Search Results: rohingya

Video: The monk who calls himself “the Burmese Bin Laden”

Over the past year, fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma has intensified, with the Muslim Rohingya being persecuted in the country’s Western Rakhine state and dozens killed in sectarian riots last month in the central city of Meiktila. Some of the violence has been incited by Buddhist monks. The Guardian has a video interview with Wirathu, a monk who calls himself “the Burmese Bin Laden.” Wirathu and his controversial 969 movement have been inciting violence throughout Burma by spreading rumors and racist stereotypes about Muslims.


Burmese writer Swe Win also reports on Burma’s radicalized monks in the New York Times, noting the corruption present in many of Burma’s monasteries. Many other Buddhists, including the Dalai Lama, have spoken out against the violence and condemned the Burmese monks. Watch a new interview with His Holiness after the jump. Read More »

Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in central Burma kill at least five

At least five people have been killed in fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in the city of Meiktila, in central Burma. The New York Times reports that a mob of Buddhists, including monks, led a rampage through a Muslim neighborhood on Thursday, apparently to retaliate for the death of a monk the day before. A hospital official said children were among those killed. Read More »

Buddhist teachers release letter encouraging Burmese Buddhists to treat Muslims with compassion

In response to ongoing sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma’s Rakhine state, several prominent Buddhist teachers — including Thich Nhat Hanh, Jack Kornfield, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and Norman Fischer, among others — have signed their names to a message that will appear in Burmese newspapers this week. The letter urges Burmese Buddhists to practice non-harming, compassion, and mutual respect toward Muslims.

“Buddhist teaching is based on the precepts of refraining from killing and causing harm,” the letter says in part. “Buddhist teaching is based on compassion and mutual care. Buddhist teaching offers respect to all, regardless of class, caste, race or creed.” You can read the rest of the letter here: Read More »

International Network of Engaged Buddhists issues statement on violence in Burma’s Rakhine state

At its Executive and Advisory Board meeting this month, the International Network of Engaged Buddhists ratified a statement condemning ongoing violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma’s Rakhine state, and calling for the Burmese government and religious leaders to work toward a resolution.

“We hope that it expresses the concerns of Buddhists around the world who are witness to the communal conflict and violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state,” said Hozan Alan Senauke. “Clearly this conflict must be resolved by the Burmese peoples themselves, but this statement affirms that INEB and Buddhists everywhere care about the well-being of Burma’s emerging democracy and of all its peoples. We send our encouragement and faith in the Buddha’s great way.”

Read the statement after the jump. Read More »

Aung San Suu Kyi urges Burma to use troops to end violence between Buddhists and Muslims

In a joint statement with lawmakers and ethnic leaders, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has called on the Burmese government to send troops to the violence-stricken Rakhine State to bring peace to the area. She also asked for a statement from the newly elected government regarding its policies toward the Rohingya Muslims and a review of the country’s strict citizenship laws. The majority of Rohingya Muslims in Burma are technically refugees.

You can read the full article from David Eimer at the Telegraph.

Nearly 60 killed in sectarian clashes in Burma’s Rakhine state

Nearly 60 people have been killed in the latest series of clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in western Burma. The violence broke out over the weekend and has spread to several towns, including the commercially important Kyaukpyu. How many homes and other buildings  have been destroyed is unclear, but Reuters reports that the number is in the hundreds. Security forces are in Rakhine, trying to stop the unrest and imposing curfews in some towns. Read More »

Buddhist and Muslim leaders jointly condemn violence in Burma

American Buddhist and Muslim leaders have issued a joint statement condemning recent violence between the two religious communities in Myanmar. The letter, written by William Aiken of Soka Gakkai International and signed by several other representatives of Buddhist and Muslim groups, condemns the recent sectarian clashes between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in western Burma, which have killed more than 80 people and displaced thousands more since June. Read More »

A report from Amnesty International’s DC Town Hall event with Aung San Suu Kyi (with video)

By Danny Fisher

Last week, I had the great honor and pleasure of attending Amnesty International’s town hall event with Burma’s Nobel Peace laureate and engaged Buddhist icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Held at the Newseum in Washington, DC, and moderated by MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, the event came only a day after “Daw Suu” met with President Barack Obama and received the US Congress’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

Suu Kyi is the leader of Burma’s National League for Democracy and currently sits in the lower house of the country’s parliament. Her election came after she had spent 15 of the 21 years between 1989 and 2010 under house arrest. During that time, she became the symbol for Burma’s struggle for democracy and freedom from the repressive ruling junta. In addition, she became the world’s most recognized prisoner of conscience during that time — thanks not only to her Nobel Prize and the international media, but also to the efforts of Amnesty International. The town hall, then, celebrated a special relationship between guest and host. Read More »

Two strong editorials take Burma’s Buddhist leadership to task for “chauvinism” and “racism”

Writing in Foreign Policy, William McGowan reflects this week on what he terms “Burma’s Buddhist chauvinism.” In discussing the plight of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in the Rakhine state, McGowan sees “a nationalistic and at times hateful side” of Buddhism there. You can read the entire piece here.

In addition, the Bangkok Post‘s Assistant Editor, Sanitsuda Ekachai, offers an even more strongly worded editorial, “This is Racism, Not Buddhism.” The opinion focuses on the disparity between Buddhist teachings and Burmese monks’ leadership in anti-Rohingya demonstrations. Read More »

UN staff sentenced in Burma for alleged involvement in Rakhine violence

Photo: Bernard Jaspers-Fajer, EU/ECHO. There is a heavy security presence in displaced-persons camps in Rakhine.

Voice of America reports today that two staff members with the United Nations and one United Nations partner have been sentenced to prison terms in Burma for their alleged involvement in the violence between Muslims and Buddhists in the Rakhine state. According to CNN, one is from the UN refugee agency, one is from the UN food program, and one is from a nongovernmental organization that works with the refugee agency.

Aye Win, a UN spokesperson in Burma, said the sentences were handed down on Friday, although the UN was never notified of the trial and the accused were denied legal counsel. Read More »

Read and sign this open letter from the Buddhist community regarding Islamophobia

In honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a group of Buddhists has issued this open letter expressing their growing concerns about Islamophobia from governments and within the Buddhist community.

Organized by Joshua Eaton and Buddhadharma News reporter Danny Fisher, the letter points to examples of Muslims being targeted for hate crimes, police profiling, and basic human rights abuses — including recent attempts by Buddhist monks in Burma to block humanitarian aid from reaching persecuted Rohingya Muslims — and calls for them to stop. Read More »

Report: Buddhist monks in Burma shunning Muslims, blocking humanitarian aid

Monks in Rakhine during less violent times

The Independent reports that Buddhist monks in Burma are urging people not to associate with Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state in the west of the country, and are trying to block humanitarian aid from reaching the Rohingya community. The news comes after weeks of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine that have left at least 80 people dead and displaced tens of thousands. Read More »

Violence and unrest in Burma continue, UN reports 90,000 displaced

Monks in Rakhine during less violent times

We reported on the violence and unrest in Burma’s Rakhine state about a week and a half ago—clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims began after a Buddhist woman was reportedly raped and murdered by three Muslims. At that time, there were about 17 reported deaths, but that number has now risen to around 50.

According to the BBC, a United Nations body reports that approximately 90,000 people in the western region have now been displaced due to the violence. Read More »