Monday, December 5, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Kofi Annan Reportedly ‘Unsettled’ By Lack of Arakanese Cooperation

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 08:31 AM PST

Attendees at a Naypyidaw meeting say the chairman is dissatisfied with the level of Arakanese collaboration with the Arakan State Advisory Commission

The post Kofi Annan Reportedly 'Unsettled' By Lack of Arakanese Cooperation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Refugee Returnees, Govt Reach Housing Agreement

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 06:55 AM PST

Four repatriated families will pay down payments of 1-4 million kyats for apartments in Rangoon's Hlaing Tharyar Township. 

The post Refugee Returnees, Govt Reach Housing Agreement appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Special Branch Police Detain Ta’ang Civilians

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 05:24 AM PST

Civil society and legal representatives have reportedly been unable to meet four remaining detainees, who authorities allege have ties to the TNLA.

The post Special Branch Police Detain Ta'ang Civilians appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rangoon Police Publish Photos of Two Robbery Suspects

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 05:19 AM PST

Ko Shan, the owner of the money exchange shop, says he lost 'about 50 million kyats.'

The post Rangoon Police Publish Photos of Two Robbery Suspects appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia, Don’t Use Burma to Distract from Disquiet at Home

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 05:14 AM PST

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak is using Burma's Rohingya issue to deflect attention from a growing corruption scandal, argues Aung Zaw.

The post Malaysia, Don't Use Burma to Distract from Disquiet at Home appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Government Plans Monthly Meetings to Respond to Business Leaders

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 03:50 AM PST

'Government officials listened to our problems, and they said they would try to solve them.' says Dr. Maung Maung Lay.

The post Government Plans Monthly Meetings to Respond to Business Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawmakers Call for Better Use of International Loans

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 03:44 AM PST

NLD lawmakers call for effective use of international loans that have been provided in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and democratic reform in Burma.

The post Lawmakers Call for Better Use of International Loans appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

History Behind Arakan State Conflict

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 03:30 AM PST

The Irrawaddy revisits this interview with Arakan history expert Dr. Jacques P Leider about the ongoing strife between ethnic groups in the region. 

The post History Behind Arakan State Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Armed Groups Withdraw from Mong Ko to Protect Civilians

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 12:32 AM PST

'We don't want any more of Mong Ko to be burned down.' says TNLA spokesman. 'So we made the decision not to control the town any longer.'

The post Ethnic Armed Groups Withdraw from Mong Ko to Protect Civilians appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Locals Protest Kofi Annan’s Maungdaw Visit

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:01 PM PST

Protests accusing 'interference' greet the commission's first trip to northern Arakan State.

The post Locals Protest Kofi Annan's Maungdaw Visit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s President’s Office Expresses Disappointment with Malaysian Leader

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 09:46 PM PST

'We are really disappointed by his actions. It seems like he was using religion as a stepping stone to garner popular support,' says U Zaw Htay.

The post Burma's President's Office Expresses Disappointment with Malaysian Leader appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysian PM leads protest against ‘genocide’ in Arakan

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 08:49 PM PST

Malaysia has also summoned the Burma ambassador over the issue, and withdrew from two scheduled friendly football matches against Burma this month

The post Malaysian PM leads protest against ‘genocide’ in Arakan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

An Engineer, a Doctor, or a Monk

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 08:14 PM PST

A reflection on the possibilities available to Burmese youth, and the future openings and lingering limits they represent.

The post An Engineer, a Doctor, or a Monk appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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National News

National News

IDP count rises to 600 in Namtu, Nawngcho townships

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 12:29 AM PST

About 600 civilians are now sheltering in Namtu and Nawngcho townships after Shan State clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army forced some among the group to abandon their homes late last week.

Duelling protests as tensions rise between Myanmar and Malaysia

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 12:29 AM PST

As Malaysia's prime minister followed through on a pledge to join a demonstration yesterday against treatment of Muslim Rohingya, Myanmar doubled down on its criticism of the "interference" while nationalists protested in Yangon.

Bank staffers accused of swindling K2 billion

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 12:25 AM PST

Yoma Bank's board of directors has dismissed two senior officers and is bringing legal action against the pair, alleging that they embezzled some K2 billion (US$1.53 million) from customers, according to a press conference held by the lender over the weekend.

‘Terrorist’ label for alliance voted down

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 12:23 AM PST

The National League for Democracy majority in parliament shot down an urgent proposal to classify the groups fighting in northern Shan State as "terrorist organisations". The proposal was submitted to the Pyithu Hluttaw by MP U Maung Thin (USDP; Meiktila).

China eyes high speed railway as part of One Belt, One Road strategy

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:48 PM PST

A superfast railway will connect Myanmar's cities, cutting the journey time from Muse, Shan State, to Yangon to one hour. That was the claim made by China's consul general in a recent meeting in Mandalay.

Minister suggests ‘sharing plan’ could help lift Myanmar from LDC status

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:44 PM PST

A Union minister has said he was misunderstood after his suggestion that the nation forgo tea drinking and contribute the pocket money to infrastructure development sparked controversy last week.

Mogok eyes Bernard Village as potential tourist destination

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:42 PM PST

Mandalay officials want to incorporate a 120-year-old former British base situated in the heart of ruby land into the Mogok municipal area. The move is anticipated to bolster tourism to Mandalay region's mountainous north-eastern frontier.

Refugees repatriated from Thailand counter offer on low-cost housing in Yangon

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:39 PM PST

Seventeen Myanmar refugees who have been left homeless since their recent repatriation from Thailand may soon be able to purchase low-cost housing thanks to an agreement negotiated by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the Yangon Region government.

Deputy minister promises changes to Myanmar’s National Education Law

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 11:35 PM PST

The Ministry of Education has announced that steps are underway to reform the country's National Education Law in accordance with students' concerns. But the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), the umbrella organisation for all student unions in the country, says the committee tasked with revising the law has yet to directly contact unions or students for input.

Hot springs near Nay Pyi Taw reopen for high season visits

Posted: 04 Dec 2016 10:44 PM PST

In the latest bid to boost Nay Pyi Taw tourism, local hoteliers are promoting hot springs in the area.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

Anti-Buddhist Media and Myanmar: Complex Regional and Historical Dynamics

Posted: 05 Dec 2016 04:10 AM PST

The mass media in both the West and Islamic world needs to find space in order to simplify hatred. It matters not if turning a blind eye to Sunni Takfiri massacres in Syria and the nations that are endorsing this, nor that in Myanmar's recent history more Christians than any other non-Buddhist faith group have been killed based on ethnic and religious tensions. Instead, the simple version – while negating the Christian angle – is that Muslims are killed and targeted by radical Buddhists.


Ironically, the latest chain of events began after Muslims killed nine police officers in Rakhine state. International Crisis Group reports, "The attacks were carried out by Muslims, according to both government statements and local sources. An unverified video of the attackers, filmed in the wake of the attacks, has been circulating on social networks and seems legitimate. In it, one of the group calls on "all Rohingya around the world to prepare for jihad and join them". This, the need for local knowledge to carry out the assaults, and the difficulty of moving large numbers of people around this area are all suggestive of local Muslim involvement – possibly organized with some outside support. However, many details of who exactly organized this and how remain unclear."

Myanmar is blighted by many internal rebellions and is struggling on the path to democracy. Indeed, while the mass media is focused on the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, you have other continuing convulsions that are well outside Buddhist-Muslim issues. For example, Myanmar News reports,"About 3,000 Myanmar citizens fled across the border after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Arakan Army (AA) staged a coordinated attack on military outposts, police stations, and a trade center in Muse and Kutkai townships. Ten people were killed and 33 others were injured during fighting on Nov. 20-22."

Free Burma Rangers equally highlights the recent conflict between central authorities and different ethnic groups – many who are mainly Christian. In this incidence, the Free Burma Rangers reports, "In the last month sporadic fighting in two separate incidents was reported in Central Shan State between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S). The clashes were deliberate actions by the Burma military and corresponded with the deployment and rotation of two separate Burma Army infantry battalions in the region. The attacks came within the first anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which was signed October 15th, 2015… The attacks caused thousands of people in the region to flee, with rangers reporting over 2,000 people displaced and living in nearby IDP camps."

UCA News reported last month, "At least 30,000 people from different faiths and ethnic groups were estimated to have taken part in a demonstration in Myanmar's northern Kachin State on Oct. 22 where they demanded an end to military operations in the region… Protestors, including Catholic priests and nuns, held placards that read, "stop civil war" and "may there be peace in Myanmar" on the streets in Myitkyina, the capital city of Kachin State."

UCA News continues, "The fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military in Kachin and Shan states is considered the most severe of the country's four ongoing conflicts."

In other words, countless issues are underreported because it doesn't suit the simplistic anti-Buddhist agenda in relation to the Rohingya Muslim crisis. Myanmar is clearly faced with countless ethnic and religious issues – alongside the road to democracy, countering poverty, narcotics, and the legacy of history. Despite this, the media is fixated on a one-dimensional approach – just like the mass media response to the crisis in Syria based on utterly biased reporting.

In a regional context it is abundantly clear that certain Buddhist clerics are disillusioned and aghast at the cleansing of Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, countless terrorist attacks by Islamists against Buddhists in Southern Thailand, the destruction of holy Buddhist places in Afghanistan by Sunni Takfiris, endless Han migration to Tibet in order to dilute the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, and other issues, for example Buddhism is illegal in nations like Saudi Arabia (the same Sunni Islamist nation is intent on spreading Salafi Islam into the heart of Buddhism). Therefore, from the point of view of Buddhist clerics in Myanmar who support the protection of Buddhism internationally, then regional and historical realities are being neglected by a simplified Western and Islamic media bias.

Internationally, Sunni Takfiri Islamists are killing various non-Muslim faith groups and minority Muslim sects, including the endless butchering of Shia Muslims in many nations. Similarly, while Hinduism is in free fall in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the opposite can't be stated for Islam in India. In other words, the endless one-way civilization war equally applies to the Indian subcontinent. Not surprisingly, and with Buddhists being cleansed in neighboring nations, then militancy within Buddhist circles in Myanmar is deemed to be self-defensive. After all, historically, Buddhists understand full well that Islamic invading armies destroyed countless numbers of holy Buddhist monasteries and places of learning over many centuries. Indeed, while Christian and Muslim slavery of black Africans is a historical reality, with Muslim slavery starting first on a major scale in Africa and ending last (still issues of slavery in Mauritania and in the recent history of Sudan), then the Buddhist view in certain circles in Myanmar is based on self-preservation, the need for an alternative voice to be heard, and to tackle mass distortions.

Media outlets that condemn Buddhists in Myanmar are neglecting the reality of what Sharia Islamic law means to faith groups including Buddhists and Hindus. Are these religious minorities equal in Islamic Sharia states? Can Buddhist males freely marry Muslim females in nations like Saudi Arabia? The answers are obvious because non-Abrahamic faiths have been treated brutally under Islamic Sharia law throughout history. Likewise, in modern day Saudi Arabia if a Buddhist male fell in love with a Muslim Saudi female then he would face prison – or death in accordance with the tenets of Islamic Sharia. Yet, you don't see major Western and Islamic media outlets stressing "Islamic fascism" and so forth but similar labels are aimed at Buddhist clerics in Myanmar.

Similarly, in Myanmar – and nobody is negating that massacres have taken place against Muslims in this nation – the simple reality is that more Christians belonging to various ethnic groups, for example, the Chin, Karen, and Kachin, have been killed than any other non-Buddhist faith group. Despite this, over the many decades you never had the same outpouring of "good" against "evil," or headlines stressing "Christian genocide" to anything like the degree of the Muslim focus in modern day Myanmar. In other words, an agenda by the Western and Islamic media is at hand whereby Sunni Takfiris will manipulate a biased media – just like the endless rhetoric against Syria – in order to propagate more Sunni Islamist militancy in nations like Bangladesh.

Massacres and intimidation have happened on both sides in Myanmar but like Kosovo, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, you have a favorable Western and Sunni Muslim media joint angle opposed to the brutal one-sided other. Similarly, the Christian angle of alienation and persecution in Myanmar is being reduced to a completely different way of reporting. Once more the mass media is stoking fires based on the usual one-sided agenda. Therefore, Sunni Islamists in Bangladesh who are killing secularists, writers, and persecuting religious minorities, will gain from one-sided distortions. The same equally applies to the Sunni Islamist Takfiri agenda including ISIS (Islamic State – IS), al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and a plethora of other sectarian and terrorist groups – and to certain nations including Saudi Arabia that bans all non-Muslim holy places throughout the entire nation.

Myanmar needs honest brokers to help this nation overcome decades of complex issues. Sabre rattling by the media and United Nations will only lead to further bloodshed because sooner or later international jihadists will enter the fray.

Michiyo Tanabe and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

http://www.myanmarnews.net/index.php/sid/249646815

https://crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/myanmar-border-attacks-fuel-tensions-rohingya-muslim-minority

http://www.freeburmarangers.org/2016/11/08/shan-state-update-the-national-ceasefire-accord-violated-as-clashes-between-burma-army-and-rcss-troops-echo-in-central-shan-state/

http://www.ucanews.com/news/protestors-plead-for-end-to-civil-war-in-myanmars-north/77446
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