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Fear stalksMuslims inMyanmar

Eyewitnesses to a massacre at an Islamic school sayit was carried out by Buddhists, and many contend it

stems from a coordinated effort with ties to the topStorybyCarlos SardiaGalache

andPhotos byVincenzoFloramo

BADGEOF HATE: 969stickers on sale inYangon.

Mon Hnin, a 29-year-oldMuslim woman fromMei-ktila,in centralMyanmar,spent the night of March20 with herdaughterandmother-in-law hiding in

terror in the bushes on the fringes of herneighbourhood.

A wave of murderous anti-Muslim riotsledby Buddhistextremistshadexploded earlierthat dayin thedustytown with a populationof 100,000 people, located 130km north ofthe capital, Nay Pyi Taw. Like the houses ofmany other Muslims in the town, the onebelonging to Mon Hnin, whose name hasbeen changed forsecurityreasons, hadbeendestroyedby a Buddhistmob inthe MingalarZay Yone quarter and she and her relativeshad to take refuge in the first place theycould find.

Thenext day,she witnessedsomethingfarworse than the destruction of her property,as she told Spectrum at a non-governmentalrefugee camp near Meitktila where she nowlives withabout 3,400other Muslim refugees.The bushes where Mon Hnin, her daughterandher mother-inlawhad hidden theprevious

night are not far from a local madrasa an

Islamic school where one of the worstepisodes of the violence tookplace. Accordingto severaleyewitnesses, thatmorning a Bud-dhist mobattacked theschool killing at least30 students and four teachers.

MonHninsaidshesaw about30 policemenarrivingin trucks about 8am.From her vantagepoint, shesaw howthe studentsand teachers

ofthe madrasagaveup topolicethe weaponsthey had improvised to defend themselves.Sheclaimedthata groupof themwasofferedthe chance to be evacuated from the area inpolice trucks, but they were attacked by themob before reaching the vehicles.

Oneofthoseshesawbeingkilledwasherhusband, a halal butcher who was stabbedto death. The policemen in the area didnothing to stop the carnage. Shortly after-

wards, Mon Hnin, her daughter and mother-in-law were given shelter in the house of aBuddhist neighbour.

FromMarch20-22, thisdusty garrisoncitywasengulfed by the worstcommunal violencein Myanmar sincethe anti-Muslimpogromsthat took place in Rakhine state in June andOctober of last year.

The trigger of the violence was a brawl

between the Muslim owners of a gold shop

and two Buddhists who tried to sell a goldhair clip onthe morning ofMarch20.Severaldifferent, and often contradictory, accountshave emerged ofthe incident, butthereis nodoubt that a Buddhist mob responded byhurling stones at the shop and ended up

wrecking the building.That eveningthe riotsbecame deadlywhen

about 5.30pm a monk was attacked by fourMuslim men who torched him alive. Themonk died in hospital that same evening.Just a few hours later the city was on fire

when groups of Buddhists unleashed theirfury on Muslims and their properties underthe gaze of security forces, who for two days

watched the violence without taking anyaction.

Manywitnesseshaveconfirmedthe failureof the police to prevent the violence. One ofthem isWin Htein,thelocal MPof theNationalLeague for Democracy (NLD), the party of

Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Htein, a former armyofficerwho spent20 yearsin jail forhispoliticalactivities and used to organise security forthe Ladyafter herreleasefromhousearrestonNovember 2010, toldSpectrum intheram-shackle local NLD office that he witnessed

the carnage in front of the madrasa.

Isawwithmy owneyestwopeople alreadead and five more put to death in frontme.

He said he tried to protect the Muslimbut was threatened by the mob. Then called thechief minister ofMandalayDivisiGen Ye Myint, and told him what was hapening. Hesaid hedalreadygiven order

the police to take action, but there was action at all, Win Htein said.

It tooka furtherday before thearmy steppin and restored some order in the city. then, at least 42 people had been killed amore than 60 were injured. Those are tofficial estimates, but the real figures likelyto be considerably higher, considerthatat least 30 peopledied ina singleincidat the madrasa.

Onelocal reporterwho witnessedthe cnage, told Spectrum that she arrived at tscene at5pmandsawa pile ofseveral dozcorpses justmetres fromthe madrasa. Whshe went back four hours later, the pile hbeen set on fire.

On March 21, the young reporter saw afilmed a group of Buddhists slit the throata Muslimman,beforedousinghim with pet

andsettinghim onfire.She continuedreco

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FOMENTING DISCONTENT:AshinWirathu, famous forhis inflammatoryanti-Muslim speeches,at the

Maseyeinmonasteryin Mandalay.

KILLINGFIELDS: Right, themadrasawhere more than 40Muslimswerekilledon March21.

ingdespite being told to stop, buteventuallyhad to flee the scene when six or seven Bud-dhist men chased her, hitting her on theback.

Thereporter said that duringthe time shewas in Meiktila, from March 20-22, she sawonly Buddhists carrying weapons and theviolence was fundamentally one-sided, with

the Muslims always on the receiving end.Win Htein said the attacks were spontan-

eous and perpetrated by Buddhist residentsof the city, but others witnesses claimed theattackers wereunknown tothem andseemedto be following a well coordinated plan.

Three weeks after the riots, the Muslimquarters of Meiktila are large wastelands ofdestroyedbuildingsand charredcars, resem-blingtheaftermathofa warornatural disaster,andwhere thepoorestinhabitants ofthe cityscavenge for scrap to sell. More than 18,000residents, most of them Muslims, have beendisplaced by the violence and most of themare now living in government-controlledcamps. The campsare off-limitsto journalists,but there are also unofficial camps like theone where Mon Hnin lives.

The government has announced plans to

rebuild the destroyed houses within two

months, but few believe in its ability or evenitswillingnessto doso. Many Muslimrefugeesfear their situation might become permanent,ashappenedto theMuslimRohingyain Rak-hine state, in western Myanmar. Unlike theRohingya, however, the Muslims of centralMyanmarare officiallyrecognisedas citizensof the country.

THE VIOLENCE SPREADSAfter Meiktila, the anti-Muslim attacks spreadto other parts of central Myanmar, gettingdangerously close to the the nations largestcity, Yangon. In the Bago region, the patternof violence against Muslimpeopleand prop-erty was repeated in no less than 14 villages.

Morethan80 refugeesfromMinhla,a townwith a population of about 100,000, are nowliving in a mosque in Yangon after fleeing a

wave of attacks on March 27.KoMaungWin (nothis realname),a teacher

at thelocalmosque recountedhow a mobofBuddhist extremists attacked the mosqueshortly after afternoon prayer. Nobody waskilled or injured during the attacks.

He and other refugees from Minhla toldSpectrum that the attacks came out of the

blue, without any prior threat or warning.

They said, however, that relations betweenthe two communities had steadily souredafter a monk visited the city at the end ofFebruaryand gavea speech tellingBuddhiststo shun Muslim people and their shops. A

woman who owned a grocery store in themarket, andis nowone ofthe refugees inthemosque, said she lost many Buddhist cus-

tomers after the speech. Nevertheless, whenthe attacks started she was given refuge inthe home of a Buddhist neighbour.

The violence has not yet reached Yangon,but in some of its Muslim neighbourhoodsthereis analmostpalpabletension,particularlyat night. Since the attacks in Meiktila, theresidents of Mingalar Taungyungnunt, themain Muslim quarter of the former capital,have set up barricades and conduct nightlystreet patrols.

Muslim communities are abuzz withrumours,especiallyafterthe firein anIslamicschoolin Yangonthatclaimed thelivesof 13children in the early hours of April 2. Fewpeople believe the official line that the fire

was accidental. The haste of the authoritiesto say it was, and their inability to find anyeyewitness accounts further contributed to

peoples suspicions.

Neighbours interviewedrecently in thequter said that, under the cloak of dark, peoroam the streets in cars shouting threats ainsults. Many of them are afraid that durthe annual Songkran-like water festival thmightbe an attacksimilarto thosein Meikand Bago. Many men sleep only a few houa night,as theyhave towork atdayandpat

the streets in the evening. Every entrancethe neighbourhood from the main streetblocked with makeshift barricades mannby local men.

All of the men interviewed by Spectruwere keen to emphasise that their relatiowith an overwhelming majority of Buddhihavealways beenandcontinueto bepeaceandfriendly.They put theblame onill-defingroups of Buddhist terrorists.

Like manyother Muslims around the coutry,the residents ofMingalarTaungyungnufeel unprotected and abandoned by loauthoritiesand the centralgovernment. Durtwovisitsto thequarterat night, only a minimpolice force could be seen on the streets

We dontknowwhothesepeopleare,bwe are not afraid. If they attack us, we wfight back, said a young man in one of t

barricades. >>

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[Paragraphs deleted in the printed version due to an error in the newspapers computer system

but immediately restored in the website. Next page should begin with the following paragraphs]:

Many Muslims interviewed by Spectrum in Yangon and other places feel that Aung San Suu Kyihas also abandoned them. They expressed their disappointment with her inability to make a

forceful defence of Myanmar's Muslim communities. One of the aspects of the crisis that has

puzzled many international observers has been the conspicuous silence of ``the Lady'' and her

party on the issue.

When we mentioned this to Win Htein, he said the party is willing to ``accept the blame for not

taking the necessary steps on behalf of the Muslims'', adding that it will ``repair the damage later,

by getting involved in religious ceremonies and asking committees to get together, but it will be

a hard task.''

He said he told Aung San Suu Kyi not to go to Meiktila. ``"I advised her not to come here,because people were blaming me when I supported the Muslims.''

He admitted that this decison was the result of political calculation, but added, ``She wouldn't be

able to give a reasonable answer to the conflict, that's why I told her not to come.''

THE MONK THAT PREACHES HATE

While the gold shop dispute and torching of a Buddhist monk might have been the catalysts for

the recent violence, the incidents are set against a general climate of distrust, which in this case

was fostered by religious and political leaders.

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ALLY INTHEHOUSE:WinHtein, NLDMP forMeiktila.

LASTDEFENCE: BarricadesmannedbyMuslim residentsin MingalarTaungyungnunt,the mainMuslimquarterin Yangon.Following theviolencein Meiktila,residents there havebegunconductingpatrolsat night.

REVERED:SaffronRevolutionleaderAshin Gambir

SAFEHARBOUR:Ko MaungWin, a MuslimfromBago, andhis children take refugein amosque in Yangon

>> The anti-Muslim sentiment finds itsexpressionin a campaigncalled 969,whichencourages Buddhists to shop only in Bud-dhistoutletsand calls fora defence ofBud-dhism in Myanmar against the supposedthreat of a Islamisation. The campaign isnamed after thethree jewels of Buddhism the nine attributes of Buddha, the sixattributes of his teachings, and the nineattributes of the Sangha. There are many

969stickersin shops,taxisandcarsaroundYangon and other citie s.

Themost visible face ofthe 969movementis Ashin Wirathu, a monk from Mandalay

who is famous for his anti-Muslim speeches.The boyish-looking 45 year old with a calmdemeanour andsoftvoicewas jailedin 2003for inciting anti-Muslim riots and releasedunder an amnesty in 2012. Spectrum methimin Masoeyein,a monasteryin Mandalay

whose mo nks are famous f or thei r polit icalactivism.

Sitting beneath several huge portraits ofhimself, Ashin Wirathu explained theMuslim conspiracy which, according tohim, threatens to engulf Myanmar.

A man full of contrad ictions he seemsconsistent only in hiscriticism ofand dislikeforIslam.He deniedat first that he mentions

Muslims in his speeches at all, but lateradmitted that he does speak about them,butonly because he wants to inform peopleof the reality.

At o ne p oint he even claimed that 100%of rapes in Myanmar are committed byMuslims, disregardingthe fact that thearmyisknowntouse rape asa weaponin itswarsagainst ethnic insurgents.

He tracedhis anti-Muslim activism to1996,when a Muslim who had converted to Bud-dhismgave hima supposedsecretmessagecirculated among Myanmar Muslims layingout their conspiracy to Islamise the country.The message included a plan to marry Bud-dhist women in order to convert them, andtakingover the economy.Ashin Wirathu also

warned that if Myanmar Buddhists do nottake action, by 2100 the whole country will

resemble the Mayu region of Rakhine state,anarea mostlypopulated byMuslimRohingya.

Ashin Wirathu recognised that Buddhistshavecommittedacts ofviolence,but refusedto admit that his incendiary speeches haveanything to dowith them. He also refused toacknowledgethat hisdiscoursesincitehatredtowards Muslims, stating that he is justinforming the public.

He evenclaimedthat,shouldpeoplelistentohim, noBuddhistwould engagein violence,despitethe fact that he gave oneof histrade-mark speeches in Meiktila just four monthsbefore the recent violence. Eventually, as asolution to the Muslim problem, he pre-senteda simpleformula: Buddhistscantalk

with Muslims, but not marry them; there canbe friendship betweenthem, but not trade.

Ashin Wirathus words enjoy widespread

publicity in the country and he is well sup-ported by the Buddhist community, whichreveres monks as the ultimate depositariesofwisdom.Accordingto WinHtein, theNLDMP from Meiktila, AshinWirathus speechesare shown in the buses operatedby companiesowned by the military.

In a house in Meiktila, Aye Aye Aung, a43-year-old Buddhist womanwho owns three

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PRAYING FORPEACE:ManyMuslims fear theymight endup aspermanentrefugees dueto theviolence.

MEALBREAK:ThousandsofMuslimslost their homesin theMarch riots andnow live in refugee camps.

LUNCHTIME LULL:Most of thosedisplaced byethnic violenceare in government-controlled camps, however others arein unofficialcampssuchas thisone.

Buddhists can talk with

Muslims, but not marrythem; there can befriendship betweenthem, but not tradeASHIN WIRATHU

WHIRLWINDOFHATE: ThedestroyedMingalar

ThiriMuslimquarter inMeiktila.

shops in the town, showed Spectrum a DVDof one of Ashin Wirathus speeches in whichhe warnsagainstthe Muslimconspiracy.Shealso showed us the weapon, a knife tied to alongironbar,thather husband made thedaytheviolence startedto defendhis familyandproperty against possible Muslim attackers.She said that she was willing to let Muslimslive in Meiktila, butthey shouldbe completelysegregated from the rest of the population.

Ashin Wirathu claimed that 969 is a grass-rootsmovement without fundingfrom power-ful or wealthy people. Its publicity stickersare printedand distributedby ordinary people

who act out of concern for the ir country, hesaid.

Despite his claims, several vendors atMandalay market said the stickers are dis-tributed by monksfromAshin Wirathusmon-astery.

Ashin Gambira, a former monk and leaderof the 2007 Saffron Revolution is one of

Ashin Wirathus maincritics. He saidthe monkis breaking the Buddhist precept of rightspeech, which exhorts followers in part toavoid sayinganything thatcouldproveharmfulto others. Accordingto him, anti-Muslim sen-timent was actively promoted by the armyduring its five decades of dictatorship and thehatred is now instilled in the minds of thepeopleto such a degreethatit wouldnot takemuch ofan effortto reviveit atany moment.

Itis amystery whoisbehindthecampaign

and Ashin Wirathu, but many believe they

enjoy the financial support of powerfulpeopThere are also claims that they are followtheplansof hard-line elementsin themilit

who are unwilling to renounce the ir powand are posed to create unrest to reasstheir position. Thefactis that theauthorithave allowed him to go around the counpreachinghis hatred at a particularlydelictime.

Ashin Pum Na Wontha is a 56-year-o

Buddhistmonkwith a longhistoryof politiactivismdating backto 1988.He nowbelonto the Peace Cultivation Network, an orgaisation establishedto promote understandbetween different faiths and communitie

Ina recentinterview conductedat hismoastery in Yangon,he toldSpectrum thatAsh

Wirathu is a merely a puppet motivatedhis vanity and thirst for fame.

Wirathu and the 969 movement recefinancial support from the cronies, he sareferring to a group of about 30 rich mlinked to the military and the governme

who control the nations economy. SeveMuslim businessmen have huge assets anaccording to Ashin Pum Na Wontha, tcronieswouldlike toget theirhandson the

He said he also believes the militaryinvolvedin theviolence,as away todest

ilise the country and have the chancepresent itselfas thesole institutioncapaof re-establishing the lawand order.Accoing to his analysis, the military does n

want to recover full power, as it had followthe 1962 coup of Gen Ne Win, but to back to 1958.

In that year,Ne Win took powertemparily from U Nu, the first prime minister

Myanmar, andestablished a caretaker gernmentthatlasted18 months.At thattimthe army was able to present itself as tdefender of democracy and stability in tcountry.

Inter-religious andcommunaltensions hlong existedin Myanmar beforeGen Ne Wtookfull power in 1962.Anti-Indianand anMuslim riots exploded in Yangon in 19

and1938dueto theresentmentof theMyamarpeopletowards Indianswho hadentethe country with the arrival of the Britcolonisers.As today, theriotswere often inciby Buddhist nationalist monks.

Ne Winand themilitary junta that replachim playedthis religious ultra-nationalist aracist card for the entirety of their ruMuslimsand other non-Buddhists werebarfrom the upper echelons of the army analmost immediately after Ne Wins coup,expelled hundreds of thousands of Indiafrom the country.

He also fostered a sense of a Myanmidentity strongly linked to ethnicity and region, which has been the breeding groufor waves of anti-Muslim violence, like tmost recent one, which threatens to spioutof control andspreadto largepartsof t

country.