Editorial: Protecting Burma’s Muslims | ArabNews      » Login    | Register      Main categoryHomeSaudi ArabiaMiddle EastWorldEconomySportsLifestyleOpinionIslam in PerspectiveCartoonsCareer        Editorial: Protecting Burma’s Muslims       |    |  A  A       Arab News Thursday 14 June 2012Last Update 15 June 2012 5:41 pm  There is, unfortunately, nothing new about the persecution of Burma’s Muslim minority by the country’s Buddhist majority. It began 500 years ago. However, until the turn of the century, the country’s Muslims, mostly Rohingya people, who came originally from India, have enjoyed a precarious peace, even though in the 1960s, they were marginalized and forbidden for instance to serve in the armed forces. Many were later denied Burmese citizenship papers. Since 2001 however when there were nationalist riots, the campaign of persecution against this luckless people, became deadly and vicious. The current sectarian violence which has broken out in the Muslim heartland in the northwest of Burma, is therefore nothing new, but a continuation of an officially-condoned policy of repression and cruelty. The world is busy encouraging the military in Burma, or Myanmar as the generals like to call their country, to return to their barracks and permit a full transition to democracy. The iconic Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democratic opposition, is currently in Europe talking with political leaders about how the military can be convinced to give up power, once and for all. To bolster the moves that the regime is making towards real liberalization, international sanctions are being lifted in stages. There are also talks with half a dozen tribal-based rebel movements such as the Karen, who have been conducting insurrections for years in their mountainous jungle fastnesses. At first glance, it would seem to the outside world that Burma is on track to achieve a free and just society. Yet the appalling attacks on the country’s Muslims and their continued condition as less than second class citizens within their own country, should give the international community pause for thought. It is a tragic truth that Buddhist monks, who led the brave protests against the generals in recent years, are also responsible for much of the violence against Burmese Muslims. Suu Kyi has condemned racial violence in her country. However, there are those who think that this woman, who internationally enjoys a revered status akin to that of Nelson Mandela, has not gone far enough. Calling for the rule of law, she said that the alleged rape and murder of a young Buddhist woman by three Muslim men, which started off this latest savagery, should be investigated properly. Though she condemned the violence, some might think that her criticism did not go far enough. Whatever the reason for this inter-communal violence, it is unforgivable and it is also clear that the perpetrators are almost exclusively local Buddhists. It is a brave politician that will take his or her own political constituency to task. Nevertheless, what Suu Kyi needs to say is that the new Burma that she and her supporters want to build, cannot be laid upon such rotten and festering foundations as the religious hatred and contempt that so many Burmese clearly show toward their Muslim fellow citizens. Therefore, the international community needs to pause in its drive to normalize relations with Burma. There should be a refocus away from the economic and political reforms that the military-appointed government is making. Instead the world should be looking at how the country is treating the Rohingya people and no less importantly, at the performance of the forces of law and order, in tracking down and prosecuting those responsible for the callous violence against this highly vulnerable community. It cannot be that the rest of the world is so blinded by the economic opportunities available to international companies in Burma, that they can ignore the crimes that have been taking place in the country’s northwest, crimes which have driven hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to Bangladesh and Thailand. This is a problem that should be addressed immediately. If Suu Kyi is given the clear message that the brutality that we are seeing against Muslims will be no more tolerated than the military’s baleful dominance politics, then she will have something of a political mandate to return home and demand the violence stop. Eradicating the centuries of prejudice and hatred that the Buddhists have felt toward their Muslim brothers will, of course take far longer. But a clear commitment from Suu Kyi and her people to the ending of all discrimination against Burmese Muslims and their assumption of their full and proper place in the country, is essential.        |    |  A  A        CommentsView the discussion thread.       SearchSearch this site:           Related Stories              More like thisBurma’s massacres and the world’s conscienceMakkah’s ‘Little Burma’Targeting Rohingya Muslims in BurmaEditorial: Protecting Basic ResourcesEditorial: Protection of Workers   Latest StoriesEx-premier elected new Czech president Vonn beats Maze to win a World Cup giant... Kiptoo retains Kenya Prisons title Contador will focus on Tour de France 11 kidnapped Sudanese freed in Darfur:... King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman... French-led troops in Mali seize airport... Gerrans wins on Australia Day, Slagter... 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