Communal violence stirred up by bigotry and intolerance

The move by Myanmar over the weekend to lift an emergency decree imposed in areas that have seen sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims was welcome news. But President Thein Sein and his government in Nay Pyi Taw need to do much more to bring sustainable peace to the country’s various ethnic and religious groups.

A state of emergency was imposed on March 22 after communal violence in the townships of Meiktila, Mahlaing, Wundwin and Thazi in the Mandalay region.

Riots originally erupted in Meiktila on March 20 after a quarrel between a Buddhist couple and Muslim gold-shop owner. The private conflict escalated after a group of Muslim men reportedly pulled a Buddhist monk off a motorbike and burned him to death. A Buddhist mob took revenge by going on a rampage and destroying nearly all the mosques in town, as well as setting hundreds of houses ablaze. The mob later attacked and looted an Islamic school, where 36 teachers and students were killed.

The violence claimed 44 lives. The authorities arrested several suspects, mostly Muslims, as being responsibility for the violence.

The emergency order imposed a 10pm-to-4am curfew and barred the public assembly of groups of more than five people. It also allowed local authorities to seek military assistance to help bring violent situations under control. The order expired on May 20, but was then extended to July 19. The authorities now say, “As peace and stability has already been restored in [the] townships, the proclamation of the emergency order was revoked as of July 20.”

The current situation might appear calm, but tensions linger and the conflict between some adherents of the two religions is still far from over. The root cause of disunity in Myanmar society remains a festering sore. In fact, only two months after the Meiktila incidents, similar violence occurred in Shan State, in the small town of Lashio, which left scores of casualties. 

Tension and conflict between Buddhist and Muslim communities happened originally in western Rakhine State, where Muslim Rohingya clashed with local Buddhists, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced. Negative attitudes toward the Rohingya – whom the Myanmar authorities and the Buddhist elite regard as aliens – fanned out to include Muslims of ethnic background around the country. Most of the responsibility for this falls upon extremist Buddhists. Their campaign against Muslims has been conducted systematically and consistently. It might be an exaggeration to call such action a campaign of “ethnic cleansing”, but neither is it right to ignore it. 

Rather than rejecting or dismissing international reports on this issue, Thein Sein and his government should be concerned. So far they have regarded commentary on the subject as a mere smear campaign against the government. The authorities should look at the situation with an open mind and endeavour to find the real cause of the problem and seek a solution accordingly. 

Reports conducted by commissions under the instruction of the president have failed to address the issue at its cause. There is hardly any need to say that such commissions and reports rarely suggest anything useful for reconciliation. Lifting the emergency as a first step is the right thing to do, but it might not be enough to bring lasting peace.