Destroyed buildings in the Burmese city of Meikhtila present a sorrowful picture that the world has constantly and cruelly overlooked for quite a long time. Buddhists that are commonly perceived as advocates of peace and tranquility have certainly been showing a surprisingly extremist behavior. The streets of Burma show an array of blood spills and dismantled buildings, a sight unbearable to any humanitarian no matter what school of thought he or she follows.
Only recently a UN envoy to the country pleaded for peace, though I would personally call for substantial international involvement such that the matter can be taken care of once and for all. Mr. Thein Sein, Burmese President had declared a state of emergency in the country, calling for the army to jump in after the recent attack on Muslim Centers that resulted in the entire building being torched. More events of the same nature were reported from other cities on the south as well where Buddhists burnt down a Mosque and fifty homes in Yamethin (64kms from Meikhtila) this Saturday. In other events, several buildings and yet another Mosque was set ablaze in Lewei a city that lies on the southern side of Burmese capital Naypytaw.
It is nothing but outrageous cruelty at the hands of the international community for not even blinking an eye at a mayhem that has caused more than 10000 human beings to be displaced, and hundreds killed for a reason that is purely and utterly racist.
The Interfaith Friendship Organization (IFO) an organization built for the sole purpose of building unity between Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslims has expressed sorrow at the events and asked the Buddhists monks to help ease the situation. Furthermore, their official statement goes as under:
“We would like to call upon the government to provide sufficient security and to protect the displaced people and to investigate and take legal measures as urgently as possible”
The initial rampage began with a mere quarrel between a Muslim shopkeeper and his Buddhist customer. Reports spread that apparently the Muslim shop owner had killed the Buddhist and as a result, numbers of Buddhist mobs attacked a Muslim neighborhood destroying countless residential buildings as well as religious ones.
The ensuing instability is of dire tension as the country has barely risen from a half a century old army rule. Thein Sein government faces a major issue now, and it is upon the few retired army men who have taken up the charge to work day in day out to stabilize the situation that is showing signs of further troubles. This has been the third incident of its kind in the past three years with a minimum of six mosques being burnt down.
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