RFA
Authorities in Burma on Monday placed Rangoon division on security alert amid worries of communal riots spreading to the country’s commercial capital after violence between Muslims and Buddhists in central Meikhtila city left around 40 dead and 10,000 homeless.
Police were dispatched to the largely Muslim Mingalar Taung Nyunt suburb of Rangoon following rumors that the area’s bustling Yuzana Plaza market would be torched, residents said.
The authorities meanwhile have asked shops, stores, and restaurants in the Rangoon division to shut their premises after 9 p.m. as a precautionary measure, officials said.
“We have requested all shops, stores, and restaurants to close because we are concerned that people who want to make trouble may try to do so after 9:00 p.m.,” an administrative official from Pazundaung township southeast of Rangoon city told RFA’s Burmese Service.
“We are doing this for the people’s security. If shop owners don’t comply, they could face punishment by law.”
The violence which broke out last Wednesday in Meikhtila city in Mandalay division had already spread to three towns by the weekend. Muslims bore the brunt of the clashes in which mobs burned mosques, shops, and houses.
On Sunday evening in Tatkone, a town located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Meikhtila, a group of around 20 men threw stones and broke the windows of a mosque before soldiers fired shots to disperse them, the Associated Press reported.
A Muslim resident said that perpetrators of the attack were not from the area.
On Saturday, a mob burned down a mosque and 50 homes in the nearby town of Yamethin, while another mosque and several buildings were destroyed the same day in Lewei, farther to the south, reports have said.
Authorities have not released any information about the violence over the weekend and no casualties were reported in the three towns.
Burma’s nominally civilian government under reformist President Thein Sein also called for an end to “terrorist acts and religious extremism” following the violence, media organizations reported, citing a statement read on state television news.
“As the government is now working on moving ahead with democratic reforms and development, people are urged to refrain from terrorist acts and religious extremism which can harm this work,” the statement said, adding that the authorities would "address all terrorist attacks including incitements for racial and religious attacks."
The government also pledged to provide emergency food and shelter to the displaced in Meikhtila and resettle them as soon as the situation becomes stable.
Thein Sein announced a state of emergency in Meikhtila on Friday, sending hundreds of troops into key areas throughout the city and restoring calm. Several suspects have been arrested.
Aid delivered
An army convoy arrives in Meikhtila, March 23, 2013. Credit: RFA
RFA
Donor groups, including representatives from political parties and civil society organizations in Mandalay, have already begun distributing aid to the thousands of displaced people from both the Muslim and Buddhist communities, a monk told RFA on Monday.
“We came here to deliver aid for both Muslim and Buddhist victims of the riots,” the monk said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The donors are from different religions, though we received more aid from the Muslim community.”
Members of the 88 Generation democracy movement also visited refugee centers set up at the Magyigone, Thamonegone, and Mingalarzayyone area monasteries in Meikhtila, he said.
In addition to the monasteries, which are mostly housing Buddhist refugees, authorities have established refugee centers for Muslims at a district stadium, the Basic Education High School No. 1, and the Education College in the city.
More than a third of the 100,000 people in Meikhtila, a garrison city located halfway between Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw, are Muslim.
The riots in Meikhtila were sparked by an argument between a Muslim gold shop owner and his Buddhist customers. By the time the violence was brought under control, as many as 13 mosques had been razed. Most of the homes and shops that were destroyed were Muslim-owned.
Anti-Muslim violence
Violence between Burma’s Buddhist majority and the country’s Muslim minority, which accounts for some 4 percent of the nation’s 60 million people, is threatening to derail Thein Sein’s plans for national reconciliation and democratic reform following nearly five decades of military rule.
The riots in Meikhtila suggest that anti-Muslim sentiment is not limited to western Burma’s Rakhine state, where two separate outbreaks of violence between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines left at least 180 dead and tens of thousands homeless.
On Sunday, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Burma, Vijay Nambiar, traveled to Meikhtila and called on the government to punish those responsible for the violence.
He also visited refugees in the area, pledging assistance from the U.N. to help rebuild the town.
“There is a certain degree of fear and anxiety among the people, but there is no hatred," Nambiar said. "They feel a sense of community and that it is a very good thing because they have worked together and lived together.”
“It is important to catch the perpetrators. It is important that they be caught and punished.”
Reported by Myo Zaw for RFA’s Burmese Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Thanks to the Buddhist tradition of tolerance and compassion you will find mosques, churches, temples, joss houses, and other places of worship across Myanmar. The *outsiders* for generations have co-existed with the Burmese, known for their ever-loving kindness. This is the culture because *Buddhism has affected the Burmese like no other people*.
In the past – and today -- the despicable extremists, including former communists and ultra- nationalists, tend to sacrifice the docile and non-political Muslims in their destructive bid for power. The radicals conveniently ignore that Muslims loyally served in the government and military since ancient times.
A Muslim *freedom fighter* in Burma's struggle for independence, U Razak, was assassinated along with General Aung San in 1947. No one can question his love for the country.
Beware of evil men disguised as monks inciting violence and hatred. This is more an attack on the Sangha.
Mar 26, 2013 08:58 AM
