Naar schatting tweehonderd boeddhistische monniken hebben in Bangkok (Thailand) geprotesteerd tegen een golf van aanslagen tegen de boeddhistische gemeenschap in Bangladesh. In een vreedzame betoging trokken de demonstranten naar een kantoor van de UN in Bangkok.
De monniken droegen spandoeken en banners met zich mee, met onder meer de tekst ‘Vrede en harmonie’ en ‘Maak een eind aan moslim terreur tegen boeddhisten’. Aan de UN is gevraagd te helpen bij het beëindigen van de gewelddadigheden in Bangladesh. Het afgelopen weekeinde staken boze moslims meer dan tien boeddhistische tempels in brand, legden meer dan veertig woningen in de as en vernielden winkels van boeddhisten. De woede en geweld ontstonden nadat een man van boeddhistische komaf een foto van een brandende Koran op zijn site op Facebook had geplaatst. Volgens de man hebben anderen die foto getagd en aan zijn site gekoppeld. Het is nu weer rustig in het gebied waar de rellen plaatsvonden. De politie heeft 107 relschoppers gearresteerd. Dorpelingen waarvan de woningen vernield zijn, zijn in tentenkampen ondergebracht.
Bronnen: BNN.
Joe zegt
I just saw your magazine, and I am sorry, I do not read Dutch, and I couldn’t access an online translator, but may I ask, do you have an English version of the following article on the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims by the Burmese Buddhist community?
https://boeddhistischdagblad.nl/boeddhistische-monniken-demonstreren-in-bangkok/
Well done for addressing the slaughter /ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Myanmar — I respect that, and I respect the monks for calling for an investigation — disappointingly, the much celebrated leader of ‘democracy’,Aung San Suu Kyi has been totally silent on the Buddhist communities’ slaughter, persecution and expulsion of the Rohinga Muslims.
Professor Asad Abu Khalil, from California State and UC Berkeley has documented it all admirably well here —
http://angryarab.net/?s=rohingya
Joe zegt
“Monks who played a vital role in Burma’s recent struggle for democracy have been accused of fuelling ethnic tensions in the country by calling on people to shun a Muslim community that has suffered decades of abuse.
In a move that has shocked many observers, some monks’ organisations have issued pamphlets telling people not to associate with the Rohingya community, and have blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching them. One leaflet described the Rohingya as “cruel by nature” and claimed it had “plans to exterminate” other ethnic groups.
The outburst against the Rohingya, often described as one of the world’s most oppressed groups, comes after weeks of ethnic violence in the Rakhine state in the west of Burma that has left more than 80 dead and up to 100,000 people living in a situation described as “desperate” by humanitarian organisations. As state-sanctioned abuses against the Muslim community continue, Burma’s president Thein Sein – credited by the international community for ushering in a series of democratic reforms in the country and releasing political prisoners such as Aung San Suu Kyi – has urged neighbouring Bangladesh to take in the Rohingya.
“In recent days, monks have emerged in a leading role to enforce denial of humanitarian assistance to Muslims, in support of policy statements by politicians,” said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan project, a regional NGO. “A member of a humanitarian agency in Sittwe told me that some monks were posted near Muslim displacement camps, checking on and turning away people they suspected would visit for assistance.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-monks-call-for-muslim-community-to-be-shunned-7973317.html
Joop Hoek zegt
Thanks for your comments, Joe. Good fortune.