Arakan Rohingya Union Condemns the Buddhist Hate Speech, and Violence and Senseless Killings of Muslims in Mandalay, Myanmar

Arakan Rohingya Union Condemns the Buddhist Hate Speech, and Violence and Senseless Killings of Muslims in Mandalay, Myanmar

July 5, 2014

Arakan Rohingya Union denounces, in the strongest terms, the senseless violence against Muslim minority and destruction of their properties and places of worship in Mandalay by the radical Buddhist mobs. Rohingya people throughout the world mourn the death of U Soe Min and share the deepest sorrow with the family of U Soe Min and with those who received injuries and trauma as a result of the attacks by the Buddhist mobs. 

The preplanned attacks on Muslims in Mandalay followed the pattern of violence elsewhere in the country in the past. The radical Buddhist Monk Wirathu, based in Mandalay, reportedly vowed in his sermon to mark the beginning of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan with “a message for the Muslims”. Precisely, as the Ramadan begins, the spread of the rumor through social media that “A Buddhist woman was raped by a Muslim shopkeeper; Muslims are armed to teeth to wage Jihad against Buddhists…” was circulated. Devising allegation of “rape”, hate speech, and inflammatory messages through social media are the major tools used by Buddhist extremists to trigger violence against Muslims in Myanmar. 

Arakan Rohingya Union appeals the Government of the United States and the international community to demand: 

• The Government of Myanmar to bring the perpetrators of the crimes against the Muslim minority in Myanmar to justice.
• To launch a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation to the direct or indirect involvement by the police in the violence in Mandalay, and bring charges against those officers who are responsible for aiding/guarding the mobs. 
• For immediate release of the Muslim shopkeeper who was reportedly arrested on false allegations devised by Monk Wirathu. 
• To strictly enforce the law of the land and the present curfew equally to all the communities, regardless of race, ethnicity, and religion, and bring charges against the roaming Buddhist mobs of motorcyclists and vandals for inciting and spreading violence in Mandalay. 
• Call on the Government of Myanmar to abandon its usual rhetoric aiming at temporarily appeasing international community, and to make genuine commitment to solving the communal and ethnic issues with transparency, honesty, and integrity.