Lately, I have been reviewing the horrifying pictures of Rohingya Muslims being slaughtered inhumanly at the hands of some extremist Buddhist Monks. On the contrary, the religion of Buddhism is considered to be one of the most peaceful, compassionate and loving religions of the world disseminated by Siddharta Gautam thousands of years ago. Whereas, their acts and violent behaviors are showing the flip side of the coin in a way that defies the peaceful teaching of their religion.
I happened to see an interview of Ashin Wirathu (supposedly the violence/unrest initiator against Muslims in Myanmar) with a BBC journalist and according to him, he is actually threatened by the uproar of Muslims’ jihadi tendencies and the Muslim population that has been increasing too rapidly and they are taking over everything in our country. Some may recall that A. Wirathu was imprisoned in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim riot in Myanmar and was released last year. Now, he is going more violent against Muslims and urging his community to boycott the Muslim businesses.
Having said that, people in Pakistan are showing their utmost concern by posting pictures of inhumane killings which were also shared on social media last year in relation with other cases of extremism in Myanmar which were later found out to be fake and had no relevance to the catastrophe they were linked with. Unfortunately, the same pictures are being shared again which serves no purpose but to mislead the majority. I know the Rohingya’s Muslims are being subjected to injustices and ugly forms of extremism. The world media like Times, Tribune and BBC are showing full sympathies to the plight of Rohingya Muslim minority of Myanmar. Unfortunately, the newly established parliamentary government of Myanmar appears to be helpless in handling the crisis of sectarianism that has gripped its society once different socio-political forces achieved their freedom under the new democratic system.
While the police is inactive and the army is in a dormant state, the general public is showing its full support to the newly emerged extremist forces and ready to buy the philosophy of these hate mongers. When someone from the minority is killed, they cheer up loudly. And they start shouting ‘they killed our monk yesterday, we must kill them now’. I feel disgusted and helpless. A. Mithaikna (Nationalist Parliamentarian)
Muslims represent a minority group in Myanmar with a population of 1.3 million in total. Buddhist nationalist groups are operating with apparent impunity, looting Muslim and Christian establishments and calling for restrictions to be placed on 9% of the country that is Muslim. Thousands have been embarked the boats with no permanent shelter in sight for months and have turned into floating prisons with no food or water in hand except to fetch fish from the sea and drink their own urine. As per reports, approximately 8,000 people are believed to be trapped at sea and they “the Rohingya minority of Burma” are now becoming known as Asia’s new boat people.
On the other hand, in a most recent brutal act on the Burma land, 20 young boys from a Muslim school were slaughtered and burned on the spot while many others were killed too. What is noble peace prize winning and opposition leader, Aung Suu Kyi doing about these hapless citizens of her country? According to reports, since January 2015, some 25,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the voyage by boat to neighboring nations. Several thousand are still at sea after being repeatedly rejected by the navies of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
A cynical quote from this hate-filled Buddhist Monk says, “When you leave a seed, from a tree, to grow in a pagoda, it seems so small at first. But you know you must cut it out, before it grows and destroys the building.” – A. Wirathu
From a bird view of this prevailing situation in Burma, one can probably understand how it feels to be in minority in any country.
Well, to cut the story short, isn’t it a bit rich coming from Pakistan… advising other countries how to treat their minorities well. How ironic indeed! What about minorities within Pakistan?
