Anti-Muslim Buddhists protest in Myanmar

Anti-Muslim Buddhists held protests in Myanmar Sunday against a government decree that orders officials to use “Muslim communities in Rakhine State” when referring to the Rohingya.

The demonstrations were held in over 15 towns in the western state of Rakhine, including its capital, Sittwe, in a show of opposition to the recent edict by the government, which has been issued in an attempt to contain sectarian tension.

“We reject the term 'Muslim communities in Rakhine State',” said Kyawt Sein, the protest organizer in Sittwe.

Myanmar’s government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as citizens. They have been denied Myanmar citizenship since a new citizenship law was enacted in 1982.

The Rohingya call themselves by this name, but Buddhists identify them as “Bengalis,” meaning they are immigrants from Bangladesh.

Hideous anti-Muslim sentiments among the radical Buddhists in Myanmar have led to numerous deadly attacks against about one million Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine. About 140,000 of the Muslims have been forced into living in overcrowded, decrepit and fetid displacement camps or even compelled to flee abroad for fear of prosecution.

SS