2013: A year of religious intolerance in Burma

By Mark Inkey-By Asian Correspondent Jan 01, 2014

The past year has seen a rise in religious intolerance against Muslim people in Burma fanned y radical Buddhists !hose most "ocal spokesperson has een the monk #irathu$ The pro lems first surfaced in 2012 in Arakan %tate !hen tensions et!een Buddhists and the minority Muslim &ohingya erupted into "iolence$ In the months of 'une and (cto er 2012) 1*2 people !ere killed in mo "iolence$ In 2013 the attacks increased and spread to other areas !ith Muslims of any ackground) rather than +ust &ohingya Muslims) ecoming targets$ Bill ,a"is) one of the authors of a -hysicians for .uman &ights /-.&0 report on "iolence against Muslims pu lished in August 2013 said: 1The deadly !a"e of "iolence in Burma has spread eyond the &ohingya de"astating Muslim communities throughout the country$2

The most serious of these incidents occurred in Meiktila) a to!n in central Burma !ith a si3ea le Muslim population) on March 24-2* 2013$ It !as sparked y an argument in a Muslim-o!ned gold shop et!een female staff and a female Buddhist customer$ An angry cro!d gathered and police arrested the staff mem ers$ The situation seemed to ha"e calmed) ut then a false rumour that the female customer died spread$ The cro!d) including some monks) ransacked the shop$ The police !ere outnum ered and they allegedly told the cro!d they could destroy the shop) ut that they then had to disperse$ The cro!d destroyed the shop and looted and destroyed se"eral near y Muslim shops$ 5ater) possi ly in retaliation) a group of Muslim men attacked a monk on a motorcycle !ho later died from his in+uries$ #hen ne!s of this spread a mo of o"er 1)000 people gathered and ran riot$ The "iolence continued for t!o days and spread to other regions in Mandalay ,i"ision$ The final death toll !as 60 people) including at least 20 students and four teachers killed at a madrassa$ Additionally) 1)700 Muslim homes and 12 of Meiktila8s 13 mos9ues !ere destroyed$ The -.& report8s researchers !ere told that in the days prior to the trou le Muslim homes !ere sprayed !ith the num er :;4 to indicate !hich homes should e attacked$ <ollo!ig the "iolence 14 Muslims !ere imprisoned for et!een t!o years and life !hile 2; Buddhists !ere imprisoned for et!een three and 17 years$ (utside of &akhine %tate this !as the largest incidence of "iolence against Muslims) though 2013 sa! other incidences of "iolence against Muslims in different parts of the country$ In <e ruary 2013 a Muslim school and usiness in Thaketa To!nship) &angoon !as destroyed y a mo !ho mistakenly thought the school !as going to e turned into a mos9ue after it sought permission to reno"ate the roof$ (n April 30 in (akkan in &angoon ,i"ision a Muslim !oman umped into a no"ice monk causing him to drop and damage his Alms o!l$ After she !as detained rumours spread that Muslims !ere organi3ing re"enge attacks$ Mo s of 200-300 armed Buddhists decided to pre-empt any attacks y attacking Muslim "illages in surrounding areas and destroying homes and mos9ues$ At least one person !as killed$ (n May 6 in .pakant in =achin %tate a group of 30 Buddhists attacked Muslim o!ned

houses and shops in three different areas for no apparent reason$ (n May 2;-2* May in 5ashio) %han %tate) "iolence erupted and a mos9ue !as urned do!n after a Muslim man !as accused of 9uarreling !ith a female gas attendant) co"ering her in petrol and setting her on fire$ 'ournalists and humanitarian aid !orkers also reported eing threatened y the mo $ The man !as later sentenced to 24 years in prison$ (n May 2* at Mone) a small to!n in Bago di"ison) t!o rothers in la!) one a Buddhist) the other a Muslim) got into a fight$ The Buddhist !as in+ured and oth !ere taken to the police station$ A mo gathered and demanded that the Muslim e charged !ith a serious crime efore destroying a mos9ue and a madrassa$ (n 'une 30 one or t!o men) allegedly Muslim) raped a !oman in Thand!e To!nship) &akhine %tate$ A mo of 70 people gathered outside the police station and !ent on to destroy se"eral Muslim homes and in+ure three Muslims$ The ne>t day the mo urned do!n another Muslim home$ ?iolence also roke out in Thand!e et!een %eptem er 2* and (cto er 2 !hen mo s killed Muslims in a series of attacks$ (n August 20 and 23 there !ere reports of Muslims eing attacked y monks from Thayatha! Monastery in -ha8an @ity in =aren %tate$ (n August 26 in .tan =oe "illage in %againg di"ision rumours spread that a Buddhist !oman had een raped y three Muslim men$ Mo s gathered near the police station) in the e"ening they !ere +oined y others from near y "illages and they started attacking Muslims$ 64 Muslim homes) 12 shops and a rice mill !ere torched$ It !as reported that security forces stood y and !atched$ According to -.&: 1%erious human rights "iolations) including anti-Muslim "iolence) ha"e resulted in the displacement of nearly 270)000 people since 'une 2011) as !ell as the destruction of more than 10)000 homes) scores of mos9ues) and a do3en monasteries$ The police response has also een critici3ed$ In Meiktila the police !ere rapidly outnum ered and completely failed to control the situation$ According to the International @risis Aroup report that could ha"e een ecause the police may ha"e een un!illing to appear too hea"y handed follo!ing strong criticism of their actions at the protest against 5etpadaung copper mine in Bo"em er 2012 !hen they seriously urnt protesters) including a group of monks$

The report says that since the incidences in Meiktila and particularly since 5ashio the police ha"e responded more 9uickly and more asserti"ely meaning that the mo "iolence has lasted hours rather than days and the casualties ha"e een less$ The police ha"e arrested and prosecuted a significant num er of people for "iolence and arson$ Initially there !ere concerns that only Muslims !ere eing arrested) ut in reality many more Buddhists than Muslims ha"e een arrested and prosecuted$ In 'uly 27 Buddhists) including t!o monks !ere found guilty of murder) assault and "iolence during the trou les in Meiktila$ The rise in popularity of the Buddhist *4* @ampaign led y the Mandalay ased monk #irathu has also een lamed for encouraging anti-Muslim "iolence$ <rom 2003 till 2012 #irathu !as +ailed for inciting anti-Muslim hatred$ The num er *4* !as chosen to represent the nine special attri utes of the 5ord Buddha) the si> core Buddhist teachings and the nine attri utes of monkhood$ The campaign !as allegedly intended to promote peace$ In reality the *4* mo"ement has conducted a campaign of e>treme rhetoric and made !ild claims of a Muslim plot to take o"er the country$ These include claims that Muslims) !ho make up 7 per cent of the population) threaten to ecome the ma+ority and o"ertake Buddhists) !ho make up *0 per cent of the population$ They ha"e also made claims that there are +ihadi infiltrators and that there is a scheme to pay Muslim men to marry Buddhist !omen and con"ert them$ In 'une 2013 #irathu called for a la! to an interfaith marriages$ The *4* mo"ement has called for a oycott of Muslim usinesses and encourages Buddhist usinesses to paint the num er *4* on their premises to sho! their support and sho! that they are Buddhist$ Many Buddhist usiness o!ners) !hate"er their "ie!s) ha"e displayed the num ers) partly out of fear of retaliation from *4* supporters and partly ecause they fear they !ill lose usiness if they do not display them$ There ha"e e"en een reports of Buddhists eing eaten up y *4* follo!ers for using Muslim usinesses$ The *4* mo"ement has spread its message y !idely distri uting leaflets and ,?,s$ Monks !ho support the mo"ement ha"e also toured the country making speeches and sermons$

In one recent e>ample Irra!addy reported that in ,ecem er se"en leading monks of the *4* mo"ement from the Mon state capital Moulmein !ent to Arakan state) !here "iolence against the &ohingya first roke out) to spread the message of the *4* mo"ement$ #irathu has denied that the *4* mo"ement has contri uted to anti-Muslim "iolence ut he concedes that it may e causing Burmans to ha"e a greater hatred of Muslims ecause they are spreading 1the truth a out Muslims$2 ?ery fe! people ha"e spoken out against the *4* mo"ement despite the fact that it seems to go against many of the tenets of Buddhism$ This is ecause its follo!ers are promoting it as Buddhist solidarity mo"ement aimed at strengthening the religion rather than an attack on islam$ They paint themsel"es as de"out Buddhists$ This makes people !ho oppose the mo"ement "ery !ary of speaking out ecause they fear they !ill e seen as critical of Buddhism itself$ In 'une the Burmese dissident ,r Maung Carni claimed that the state !as ehind the rise of #irathu and the anti-Muslim campaign across the !hole of Burma$ #hile this cannot e directly pro"ed it is certain that the state has made no efforts to reign in the rhetoric of #irathu and the *4* mo"ement$ D"en the opposition leader Aung %an %uu =yi has not spoken out against the mo"ement$ Many elie"e this is a politically led decision) !hich she has taken ecause she does not !ant to risk alienating her supporters !ho follo! the *4* mo"ement or are anti-Muslim$ In 'une the EB @ommissioner for .uman &ights Ba"i -illay e>pressed concern o"er human rights "iolations and "iolence against Burma8s Muslims and the lack of accounta ility for such acts$ As !e enter 2016 it seems that little has changed and that the persecution of Burmese Muslims !ill continue$