Rohingya Muslim women in Sittwe, Myanmar. Photo:
Reuters
Anti-Muslim rioters burned shops and homes in a fresh outbreak of communal
unrest in Myanmar, police said on Sunday, as the former army-ruled nation
grapples with destabilising religious violence.
Some 38 houses, nine businesses and a rice mill were torched during the
unrest on Saturday night, which erupted after a Muslim man was arrested on
suspicion of attempting to rape a Buddhist woman in a village at Kanbalu in the
central region of Sagaing, according to a regional police official.
“About 150 people gathered at the police station last night, calling for them
to hand over the detainee. When police did not respond, they started setting
fire to nearby shops,” the official told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.
“These shops are believed to be owned by Muslim people but we are still
trying to confirm it. Those people who attacked are believed to be Buddhists
from two local villages,” the source added. No injuries have been reported.
Several episodes of religious unrest - mostly targeting Muslims - have
exposed deep rifts in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, casting a shadow over widely
praised political reforms since military rule ended two years ago.
Rights groups have accused authorities of being unable or unwilling to
contain the violence, which has left around 250 people dead and over 140,000
homeless. Myanmar has rejected the claims.
Last week watchdog Physicians for Human Rights said Myanmar risked
“catastrophic” levels of conflict with “potential crimes against humanity and/or
genocide” if authorities failed to stem anti-Muslim hate speech and a culture of
impunity around the clashes.
Many of the incidents have featured widespread retaliatory violence against
Muslim communities in response to accusations of seemingly isolated criminal
acts.
In the latest clash, the official said the suspect allegedly approached a
25-year-old woman, “grabbed her hand and attempted to rape her”.
Radical Buddhist monk Wirathu, whose anti-Muslim and nationalist speeches
have been accused of stoking the unrest, posted a message about the incident on
his Facebook page.
Using term “kalar” - a highly derogatory word - he blamed Muslims in general
for the unrest.
“Kalars are troublemakers. When a kalar is there, the problem will be there.
If every time kalar made trouble and people response in violent ways, both
Buddhists and Buddhism will be harmed,” he said.
Two outbreaks of conflict in the western state of Rakhine in June and October
last year left around 200 people dead, mainly Rohingya Muslims who are seen by
many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
In March dozens of people were killed in sectarian strife in the central town
of Meiktila, and thousands of homes were set ablaze.
The UN’s rights envoy on Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, last week slammed the
government for allowing an angry crowd to surround his car and beat on the
windows during a visit to Meiktila.
He said the incident gave him an “insight into the fear residents would have
felt when being chased down by violent mobs”. Myanmar has said the envoy was not
in danger.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan