Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Fear stalks Yangon's Muslims after Buddhist-led killings...

An ultra-nationalist Buddhist creed is becoming more visible in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, after monks from the apartheid-like movement helped stoke a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the central heartlands.

Many Muslims in the city say they are living in fear after dozens of members of their faith were killed in March by Buddhist mobs whipped up by monks from the "969" movement, a name that refers to attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood.

Calm has been restored in Meikhtila and other volatile central areas after authorities imposed martial law and dispatched troops. A Reuters examination of the violence showed it was well-organised, abetted at times by police turning a blind eye.

But concerns linger among Muslims in Yangon, a city of about 4 million people undergoing rapid change during Myanmar's transition from 49 years of oppressive military rule that ended in March 2011.

Fears simmer after 13 boys died in a fire in an Islamic school on April 2. Officials blamed faulty electrical equipment but many Muslims believe the fire was started deliberately. Full story...

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