Two riot agitators identified: police
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Officials are monitoring people believed to have a hand in orchestrating the Meikhtila riots from behind the scenes and they will be exposed soon, Mandalay region chief minister Ye Myint said on Monday.
Officials said that the three days of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Meikhtila, Mandalay region, that started last Wednesday was instigated by people behind the scenes and an investigation commission was set up to probe the violence.
“After a review, we can say that the incident was created to incite communal unrest and violence,” said Ye Myint. “No one can deny that there are people or organisations that are involved behind the scenes. Now, concerned authorities have traced them and they will be exposed,” he said.
President’s Office minister Aung Min also said that in the wake of the riots there were rumours that they would be duplicated in other areas, so officials were directed to stop similar incidents occurring in other states and regions.
“The president is always considering ways to keep calm and peace in Myanmar, and we will expose all those involved [in the] the Meikhtila violence,” he said.
The riots occurred after an argument at a gold shop in Meikhtila between its Muslim owner and Buddhist customers. The riots prompted authorities to impose a curfew and then a state of emergency on Friday.
Some 32 people were killed and scores were injured in the riots, state media reported.
Mon leaders reject attack plan report
Religious leaders from Mawlamyaing town in Mon State have dismissed as a fabrication Internet rumours that two Muslim families in the town are trying to bankroll an armed Islamic group, the religious leaders said in a press release.
The Internet rumours are baseless and malicious, the religious leaders said, calling on all people to ensure that members of both faiths live peacefully.
Buddhist and Islamic leaders met at a hotel on the weekend to discuss what to do about rumours that the Shwe Kyi Shwe Watti and Kyaw Kyar families had given cash to buy 3,000 swords from vendors in Chaung Sone township on Bilu Island.
The families were accused of trying to secretly train youths from the town’s Lamutan ward to create violence.
The leaders said they would work together to dispel such rumours in the future.
Shops shut following rumour that violence has spread to Yangon
Most shops near Mingalar Market and Yuzana Plaza in Mingala Taung Nyunt town in Yangon were shut yesterday after rumours mosques had been destroyed in Yangon.
The rumours spread at about 1pm in neighbourhoods near the markets and most shop owners closed their shops, residents said.
Most shops on Banyardala Road were closed.
Police and officials from Mingala Market Committee tried to encourage owners not to worry, residents said. They said they had been woken at midnight by people shouting “mosques have been destroyed”. The shouting came from people in a car driving through the town, which has a large Muslim population, they said.
The government declared a state of emergency in several towns in Mandalay region on Friday, following three days of deadly religious riots there.
