Mosque, shops attacked in Myanmar
2013-04-30
A resident watches as black smoke rises from burning houses in riot-hit Meiktila, central Myanmar. (File, AFP)
Yangon - Police in central Myanmar fired warning shots to disperse a crowd after a mosque and shops were attacked on Tuesday, the president's spokesperson said, in the latest religious unrest to hit the country.
The fighting was sparked in the small town of Oakkan, around 100km north of Yangon, after a woman accidentally bumped into a young novice monk and knocked his alms bowl onto the ground, according to Ye Htut.
It is the latest unrest to flare in the region north of Yangon, Myanmar's main city, after a series of attacks by Buddhist mobs on Muslim homes, businesses and mosques in March.
"According to the initial information received by the Myanmar Police Force, a mosque and shops nearby were attacked... The police force had to fire warning shots to disperse the crowd," Ye Htut said in a post on his Facebook page, adding that the situation had been brought under control.
He said some shops were destroyed but no buildings had been burnt.
"There were some attacks to the mosque by throwing with stones. No casualties were reported," a police official told AFP.
People cast shadows as they collect bricks and useful items from burnt Muslim homes in Meikhtila. Photo Reuters
Muslim-owned shops
At least 43 people were killed and thousands were left homeless in March in fighting apparently triggered by a quarrel between a Muslim gold shop owner and Buddhist customers in the central town of Meiktila.
Some monks were involved in the unrest while others are behind a nationalistic campaign calling for a boycott of Muslim-owned shops.
The unrest has exposed deep religious tensions in the formerly junta-run nation and cast a shadow over reforms under a quasi-civilian regime that took power two years ago.
Last year around 200 people were killed in clashes between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya - a minority treated with hostility by many Burmese who see them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
While the Rohingya - described by the UN as among the most-persecuted minorities on the planet - have long been denied Myanmar citizenship, the Muslims targeted in March's unrest are Myanmar nationals.
Human Rights Watch last week accused authorities of being involved in "ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine - a claim the government denies.
An official report into the unrest this week suggested doubling the security presence in the state and recommended keeping the communities apart as a temporary measure to prevent further violence.
The fighting was sparked in the small town of Oakkan, around 100km north of Yangon, after a woman accidentally bumped into a young novice monk and knocked his alms bowl onto the ground, according to Ye Htut.
It is the latest unrest to flare in the region north of Yangon, Myanmar's main city, after a series of attacks by Buddhist mobs on Muslim homes, businesses and mosques in March.
"According to the initial information received by the Myanmar Police Force, a mosque and shops nearby were attacked... The police force had to fire warning shots to disperse the crowd," Ye Htut said in a post on his Facebook page, adding that the situation had been brought under control.
He said some shops were destroyed but no buildings had been burnt.
"There were some attacks to the mosque by throwing with stones. No casualties were reported," a police official told AFP.
People cast shadows as they collect bricks and useful items from burnt Muslim homes in Meikhtila. Photo Reuters
Muslim-owned shops
At least 43 people were killed and thousands were left homeless in March in fighting apparently triggered by a quarrel between a Muslim gold shop owner and Buddhist customers in the central town of Meiktila.
Some monks were involved in the unrest while others are behind a nationalistic campaign calling for a boycott of Muslim-owned shops.
The unrest has exposed deep religious tensions in the formerly junta-run nation and cast a shadow over reforms under a quasi-civilian regime that took power two years ago.
Last year around 200 people were killed in clashes between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya - a minority treated with hostility by many Burmese who see them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
While the Rohingya - described by the UN as among the most-persecuted minorities on the planet - have long been denied Myanmar citizenship, the Muslims targeted in March's unrest are Myanmar nationals.
Human Rights Watch last week accused authorities of being involved in "ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine - a claim the government denies.
An official report into the unrest this week suggested doubling the security presence in the state and recommended keeping the communities apart as a temporary measure to prevent further violence.
هاجمت مسجد، محلات تجارية في ميانمار
2013/04/30 16:26
A الساعات المقيمين كما الدخان الاسود ترتفع من حرق المنازل التي شهدت أعمال شغب في Meiktila، وسط ميانمار.
وقال المتحدث باسم الرئيس للشرطة في وسط ميانمار أطلقت طلقات تحذيرية لتفريق الحشد بعد مسجد وهوجمت محلات يوم الثلاثاء، في أحدث الاضطرابات الدينية التي تشهدها البلاد - يانغون.
واندلع القتال في بلدة صغيرة من Oakkan، في جميع أنحاء شمال 100KM من يانغون، بعد امرأة صدم بطريق الخطأ في راهب مبتدئ الشباب وطرقت له الصدقات وعاء على الأرض، وفقا ليي هتوت.
هذا هو أحدث الاضطرابات إلى اشتعال في منطقة شمال يانغون، المدينة الرئيسية في ميانمار، بعد سلسلة من الهجمات التي شنتها عصابات البوذية على منازل مسلم والشركات والمساجد في مارس اذار.
"ووفقا للمعلومات الأولية التي تلقتها قوة شرطة ميانمار ومسجد ومحلات هوجمت القريبة ... كان قوة الشرطة إلى إطلاق أعيرة تحذيرية لتفريق الحشد"، وقال يي هتوت في نشر علي صفحة الفيسبوك له، مضيفا أن وقد جلبت الوضع تحت السيطرة.
وقال انه تم تدمير بعض المحلات التجارية ولكن قد لا أحرقت المباني.
"، وكانت هناك بعض الهجمات إلى المسجد عن طريق رمي بالحجارة، ولم يبلغ عن وقوع إصابات"، وقال مسؤول في الشرطة لوكالة فرانس برس.
متاجر يملكها مسلمون
قتل 43 شخصا على الاقل قتلوا وشرد الآلاف بلا مأوى في مارس اذار في القتال على ما يبدو ناجمة عن مشاجرة بين مسلم صاحب محل الذهب والعملاء بوذي في وسط مدينة Meiktila.
وكانت بعض الرهبان المشاركين في الاضطرابات في حين أن آخرين يقفون وراء حملة قومية تدعو لمقاطعة المحلات التجارية المملوكة للمسلم.
وقد الاضطرابات يتعرض التوترات الدينية العميقة في الأمة سابقا تديرها المجلس العسكري ويلقي بظلاله على الإصلاحات في ظل نظام شبه المدنية التي تولت السلطة قبل عامين.
وقتل العام الماضي نحو 200 شخص في اشتباكات بين البوذيين والروهينجا مسلم - أقلية تعامل مع العداء من قبل العديد من البورميين الذين نراهم كمهاجرين البنغلاديشية غير قانوني.
في حين أن الروهينجا - وصفت من قبل الأمم المتحدة على أنها من بين الأقليات الأكثر اضطهاد على هذا الكوكب - منذ فترة طويلة نفى المواطنة وميانمار، واستهدفت المسلمين في الاضطرابات آذار من مواطني ميانمار.
هيومن رايتس ووتش الاسبوع الماضي اتهم السلطات بالتورط في "التطهير العرقي" في راكين - مطالبة تنفيه الحكومة.
واقترح هذا الاسبوع تقرير رسمي في الاضطرابات مضاعفة الوجود الأمني في الدولة، وأوصت الحفاظ على المجتمعات بصرف النظر كإجراء مؤقت لمنع مزيد من العنف.