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Bigotry continues in Myanmar

Mahmood Hasan
ETHNIC discrimination and violence against Muslims has not stopped in Myanmar, despite promises from President Thein Sein.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Human Rights Council appointed Special Rapporteur, visited Myanmar from August 11 to 21 to see for himself the reconciliation efforts between Buddhists and Muslims.
Myanmar has been going through bouts of ethnic violence directed against the minority Muslim community. In June 2012, bloody riots broke out in Rakhine state, killing more than 250 Rohingya Muslims and displacing 200,000. In March 2013, similar riots in Meikhtila cost the lives of 43 Muslims. Thousands of Muslims have fled Myanmar to neighbouring countries fearing more violence. Frequent attacks by Buddhists on Muslims have become routine occurrence. Though the government of President Thein Sein has vowed to stop the violence there has been no improvement in the situation. The United Nations Human Rights Council and UNHCR have been monitoring the situation and providing succour.
What surprised and worried the United Nations was the confrontation Quintana had with an angry mob of Buddhists in Meikhtila, in central Myanmar. Quintana's vehicle was surrounded and pounded by more than 200 Buddhist monks chanting slogans that he leave Myanmar. The government, however, denied any such thing occurred.
Before leaving Yangon, Quintana told newsmen: "I felt totally unprotected during this incident... It gave me an insight into the fear residents would have felt,” when they (Muslims) were chased, beaten and killed by Buddhist mobs.
The Rohingya Muslims lost their citizenship in 1982, when Myanmar's xenophobic dictator General Ne Win promulgated the Citizenship Law. The majority Buddhist population calls the Muslims “Kala," a racist word containing deep hatred. Muslims constitute 5% of the population of 60 million.
What is most worrying is the rise of Ashin Wirathu (35), a Buddhist monk, who likes to call himself "the Burmese bin Laden." Wirathu is head of Mandalay's Masoeyein Monastery and started the anti-Muslim movement known as "969." He draws inspiration from fascism and Nazism and is bigoted to the core. Wirathu was jailed in 2003 for distributing anti-Muslim leaflets and preaching eviction of Muslims from Myanmar. He was released in 2010, when Thein Sein announced his reform and reconciliation process. In September 2012, Wirathu led a rally of monks to promote Thein Sein's controversial plan to send Muslims to a third country.
The weird three digit numerology "969" is a basis for religious violence. The first "9" stands for nine special attributes of Buddha, "6" for the six special attributes of “Dhamma" (Buddha teachings) and last "9" for the nine attributes of Buddhist “Sangha." Wirathu has been campaigning that Buddhists should boycott Muslim businesses and refrain from all kinds of contacts with Muslims. Buddhist-owned shops boldly display "969" to identify themselves. Muslim businesses in central Myanmar and elsewhere are facing closure because of fear of Buddhist frenzy.
The government can stop the violence against Muslims, if it wants to. Actually, Thein Sein is using Wirathu and his 'Sangha' of 2,500 followers to do what the government