are not going to welcome refugees from Myanmar, we already have enough Muslim refugees and India is not a "Dharmshala".
 

trackwhack

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We'll have to look seriously into the matter before reaching to any conclusion, but we Indians should make it clear that we are not going to welcome refugees from Myanmar, we already have enough Muslim refugees and India is not a "Dharmshala".
Under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the Right to life and personal liberty is applicable to everyone, irrespective of whether you are a citizen or not. This has also been debated on numerous occasions at the Supreme court and the SC has upheld this right for non-citizens.

If one of these refugee boats enters Indian waters, legally as well as morally we are obligated to help them. We cannot and should not turn them away. It goes against the ideology of our nation.

Yes, many times these very people turn around and try to bite off the hand that has fed them, but that does not justify a change in our approach on how we treat refugees.
 

Singh

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We'll have to look seriously into the matter before reaching to any conclusion, but we Indians should make it clear that we are not going to welcome refugees from Myanmar, we already have enough Muslim refugees and India is not a "Dharmshala".
most of the refugees in India are Hindus whether they be from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.
 

trackwhack

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Review & Outlook: Burma's Most Hated - WSJ.com

Its getting really bad. 28 more people killed.

Many in Burma don't have the luxury of worrying about economic advancement (see above). They are just trying to stay alive. Buddhists and Muslims are killing each other and burning down each other's houses in Burma's western coastal Rakhine State, and the government seems unable to stop the violence. The Muslim Rohingya minority is already one of the world's most oppressed groups, and hatred for them among the local ethnic Rakhine population is reaching a fever pitch. A humanitarian disaster now looms.

The trouble started when a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered in late May. That led to a reprisal killing on June 3 of 10 Rohingya men who happened to be traveling on a bus stopped by a mob. There are now more than 20,000 internal refugees, and at least 28 more people have been killed.

But the origins of the crisis go further back. The Rohingyas are of South Asian descent, although they have lived in the area for centuries. A Burmese military government stripped them and other South Asian and Chinese minorities of their citizenship in 1982, leaving them stateless. That means they are unable to travel within the country, attend school, own property, or even register births and marriages.

Neighboring countries Bangladesh and Thailand also discriminate against the Rohingyas. The Thai military in the past turned back unseaworthy boats carrying refugees, some of whom drowned. Bangladesh is now doing the same.

Aung San Suu Kyi is pleading for calm and reconciliation. But some of her colleagues in the democratic movement have taken a hard line against the Rohingyas, arguing that they should be driven out of Burma. That is a popular tack, and some in the government may want to prolong the opposition's dilemma, as it is caught between alienating the majority population if it sympathizes with the Rohingyas, or losing international support if it ignores their plight.

This is a dangerous game to play. Prejudice toward the Rohingyas and inflammatory accusations have proliferated on the Burmese Internet and in the media in recent days. Some of the Rohingyas also seem to be fomenting violence as a way to get international attention. With 800,000 Rohingyas in Rakhine State alone, one quarter of the population, communal violence could spread far beyond the few towns where it has been confined so far.

The United Nations' envoy to Burma Vijay Nambiar visited the area on Wednesday. The Burmese government ought to be put on notice that if it does not counter the forces on both sides that want to indulge the desire for revenge, it will be held responsible for the consequences.
 

Ray

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Rohingyas are originally from Chittagong area.

They don't look like Myanmarese.

They are not Indians by any shade of imagination.

Bangladesh must address the problem.

The problem is that these people do not like to integrate and think that they are different and that is what is the problem all over the world.
 

KS

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Rohingyas have nothing to do with India...They are a problem between BD-Myanmar and India should not intervene in that..If refugees come , no sorry, send them back.
 

A chauhan

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most of the refugees in India are Hindus whether they be from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.
Mostly Muslim refugees involve in crimes like Fake currency etc. other minorities are less prone to crimes.
 

rock127

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This is the time to ponder why Non-Muslims hate Muslims everywhere. Myanmar is just an example. Muslims have created problem for Non-Muslims everywhere from Thailand to India, Pakistan to Africa. They come as migrants and start the process of islamization by growing number and on other side Non-Muslims persecution keep growing in Muslim countries.
It's a truth....... cant understand how the religious extremists force the masses to support them and bringing the whole religion a bad name.
 

pmaitra

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A very simplistic explanation:

Most Islamic societies are rigid and do not allow much freedom of thought of expression. This is contrary to the fact that Islam, when founded, was the most progressive of all existing societal structures in the Middle East and Arabia. Now, in the modern world, most Islamic societies are still stuck with the literal interpretation of the texts. This is coupled with the fact that many seminaries are funded by the Saudis, one of the most autocratic and opaque systems in the world. This results in a very rigid interpretation of Islam being forced upon the followers worldwide. The result is lack of creativity, or to be more appropriate, not the lack of creativity, but the fear of blasphemy that stifles free expression, especially since the possible retributions can be brutal.

Given the industrial development of the west, western ethos might look more attractive, which is explained by the fact more Middle Easterners are likely to move to Europe than the other way around. Now, to prevent a flight of the faithful, from one camp to the other, mullahs are forced to become more rigid and they can rule the roost easily if the roost remain semi-literate or semi-educated. Islam is living in that stage today.

Hinduism has also passed through this stage where people performed the rituals without understanding why they were doing it. Rare access to the understanding the Sanskrit vocabulary limited the correct interpretation of Hinduism, and thus Hindu society went into decline. The Europeans, however, did a much better job in unfolding the mysteries of Hinduism and popularizing it. William Jones and Max Mueller are notable figures in this regard. Even if their interpretations were not accurate, they were willing to share a lot more to the commoners than the Brahmins; and in my humble opinion, much more accurate than RSS and affiliates' explanations. This ushered in a new era of awakening, and debunking of existing myths, such as, but not limited to, the Aryan-Dravidian or Good-Evil twist given to Rama-Ravana conflict, or the nepotism versus meritocracy debate sparked off in the Varna versus Caste discussions.

Islam will have to come to this stage. Once this happens, Islamic societies will produce a lot more liberal minds, like they did in the distant past, and the masses will move out of the vicious cycle of leading petty lives as semi-literate farmers and obeying the mullahs' commands blindly. The most pious are those that are most uneducated. Some benefit from this status quo, i.e. those that have a political agenda, be they the Jihadis or those that want to present Wahhabism as 'Islam,' and those that suffer are the poor Muslims common folk, who blindly sign up to become suicide bombers after promises of money to their poor families, company of heavenly females in the afterlife, etc.. Imagine if a large chunk of these Muslims were actually more educated, they would be less likely to get into petty quarrels and pursue more rewarding trades, leading to a level of sophistication, that one can see among Muslims from Turkey, Indonesia, former Soviet Central Asia, Morocco, Syria, etc..

Thinking in the broad perspective, this scenario will change, but not anytime soon. Someone needs to make that one resource, oil, irrelevant, to break the political importance that Saudi Arabia (which is not exactly Arabia per se) today wields, and the rigidity that follows therefrom.
 

Mr.Ryu

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Sad to see this dont know what to say but from heart what i feel is this happened because of the majority Muslim community who dont oppose radicals nor their top imams.

Hence other community feels all Muslim are bad :( this will not stop until Muslim take on Islam Terrorists openly.
 
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Ray

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It is sad that the Muslim ummah has abandoned the Rohingyas, just because they do not claim Arab descent!
 

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