"The police let them burn our homes"
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| In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, a Muslim woman cries after Rakhine state chief minister’s motorcade passed through a road in Shwehlay village, in Thandwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. The woman cried after government authorities who visited the burnt villages in Shwehlay comforted and gave donations to the victims. Her home was among more than 100 burned down in attacks that occurred just hours before President Thein Sein visited the area. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) |
By Aung Shin
October 6, 2013
But just miles inland the atmosphere was anything but peaceful. The township has become the latest setting for brutal violence between Buddhists and Muslims.
A September 28 quarrel – thought to be over where a car had been parked – sent Buddhist mobs on a rampage through the town and nearby villages, such as Pauktak, Shwe Hlay and Thabuchai, where they torched 90 homes and killed five people – including a 95-year-old woman and 89-year-old man – leaving another four wounded. A Mosque and an Islamic school were among the buildings destroyed.
The violence was mostly under control by the time President U Thein Sein flew in on October 2, on the last day of his first official visit to the state as Myanmar’s leader. But in a final warning shot, Rakhine Buddhists torched the house of a Muslim in Thandwe as the president rested just 5 kilometres (3 miles) away at Ngapali.
Government officials – including President U Thein Sein – were quick to blame “outsiders” for rapid escalation in violence.
In a speech at Annawa Hall in Thandwe on October 3, the president noted the violence broke out just prior to his visit and said he was “suspicious of the motives” of those who turned a “trivial argument and ordinary crime into racial and religious clashes”.
“External motives instigated violence and conflicts. According to the evidence in hand, rioters who set fire to the villages are outsiders,” he said. “Participation of all is needed to expose and arrest those who got involved in the incident and those instigating the conflict behind the scene. Only then can root cause of the problem be addressed ... Action will be taken in accord with the law, without discrimination on the grounds of race and religion.”
Six people have been arrested so far, including the head of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) office in Thandwe township.
“Thandwe is normally always such a quiet place. I think the outbreak occurred because of outside stimulation. We have to find out whether political parties were deliberately involved,” Rakhine State Chief Minister U Hla Maung Tin told The Myanmar Times in Thabuchai village on October 3.
But Muslims in Thabuchai, where five people were killed on October 2, accused some local police of being complicit in the violence.
"We were afraid not only of Rakhine people but also the police. They fired above us, stopping us from defending ourselves. Then they let Rakhine people burn our houses," said U Nay Win, 53.
They accused political parties of inciting the violence.
“Parties are using religious and ethnic ideology as a stepping stone on their political journey. [The parties] have been active … for the past few months there have been new religious and ethnic [Rakhine] movements developing in Thandwe,” said schoolteacher U Myo Win, whose 89-year-old father was killed on October 2.
The violence in Thabuchai left 180 people homeless, including 42 Muslim households whose homes were destroyed, and 11 Rakhine families who fled fearing reprisals.
High-ranking officials from the regional government and Ministry of Defense visited Thabuchai village on Oct 3 and warned that residents could face legal action.
But they rejected any suggestion that police had been complicit in the violence.
"There are no members of our police force who would fail to do their duty in that way,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Kyaw Tint, the head of Thandwe police, said in response to the accusations.
“They are just accusations. If any police official is found to be involved in the violence, they will be punished," he said.
The six arrested people were taken to the local court on October 3. Police have refused to release details of the charges and stopped journalists from taking photos. They are being held at Thandwe prison. A police colonel based in Thandwe told The Myanmar Times on October 4 that the investigation into the violence is being handled by a special unit – he described it as a “secret mission – from the regional police force.
There are indications, however, that the unrest may be far from over. Following the court hearing, Democratic Voice of Burma quoted a spokesperson from the RNDP office in Thandwe as saying that it would “respond seriously” if the six arrested people are not released within 24 hours.
Media reports quoted the party’s chairman, U Aye Maung, calling on the government should release details of the charges against the six people and questioning whether the government had broken the law in suppressing the details.
The situation in Thandwe was quiet but tense as The Myanmar Times went to press.
"[The charges] are a sore point for Rakhine people. The authorities didn't charge Muslims for insulting our religion and ethnicity,” said one Buddhist Rakhine resident from Thandwe, before warning, “This issue cannot stop here – it will go on.”
