Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Mandalay riots reveal splintered community, complex agendas

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 10:43 AM PDT

It has become a depressingly familiar scene, repeated across disparate parts of Burma over the past year and a half: communities collapsing from within, neighbours attacking neighbours, a clash of existential narratives predicated on mutually exclusive notions of belonging and national identity.

Last week, Mandalay, Burma's second-largest city, finally succumbed. At around midnight on 2 July, Tun Tun, 36, was hacked to death by unknown assailants, making him the first casualty of the latest round of unrest. A Buddhist and a self-employed metalworker from Patheingyi Township, he was also a volunteer driver for a social assistance group run by a monk, U Ottama, out of the Shwe Kyay Si monastery located at the foot of Yankin Hill in suburban Mandalay. While he was reported to have been involved in the attacks on Muslim targets in the city centre, his friend Htwe Lu, 24, who survived the attack, denies this.

"Tun Tun and I went to pick up our friend at around midnight. There was a group on 84th street that pointed flashlights at us and told us to stop our motorbikes. They asked us where we were going," Htwe Lu said.

Their assailants – who Htwe Lu identified as Muslims – demanded their money and mobile phones; Htwe Lu managed to run away, and claims to have returned a few minutes later to find Tun Tun lying bloodied and unresponsive on the street.

While the circumstances surrounding Tun Tun's death might be explained away as a robbery gone wrong, Htwe Lu believes greed played a minimal role in the attack.

"In my view, by killing a Buddhist and leaving his body in the road, it is a challenge for other Buddhist people.” he said.

That this attack came a day after Mandalay's Muslim quarter was rocked with interreligious violence between Muslims and Buddhists is no coincidence. Catalysed by online rumours that a Muslim tea-shop owner raped a Buddhist employee, a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the Sun teashop in Mandalay's Muslim quarter on 1 July, demanding revenge on behalf of the alleged rape victim – a figure whose existence remains disputed. The crowd soon dispersed around the neighbourhood, destroying cars and throwing rocks at Muslim-owned businesses.

"In my view, by killing a Buddhist and leaving his body in the road, it is a challenge for other Buddhist people.” said Htwe Lu, a friend of Tun Tun.

This marks the latest in a string of attacks on Muslim targets in central Burma over the past eighteen months. Although the violence has subsided for now, the underlying tensions that led to the riots have not diminished, and may yet catalyse another round of violence in the future. With nation-wide elections scheduled to occur next year, Burma's government is wary of alienating what has become an increasingly militant Buddhist nationalist lobby, and elements within the government may be capitalising on anti-Muslim sentiment in an attempt to bolster the legitimacy of ongoing reforms and deflect attention away from other fundamental issues.

"I think they want to slow down those tensions, and divert the tensions against the Muslim people," a Muslim interfaith activist, who did not want to be named for his safety, told DVB.

As far as U Ottama is concerned, however, Buddhist anger is a legitimate response to Muslim aggression. When the monk heard about the violence on Tuesday, he claims he went to the scene in an attempt to defuse tensions along with his mentor, the well-known Galon Nyi Sayadaw.

He pins the blame for Mandalay's troubles squarely on Muslim shoulders.

"It is inappropriate to break Muslim property, but on the other hand, Buddhists have been abused by the Muslim people. They feel it is unfair, and want to fight back," U Ottama said. "If they can't fight back, they will let out their anger by breaking property, because they can't beat Muslim people."

Tun Tun's funeral was held on Friday, and his body was transported to the cemetery in a hearse owned by U Ottama's organisation. Banners picturing his dead body, lying in a pool of blood, and accompanied by an announcement that he had been "killed by Muslims" were hung on both sides of the van.

The funeral procession made a pointed detour away from the cremation ground to Mandalay's city centre. As it circled the moat around the palace, a crowd of men on motorcycles – brandishing sticks and swords – chanted nationalist and anti-Muslim slogans.

When the procession reached the cemetery, individuals within the crowd migrated to an adjacent Muslim section where they defaced Muslim graves and burned down the home of the Muslim caretaker.

U Ottama does not believe that the inflammatory sign placed on the hearse constitutes rabble rousing, nor does he believe that it could contribute to further violence.

"We don't intend it [to cause violence]. But everybody should know, to protect themselves. We don't want things like this to happen in the future," he said.

Roughly five hours after Tun Tun's killing, Soe Min, a second-hand bicycle dealer, was bludgeoned to death just before sunrise by unknown assailants as he cycled to morning prayers at a local mosque.

Although Soe Min was well-known for his support of grassroots interfaith initiatives, his friends were dismissive of the notion that he had been singled out by enemies seeking revenge.

"Most of these riots that happen around Burma have many similarities. First, a Muslim guy is accused of rape, and second, a very angry mob comes and the police aren't taking enough action against them. Then, they search Muslims' homes, properties, et cetera," a friend of Soe Min's, who did not want to be named out of fear for his safety, told DVB.

"You may remember the 2007 Saffron Revolution, and how [the government] cracked down," he said. "That was a movement against the government, so it was cracked down within an hour, within a day."

"They have all the information. If they want to prevent these incidents they can. Intentionally, they let it happen."

In late 2007, tens of thousands of monks took to the streets, initially to protest a massive spike in fuel prices. The protests soon transformed into a broader call for democratic freedoms. In the crackdown that ensued, images of soldiers beating up monks caused the military junta's already-shaky public standing to plummet, a crisis of legitimacy that in no small part contributed to the timing of the constitutional referendum less than a year later and the process of ongoing reforms that has ensued.

Both Buddhists and Muslims interviewed for this article expressed frustration at the unresponsiveness of the police, who have been criticised for standing idly by while mobs run amok in bouts of communal strife across the country.

U Ottama admits that the police do not want to be perceived as cracking down on Buddhists, although he claims their enforcement of the law is biased towards Muslims – a belief Mandalay's Muslims vehemently deny.

"If the police were to respond to the rioters by arresting them, it would only make people angrier. That's why the police don't crack down, and why this problem keeps happening," he said. "First, they have to arrest the Muslim people who rape and beat people. After, then, they can go after the criminals who break property; that would be fair. Otherwise, it's not fair."

In the wake of the violence in Mandalay last week, a semblance of normalcy has returned to Burma's second-largest city, despite a curfew imposed on seven townships that has left the streets eerily quiet from nine in the evening to five o'clock the following morning.

“If [the government] wants to prevent these incidents they can. Intentionally, they let it happen," said a friend of Soe Min.

The rioters' motivations and identities remain opaque and disputed. A large number came to the city centre from outlying areas like Patheingyi, with some possibly originating further afield. A Mandalay-based social activist told DVB that he sees the government's hand in stimulating the latest bout of violence, an allegation that has historical precedence in Burma, but which has proven difficult to verify.

He believes that some of the rioters may have also been involved in anti-Muslim attacks in Lashio last May, a theory implying the existence of a shadowy, state-backed anti-Muslim militia.

"We didn't see local Mandalay people joining [the attacks]. Most of the Buddhist community is against this violence," he said "One thing is sure: they are very well-organised. If you have 200 or 300 people just going around, we can't find them in the town, they just disappear.”

"The Ministry of Home Affairs didn't order the police to shoot, or control the situation well,” he said. "Even if other ministries [want] them to act, they don't dare to intervene.”

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Bullet Points

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 04:37 AM PDT

On today’s edition of Bullet Points:

Special Branch police raided the offices of the Noon Day Sun journal late on Monday night.

Four activists in Chin State, who have been charged with violating the protest law, appeared in court in Rezua on Tuesday.

The Thai-based Women's League of Burma met the National Ceasefire Coordination Team in Chiang Mai to discuss sexual violence in conflict.

More than 100 children who work in teashops in Rangoon are taking part in a summer internship alongside volunteers from Hong Kong.

 

You can watch Bullet Points on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.

Teashop kids get second chance in class

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 04:29 AM PDT

Over one hundred children who work in teashops in Rangoon are benefiting from a summer internship with volunteers from Hong Kong.

The Myanmar Mobile Education Project works to alleviate poverty and the abuses associated with child labour by providing less fortunate children in the city with free education.

A charitable organisation set up by Burmese exiles in New York, the group sponsors a renovated bus which carries a team of volunteer teachers across Rangoon to offer classes.

As the project has expanded, classes have moved off the bus and into city teashops. Teashops are a common workplace for young children, earning money to contribute to their family's income. Since the initiative was forged in January 2014, classes have drawn a lot of attention from eager students. Teashop owners have come on board too, signing up to the project which allows working kids the chance to learn for a few hours a day.

Some 120 child labourers are now enrolled in the Myanmar Mobile Education Project programme, for which the mobile classroom has teamed up with City University in Hong Kong and is offering the students a six-month summer internship.

A team of teachers and student volunteers from the university has arrived in Burma to get the programme started.

The classes will focus on tutoring the children but will also teach them life skills such as building social relationships and personal hygiene.

Tim Maung Maung Aye is project manager at the foundation's headquarters in New York.

"We have been planning this [project] with the children for the past few months. [We take into account] what to teach, the age range of children at the designated teashop, their background and education level," he said.

"Based on these details, we decided what subjects to teach."

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Most of the children who work in Rangoon's teashops come from rural areas. They came to the city looking for work to support their families back home.

For the children, it could be a second chance to gain a better education and escape a life of poverty.

For more on the Myanmar Mobile Education Project, visit their site here.

 

Editors detained after Suu Kyi takeover report

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 04:00 AM PDT

Three editors of the Bi Mon Te Nay (literally "Bi-Noonday Sun") weekly news journal are being questioned by Rangoon police over a front-page report published on Monday claiming Aung San Suu Kyi and some ethnic leaders had been installed in an interim government.

On 7 July, activist group the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF), marking the anniversary of a 1962 massacre at Rangoon University, distributed copies of a statement to passers-by in front of the Rangoon City Hall claiming Suu Kyi and prominent ethnic leaders had been appointed by "the people" to form an interim government.

That same morning, Bi Mon Te Nay published its issue for the week, but with a print date of 11 July; the front-page headline screamed in red: "The MDCF states the people have appointed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic democracy forces as the interim government".

On Tuesday, state-run media announced that the government was preparing to take action against the journal over the article, because it "may cause misunderstanding among the readers and defamation of the government, undermine the stability of the state, and damage public interests."

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Aung Aung, chief reporter of Bi Mon Te Nay journal, told DVB on Tuesday that three editors of the journal had been apprehended by the Special Intelligence Department (commonly known as the Special Branch) just after midnight.

"The Special Branch came for two of our editors around 12:30 and the editor-in-charge around 4am – they are still under interrogation at the police office on Pansodan Road," he said via phone on Tuesday afternoon.

"The police also came to the journal office this afternoon and seized three computers."

MDCF member Than Than Maw said the group's Rangoon division coordinator Naung Naung was also arrested by the police around 1am on Tuesday.

Rangoon abbot evicted from Dala monastery over ownership dispute

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 02:52 AM PDT

The Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, the country's highest Buddhist order, evicted an abbot from a monastery in Rangoon's Dala Township that is currently in the middle of an ownership dispute with the government-backed committee.

Abbot Kuthala said he was summoned on Sunday by the Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, commonly referred to as the mahana, and ordered to leave Kan-U Monastery. The Sangha Maha Nayaka claimed that the monastery belongs to a committee member, Pawara, and they threatened Kuthala with legal action if he failed to comply.

"The mahana cited a complaint by U Parawa and ordered me to depart from the monastery or else I will face legal action," Kuthala said.

However, hundreds of Dala Township residents are now protesting the monkhood's orders, in support of Kuthala. According to the residents, Kan-U monastery was in a dire state of disrepair after it was donated to Pawara about seven years ago.

"The old monastery building was in a very bad shape to the point that we feared it would come crumbling down on our heads while we were inside," said Kyin Sein, a local supporter of Kuthala. "Abbot Kuthala supervised the renovation with donations from local residents."

With donations from the residents, they were able to renovate Kan-U Monastery, and they re-inaugurated it in dedication to Kuthala, she said. "We could only chip in 100 kyat (US$0.10) a day each until we saved enough to buy materials for the renovation."

Unlike Kuthala, who was always present, Pawara only has shown up once since he received the donation of the monastery, Kyein Sein said, claiming that it was only after the previously rickety structure was transformed into a two-storey building that he began contesting the ownership of the monastery.

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Several residents have erected a signboard outside the monastery rejecting Pawara's ownership claim. They maintain that the site belongs to Kuthala as they had rebuilt it with their own money and donated it to him.

DVB was unable to reach Pawara for comment.

Last month, the mahana sponsored a raid against another Rangoon monastery, the Mahasantisukha monastery, which is also undergoing an ownership dispute between the committee and Penang Sayadaw, a prominent Buddhist leader. The raid drew outrage across the country.

NGO calls for laws to protect women and children

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 11:57 PM PDT

Speaking with representatives of the ethnic bloc Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) and members of 12 Burmese political parties in Chiang Mai on Monday, general-secretary of the Thailand-based Women's League of Burma (WLB) Tin Tin Nyo called for political support to amend the Burmese Constitution to put laws in place to protect women and children from abuse.

Speaking to DVB on Monday, Tin Tin Nyo said, "We stressed at the meeting that we believe it is necessary to amend the 2008 Constitution as it protects those who violate women's rights. We also urge the various parties in the peace process to help adopt policies that will ensure justice and security for women."

Tin Tin Nyo added that she called for efforts in parliament to legally protect women who may be subjected to sexual violations by the army. "They [other representatives] said the parliament has been working on protecting women from violence, but a law was yet to be passed," she said.

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Hkyet Hting Nan, chairman of the United Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS) and ethnic affairs committee secretary in Burma's upper house, said, "What we learned from the WLB made our hearts heavy – women have significance both in society and the government. However, they are not provided much role or priority during conflicts, and it's usually women and children who suffer the most."

He said such meetings should be held more frequently as they allow organisations based both inside and outside Burma to better understand each other.

"We believe that having frequent meetings like this will allow us to work more efficiently to bring about democratic reforms and peace in the country," he said.

"We are pleased to learn that the NCCT has been working continuously towards establishing a nationwide ceasefire, and will meet a government delegation again in the coming months – a very positive sign."

He added that having a chance to meet directly with the WLB would allow his party members a better understanding of the situation of women and children in conflict and encourage a sense of responsibility to bring an end to the fighting.

Dr. Manam Tuja, chairman of the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP), also hailed the NCCT's engagement with Naypyidaw as a positive sign for peace in the country.

"I see these step-by-step developments undertaken by the NCCT as positive; moving forward," said Manam Tuja, who is the former vice-chairman of the ethnic armed group Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).

"We learned that the NCCT has a series of meetings lined up – among ethnic groups and also with the Myanmar Peace Centre."

The Burmese political party representatives, while in Thailand for the meeting, are also due to visit Bangkok where they will study electoral procedures.

More than 360 arrested following Mandalay riots

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 08:58 PM PDT

As many as 362 people have been arrested in Mandalay following communal violence in the city last week. Police said that the majority of arrests have come from breaking a dusk-to-dawn curfew, which is still in place. Sixteen people have been arrested for their part in Tuesday night’s riots; charges include illegal possession of weapons such as clubs and swords.

Two men – one Muslim, one Buddhist – were killed by lynch mobs following the anti-Muslim violence in Burma’s second largest city. Police said they are still investigating the deaths, "but the principal suspects in the deaths were not among those detained and were still being sought", a police statement said.

On Monday, the Burmese President's Office issued a statement thanking the residents of Mandalay for their assistance and vigilance during the communal violence.

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"Although, we cannot list all the names of the Mandalay residents who informed the authorities in a timely manner on movements during the riots, they are all appreciated for their sense of responsibility and duty," the statement said. "The effort of Buddhist monks, religious and community leaders, as well as civil society members and responsible youths, who provided assistance to each other, regardless of faith, to prevent misunderstandings at a delicate time, should be seriously thanked.

"We would like to humbly urge everyone to continue to cooperate with the government and the police if similar situations break out in the future to protect the city of Mandalay and maintain its deep-rooted interfaith harmony. "

However, several outstanding questions remainas to the role that local authorities, police officers and Buddhist monks played in last Tuesday's riots, and rumours are rife that the rioters were well-organised and brought in from out of town.

Meanwhile, on Monday, regional Mandalay MP Tin Tin Mar accused the rioters of being high on drugs.

 
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