This could get way out of hand

[Unkotare]

Buddhism v Islam in Asia: Fears of a new religious strife | The Economist


"THE total segregation of Buddhist Arakanese from Muslim Rohingyas is now a fact of life in the western Myanmar port-city of Sittwe. Until June last year both communities lived side by side in the capital of Rakhine state, but following several rounds of frenzied violence, the Buddhist majority emptied the city of its Muslim population. The Rohingya victims now scrape by in squalid refugee camps beyond the city boundaries. The best that most of them can hope for is to escape on an overloaded fishing boat to Malaysia. Many of them die trying."


These two faiths represent an awful lot of people in the region, and while it is more likely fueled by ethnic and political disputes than fundamental religious animosity, the danger of a spreading conflagration must be taken seriously. There are some positive signs of things cooling a bit in parts of Burma, but this kind of thing tends towards generational bitterness and strife.

 

[High_Gravity]

Why are the Buddhists doing this?

 

[Unkotare]

It seems that old ethnic rivalries are the motivating force, with religious distinction just part of the rationale. But the way these things often go...the rationale can overtake the reasoning and...

 

[Ringel05]

It seems that old ethnic rivalries are the motivating force, with religious distinction just part of the rationale. But the way these things often go...the rationale can overtake the reasoning and...

Most don't get that and simply blame religion as the one and only cause.

 

[waltky]

Buddhists handlin' the Muslim problem in Burma...

UN: Myanmar Buddhists killed more than 40 Muslims
January 24, 2014 — The United Nations has confirmed that at least 48 Muslims appear to have been killed when Buddhist mobs attacked a village in an isolated corner of western Myanmar, violence that has been vehemently denied by the government since it was first reported by The Associated Press just over a week ago.

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut said he "strongly objects" to the U.N. claims and called its information and figures "totally wrong." A statement issued Friday by Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said accounts of the events issued by news organizations and international agencies were "based on unjustified conclusions drawing from unverified information," and would lead to misunderstandings among ethnic communities in the area. It cautioned journalists and diplomats that "releasing unverified information" was tantamount to interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs.

The United States said it was "deeply disturbed" by the reports that at least 40 people have been killed, and that a police officer has disappeared. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called Friday for an immediate, independent investigation into the violence. Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, has been grappling with sectarian violence since June 2012. The incident in Du Chee Yar Tan, a village in northern Rakhine state, appears to be the deadliest in a year, and would bring the total number of mostly Muslims killed in violence nationwide to more than 280. Another 250,000 people have fled their homes.

Northern Rakhine — home to 80 percent of the country's 1 million long-persecuted Muslim Rohingya population — is off-limits to foreign journalists and humanitarian aid workers have limited access, adding to the difficulties of confirming details about the violence. Attacks began Jan. 9 and peaked in the early hours of Jan. 14, according to residents. Buddhist Rakhine mobs, seeking retaliation for the abduction and killing of a police officer by Rohingya villagers, entered under the cloak of darkness with knives, sticks and guns and went on a killing spree, residents in the area told the AP on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. Many of the victims were women and children who were hacked to death by the mobs, they said.

The foreign ministry statement made no mention of vigilante attacks on Rohingya. It said police had two confrontations with mobs numbering 100 and 500 respectively, but caused no civilian injuries or deaths. The humanitarian aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said it has treated 22 patients, some with wounds. It appealed to the government for safe access to the affected people, many of whom are still in hiding. Though the village has been sealed off by security forces, Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, an independent human rights group, said some residents have been able to return during the day and, as of Wednesday, reported that some bodies were seen in abandoned homes. He called for an end to mass arrests, saying that in the hours that followed the killings, riot police started rounding up all male Rohingya, including children over the age of 10, in surrounding areas.

MORE

 

[freedombecki]

Why are the Buddhists doing this?

Why did Muslims do this:

Why did Muslims do this to Buddhists:

Why did Muslims destroy and burn 200 Hindu homes in Bengal India last year after looting shops and homes and buying weaponry with the booty, while the press gave them a free pass with no reports?

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[Mojo2]

It seems that old ethnic rivalries are the motivating force, with religious distinction just part of the rationale. But the way these things often go...the rationale can overtake the reasoning and...

Are there any other anti-Buddhist antagonists in the world?

 

[Tank]

Go Buddhists

 

[Mojo2]

Why are the Buddhists doing this?

Why did Muslims do this:

Why did Muslims do this to Buddhists:

Why did Muslims destroy and burn 200 Hindu homes in Bengal India last year after looting shops and homes and buying weaponry with the booty, while the press gave them a free pass with no reports?

​

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I think he was being sarcastic.

As though he was anticipating the pro-Muslim propaganda response to news of the Buddhist-Muslim conflict.

'Why did the Buddhists do whatever the Muslims are believed by the West to be guilty of doing to cause such a conflict? It certainly isn't our fault.'

That sort of thing.

But I'm merely guessing.

Sarcasm doesn't post well.