generalspeaking

Political Games

"They set the house on fire. There was nothing we could do but run. We didn't have time to help her."
Zaw Lay Khar  --  Burmese Muslim, Thabyuchaing village, Rakhine state

In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, Daw Lay Khar, describes how a Buddhist mob surrounded her home and then killed her 94-year-old mother with multiple stab wounds in Thabyuchaing, a village in western Myanmar. Even as President Thein Sein came to western Myanmar to urge an end to sectarian violence, security forces could not prevent Buddhist mobs from torching the homes of minority Muslims or hacking them to death, at times, unwittingly, even encouraging them. ((AP Photo/Khin Maung Win))

"At a time the government is striving for stability and rule of law, such violence is not only a loss to Rakhine state but also to the country."
Burma state television

In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, a Muslim woman cries after Rakhine state chief minister s motorcade passed through a road in Shwehlay village, in Thandwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. The woman cried after government authorities who visited the burnt villages in Shwehlay comforted and gave donations to the victims. Her home was among more than 100 burned down in attacks that occurred just hours before President Thein Sein visited the area. ((AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) )

 "It's just a political game. The president is the most responsible person in the country. Up until now, when Muslim people have been killed, their property destroyed, he's been silent."
Hola Sein  -- Burmese Muslim, Thabyuchaing

In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, Muslim gather near a burnt mosque destroyed in an attack by Buddhists in Thabyuchaing village, Thandwe township, Rakhine State, in western Myanmar. Even as President Thein Sein came to western Myanmar to urge an end to sectarian violence, security forces could not prevent Buddhist mobs from torching the homes of minority Muslims or hacking them to death, at times, unwittingly, even encouraging them. That has raised questions about the government's ability to quench a virulent strain of religious hatred blamed for the deaths of more than 240 people in the last 18 months. The latest attack occurred Tuesday, Oct. 1, in Thandwe township, killing five just hours before President Thein touched down for a scheduled visit. ((AP Photo/Khin Maung Win))

Some Muslim villagers who have experienced brutal attacks by mobs of Buddhists claim that Myanmar's police have aided the rioters, instead of stopping them. Shortly after a mob of about 150 enraged Buddhists swarmed into the hardest-hit of the Muslim villages, police arrested or simply detained three suspects following the initial carnage, but under threats of additional violence that followed they were released.


Police went on to promise the fearful Muslim villagers protection. Police disarmed the villagers of their rudimentary weapons and ordered them back into their homes. Only to see the mobs return in strengthened numbers hours later. And then once again, later in the afternoon. The Buddhists carried with them swords and knives, swarming into the village again and again, to clash with the alarmed Muslims attempting to defend themselves from harm, their homes from being destroyed.

Zaw Lay Khar, 52, described the villagers' panic. Seeing the attackers approaching and feeling helpless to do anything to save themselves other than to run. Leaving her 94-year-old mother behind, in the abandoned house. When they returned later, it was to a charred home. They returned two days after the attack, smoke still rising from the ruined buildings of the village in western Burma. In her village and three others an estimated 100 homes were burned to the ground.

Among the dead were Aye Kyi, Zaw Lay Khar's mother. Her charred body revealed cuts on her stomach, her neck and her head. The ongoing riots have displaced over 140,000 people, most of them Muslims, a tiny minority in a mostly Buddhist country. Some have lived there all their lives, many other Muslims were refugees from Bangladesh, a despised minority among the Buddhist majority who resent their presence.

The Muslims are marginalized and segregated, many living in starkly inadequate refugee camps. The religious divide has caused hundreds of thousands of Muslims, escaping dire conditions in Bangladesh, facing equal oppression and hardships in Burma. Burmese hold the ethnic Rohingya Muslims to be illegal migrants despite that many have lived in Burma for generations.

But it was a Muslim minority group, the Kaman who have recognized citizenship in the country that were targeted. Ultranationalist Buddhists have deliberately created divisions between Buddhists and Muslims who have lived peacefully together for many years. And Hla Sein believes the president of Burma, in its new representative democracy, is to blame for the loss of life and destruction of property.

Labels: Burma, Conflict, Human Relations, Muslims, Persecution

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, October 06, 2013