In British rule in Burma, Britishers invited Bangladeshis muslims to work in their fields or to do small manual jobs as that time Buddhist people were not working hard as per Britishers wish. As Rohingyas are migrated from Bangladesh, they could claim lands or state for themselves and always worked for their families. They neither mingled with other ethnic group of Burma due to being their language absolutely different from other languages of Burma. Yes, Rohingyas are of Bangladeshis origin but they lived in Burma for at least 150 years. Burmese Government should give them their citizenship cards.
Are you suggesting that Daw Aung San Su Kyi has to follow your stylish but substanceless, dreamful but “never-work” rhetorics
such as love and peace, everyone is human, including such terror
causing invaders, land grabbers, etc..?
Who are we to judge her?
Who are you to judge her?
Believing in democracy is not equal to sucking everyone, we have
responsibilities and rights to fight for our locals and land. We may
respect human rights but that human rights do not include we open
doors to every criminals and thugs, militant jihadists to come to our
land. We have rights whom we will accept or reject. It is you who has
to adopt our customs, our cultures and not the other way around.
Western observers? My arse! At the end of the day, they will not be
there when our grandchildren throats will got cut or engage in more
severe battles to kick the arses of the grandsons of those invaders.
Having good relations and nice-guy image is preferrable but it must
not be the end goal for Burma. It is our home and we make sure we
are safe first before we give a damn what our neighbours think of us.
Please do not try your Khaw Taw Ka Lar Chittagongian’s templates,
they may work with some Nelly the naive, Grace the gullible who goes
for any good actors performing the role of underdog in media, but not
with us. We have know you for 50 years or 100 years and so we know
what you have eaten yesterday. Stop using templates. Be innovative as you have now started an all-out invasion to us. Don’t be scare we
will be gentle, we know it is first time you are caught with evidence.
Now the world knows your true colours. These are the days we have
been waiting to expose who you really are, Chittagongian Bengalis!
The last coup had a lot of people unhappy with the government and there were corruption calls directed ay the leader. Although many would not have been happy about it, it was over quick enough.
This time the government is not widely unpopular and don’t appear any more corrupt that the usual completely corrupt government. Can’t see that Yingluk has done anything to offend anyone including the monarchists. Can’t see a coup this time being well received and accepted, this time it could get quite bloody, what possible justification could the army fabricate?
Artur, thanks for both your comments of #94 & 96. I am certain, many of us have made our deductions and concluded what Bertil has said ASSK vis-a-vis the government. But, a lot of the comments made here were outright racism and promoting hate crimes rather than calling a spade a spade and trying to overcome the current situation. Perhaps those who made those comments with racist overtones are either trolls paid by the instigators of this situation or just pure ignorant, intolerant racist bigots. Especially saddens me when they say they are doing it in the name of Buddhism.
I am not agreeing to a Rohingya state or recognition of Rohingyas as an ethnic group of Burma. However, I am for all those Rohingyas who were born and raised in Burma to be Burmese citizens and have equal rights as any other Burmese guaranteed under the Constitution (although not much at the moment). We all have suffered enough under successive military governments.
We have witnessed and seen these before with the Chinese riots in the 60s when Ne Win wanted to divert peoples’ attention from rice shortages when he himself was half Chinese. Now I wonder where the protests on electricity shortage is. Old tactics are still used as Burma has been closed for so long and peoples’ attitude haven’t changed much, thus they still work. It is not to be seen as a condescending comment but just a reality check. We still have a long way to catch up even to our neighbors, let alone the rest of the world and we do not need this as an image to be seen by the world and the investors who will no doubt contribute to the economic development of Burma.
I have been away from Burma for 23 years and I have longed to go back and contribute to the economic development and provide opportunities to the young generation the kind of opportunities we did not have when we were young, but what is happening in Burma is making me think very hard.
I hope ASSK will have her policy statement on this matter soon if she wants to be seen as a true future leader of Burma that represents everyone from Myitkyina to Tavoy.
My thoughts and prayers with all those who suffered enormously from this on both sides.
Widely respected and well-informed SE Asia journalist Bertil Lintner (in interview with Edward Loxton for This Week) says the Burma military might be the hidden hand behind the upsurge in inter-ethnic violence in western Burma as part of an overall plan to undermine ASSK and slow or stop the opening and reform process.
Some claim that the brutal rape and murder of a local girl started this saga.
I think it is just the spark, the catalyst, the pretext for patriots and invaders.
Whatever it is, that tragic but trivial event is alike the toppings on the tip
of the ice berg as big as Antarctica. The real culprit was the porous border
and the deliberate import of Chittagongian Bengali labour – I do not blame
those tenants or peasants as they will take every opportunity to advance
their own interests. But we Burmese are not animals too. We too have our
own interests to protest.
As time passed by some of those new comers bring in new comers and they
become ambitious, hence those Bengali Mujaheeds rebelled against first Burmese democratic government which gave every citizens regardless of
gender, race and religion a vote to express their preference for ruling leaders.
Burma does not have slavery. Saudi Arabia on the other hand still practised
slavery till 1962. Burma offered votes for women since 1945. Are western
media darling’s Al Jiera’s host country permit voting of women? Burma has
one of the most beautiful cathedrals in CBD, so are the mosques. Do Dubai
has one? Does Jordan have one? Burma boast one of the oldest Mosques in
CBD too. Are there any Buddhist temples build in Saudi Arabia? Why dont
you guys point a finger to Saudi before pointing finger to us saying we are
intolerant as that hurt our pride. We are the most laid back easy going folks
and that led us to this mess. Sai Babu should think before he was misled or
he tried to mislead the readers.
What we see is that media agencies, NGOs and opposition in exile are also
working with Rohingya and also some hard liners inside Burma, inevitably
some of us (on both sides are racists, bigoted haters) and so we got into this.
But this Rohingya issue started as imported labour to illegal immigration to full-blown invasion or land grabbing operation of this scale.
Per video in link below, Burma’s 8888 Generation supposedly pro-democracy, pro-human rights leaders held a press conference in Yangoon on June 8th for the express purpose of denouncing the Rohingya as non-citizens of Burma who have no claim to any rights, residency or sympathy.
Watching this press conference, the expressions on the 8888 Generation leaders’ faces, their body language, listening to their words, will probably come as a shock to most Western observers I would guess. It’s as if the 8888 Generations’s 20 to 30 years of struggle and credibility disappear down the drain in front of your eyes.
I might be wrong, but it seems to me if An San Suu Kyi doesn’t make a clear statement as to her and her party’s attitude and stance in regard to the Rohingya situation while she has such a large media platform on her European trip, during her visit to Oslo to accept her Nobel Peace Prize, her own reputation, international stature and standing is also at risk.
Facebook is where anyone can open account Sai Babu can be
John O’Neill, Juicy May Lay can be Margaret Watote, John
the bigot can become Tom the liberal.
Any conjecture based on such sources are not reliable, any
quotes made on FB’s comments are not news worthy.
Burmese exile media agencies such as DVB can also shut
down their own servers and saying Hacker bareback lovers
have harmed our servers for hatred of Dr. wanna be Malik
the moron, Dr. Maung Ne the naive, or plain simple Ghaby
the gullible or (Homer) Simpson the stupid. But I wonder
are some academics with glorified diplomes are joining in
this chorus, saying “Well, this FB account is asking for the
heads of Rohingya, so he must be a Burmese and Buddhist!”
What a wonderful logic! How about thinking “Are there any
external or internal forces at work, Burmese may mistrust
the outsiders and they are xenophobic but are those Rohingyas
really spotless saints victimised by Burmese. Are their pains,
self-inflicted? Is Bangladesh also responsible for them too?
What motivate them to choose Burma rather than the land of
their ancestors while Burma itself can only offer livable land,
fresh water, access to South East Asia. While those are the
incentives for an immigrant who enter into Burma illegally,
what are the motivations of their leaders? Have they been
benefiting from donor money, do they get support from the
agents such as Saudi Arabia, etc.. Where do they get the $$
to lobby US congress, etc.. So those are the questions ANU
researchers should seek.
The comment by much quoted expert Nicholas Farrelly that online comments are part of the story but they are NOT the only story and stating on the record that He dose not think these sentiments are not all that widely held in Burmese Buddhist society is very very much newsworthy.
I’m not saying I agree with Lintner (it’s a bit too speculative for my taste, but he does know a lot about Burmese politics and “ethnic conflicts”)
Since I have posted a few times here, I should mention that I was born in Burma. In fact, I think, I am half Rakhine, but I’m not so sure. I never thought these things were important when I was growing up in Burma in the 50’s. My school-mates were probably from a variety of “ethnic backgrounds”, but as a young boy I didn’t really care about these things. Later in life, I once had to fill up a census form in the US and I left the slot on “race” empty. You know, this question about whether you’re Caucasian, Jew, Hispanic, South Asian, Oriental, Black blah blah blah. What nonsense is that! It’s all done in the name of “affirmative action” etc. I don’t know about Australia, but in the US this racial classification is still a big deal. I sometimes joke to my “white” friends, when they use the word Caucasian, whether their grandfather was born in the Caucasus mountains (by the way, people in continental Europe don’t use the word Caucasian for whites). Aren’t we all descended from African ancestors? I am even proud of the amphibians that gave rise to mammals and “finally” to our so “enlightened” species called “homo sapiens”. Sapiens (wise) indeed!
Coming back to Violet Cho’s article, I of course, agree that concepts like “race” and “religion” are constructed by human societies to fulfill certain functions (whether they are good or bad for us is a different question) and people in Burma (and elsewhere) should just lighten up (I’m not talking about skin-colour here!) and think more about the common future of our children on this fragile planet, rather than digging up old history books trying to bask in the “glorious” past (especially military conquests and territorial claims and stuff like that). That stuff is sooo yesterday (as my kids would say). The earth is old and Burma’s history is just a blip in time.. I’m not saying we should forget the past but intelligent people can get over it! So wake up and try to build a tolerant, just and peaceful society. GDP growth and conspicuous consumption is not that important, but I would wish better health and education (especially in science and technology) for all the children of Burma (and of the whole world for that matter).
May they become homo sapientior (wiser)!
Appreciate your follow-up; I take your advice well. There’s no doubt we need to be careful with how we explain such a messy situation — and that is not an easy task. I’m always open to suggestions about how analysis, and efforts to communication it clearly, can be improved.
My sense is that you and I perhaps aren’t far apart in how we see this situation. I am very happy to focus on those common understandings and the shared interpretive mission that follows.
True that there are despicable comments written in free and easy outlets. And it is most certainly not caused by the mainstream media. And true it is newsworthy.
But the suggestion that the Buddhist Burmese do not respect Muslim like they do to the Christian minority is not called for. Neither is the speculation that extremist Buddhists are trying to purge the Rohingya. Or interpretation that the anti- Rohingya is blurred into anti -Muslim.
Things are bad as they are but when someone, especially an expert comes along and put a label it becomes that label. Before that, it was simply a stupid loose, if objectionable, talk.
Here there Is potentially more danger than the Thai situation which is strictly domestic.
All it was requested was please do not interpret in the worst possible light as it may be fulfilled.
I struggle to see where the media is glorifying this rhetoric or why they should be responsible for the vitriol of online haters.
We are all trying to make sense of it, put it in context, compare it to other situations (Thailand, May 2010, sometimes springs to mind…), provide interpretations and offer some hints (where possible) of understanding. Why would you rally against that? The sad fact is that under the circumstances these online comments become news. I pointed out as much a few days ago on this thread — but it didn’t stop the vitriol, and the worst of it never makes it onto New Mandala anyway.
Anonymous Internet commentators like yourself may prefer if no attention was paid to the most extreme views (or “bad jokes” as you call them). But the world naturally wants to understand why there is sectarian strife in western Burma. These attitudes seem to provide part of the answer. And I struggle to see how ignoring the existence of these views is a more appropriate stance for journalists or academics to take. Where there are other issues that need to be accounted for then I think we are all ears. There is a big international appetite for trying to understand the complexities of this situation. The online comments are part of the story…
…but they are not the only story…
So, perhaps you’d like to hazard a guess at my earlier question on the breadth of these sentiments in Burmese Buddhist society. For the record, I don’t actually think they are all that widely held. Am I being proven wrong?
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Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Aung Zaw piece in Irrawaddy on the complex Rohningya western Burma situation that’s splashing mud on everyone all across the Burma spectrum…..
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/6837#.T9nlz_dJcG8.facebook
BBC under fire on Rohingyas
In British rule in Burma, Britishers invited Bangladeshis muslims to work in their fields or to do small manual jobs as that time Buddhist people were not working hard as per Britishers wish. As Rohingyas are migrated from Bangladesh, they could claim lands or state for themselves and always worked for their families. They neither mingled with other ethnic group of Burma due to being their language absolutely different from other languages of Burma. Yes, Rohingyas are of Bangladeshis origin but they lived in Burma for at least 150 years. Burmese Government should give them their citizenship cards.
Coup talk in Thailand 2012
My favourite line was this:
“Traditionally, the supreme commander is always “invited” to be the coup leader”.
Thai coups now have a ‘tradition’. Like Bagehot’s ‘dignified’ constitution, perhaps?
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Lengthy AP piece on the Rohingya situation in western Burma.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/84265/burma-conflict-spurs-hatred-for-asias-rohingya-outcasts/
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
To Arthur alias “Ahmed Arloo”
Are you suggesting that Daw Aung San Su Kyi has to follow your stylish but substanceless, dreamful but “never-work” rhetorics
such as love and peace, everyone is human, including such terror
causing invaders, land grabbers, etc..?
Who are we to judge her?
Who are you to judge her?
Believing in democracy is not equal to sucking everyone, we have
responsibilities and rights to fight for our locals and land. We may
respect human rights but that human rights do not include we open
doors to every criminals and thugs, militant jihadists to come to our
land. We have rights whom we will accept or reject. It is you who has
to adopt our customs, our cultures and not the other way around.
Western observers? My arse! At the end of the day, they will not be
there when our grandchildren throats will got cut or engage in more
severe battles to kick the arses of the grandsons of those invaders.
Having good relations and nice-guy image is preferrable but it must
not be the end goal for Burma. It is our home and we make sure we
are safe first before we give a damn what our neighbours think of us.
Please do not try your Khaw Taw Ka Lar Chittagongian’s templates,
they may work with some Nelly the naive, Grace the gullible who goes
for any good actors performing the role of underdog in media, but not
with us. We have know you for 50 years or 100 years and so we know
what you have eaten yesterday. Stop using templates. Be innovative as you have now started an all-out invasion to us. Don’t be scare we
will be gentle, we know it is first time you are caught with evidence.
Now the world knows your true colours. These are the days we have
been waiting to expose who you really are, Chittagongian Bengalis!
Coup talk in Thailand 2012
The last coup had a lot of people unhappy with the government and there were corruption calls directed ay the leader. Although many would not have been happy about it, it was over quick enough.
This time the government is not widely unpopular and don’t appear any more corrupt that the usual completely corrupt government. Can’t see that Yingluk has done anything to offend anyone including the monarchists. Can’t see a coup this time being well received and accepted, this time it could get quite bloody, what possible justification could the army fabricate?
Coup talk in Thailand 2012
Charles Edward Frith
‘Then the world can see them for what they are.’
But will the world care? will they do anything?
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Artur, thanks for both your comments of #94 & 96. I am certain, many of us have made our deductions and concluded what Bertil has said ASSK vis-a-vis the government. But, a lot of the comments made here were outright racism and promoting hate crimes rather than calling a spade a spade and trying to overcome the current situation. Perhaps those who made those comments with racist overtones are either trolls paid by the instigators of this situation or just pure ignorant, intolerant racist bigots. Especially saddens me when they say they are doing it in the name of Buddhism.
I am not agreeing to a Rohingya state or recognition of Rohingyas as an ethnic group of Burma. However, I am for all those Rohingyas who were born and raised in Burma to be Burmese citizens and have equal rights as any other Burmese guaranteed under the Constitution (although not much at the moment). We all have suffered enough under successive military governments.
We have witnessed and seen these before with the Chinese riots in the 60s when Ne Win wanted to divert peoples’ attention from rice shortages when he himself was half Chinese. Now I wonder where the protests on electricity shortage is. Old tactics are still used as Burma has been closed for so long and peoples’ attitude haven’t changed much, thus they still work. It is not to be seen as a condescending comment but just a reality check. We still have a long way to catch up even to our neighbors, let alone the rest of the world and we do not need this as an image to be seen by the world and the investors who will no doubt contribute to the economic development of Burma.
I have been away from Burma for 23 years and I have longed to go back and contribute to the economic development and provide opportunities to the young generation the kind of opportunities we did not have when we were young, but what is happening in Burma is making me think very hard.
I hope ASSK will have her policy statement on this matter soon if she wants to be seen as a true future leader of Burma that represents everyone from Myitkyina to Tavoy.
My thoughts and prayers with all those who suffered enormously from this on both sides.
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Widely respected and well-informed SE Asia journalist Bertil Lintner (in interview with Edward Loxton for This Week) says the Burma military might be the hidden hand behind the upsurge in inter-ethnic violence in western Burma as part of an overall plan to undermine ASSK and slow or stop the opening and reform process.
http://www.theweek.co.uk/asia-pacific/burma/47364/burma-regime-inciting-rakhine-conflict-discredit-aung-san-suu-kyi
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Some claim that the brutal rape and murder of a local girl started this saga.
I think it is just the spark, the catalyst, the pretext for patriots and invaders.
Whatever it is, that tragic but trivial event is alike the toppings on the tip
of the ice berg as big as Antarctica. The real culprit was the porous border
and the deliberate import of Chittagongian Bengali labour – I do not blame
those tenants or peasants as they will take every opportunity to advance
their own interests. But we Burmese are not animals too. We too have our
own interests to protest.
As time passed by some of those new comers bring in new comers and they
become ambitious, hence those Bengali Mujaheeds rebelled against first Burmese democratic government which gave every citizens regardless of
gender, race and religion a vote to express their preference for ruling leaders.
Burma does not have slavery. Saudi Arabia on the other hand still practised
slavery till 1962. Burma offered votes for women since 1945. Are western
media darling’s Al Jiera’s host country permit voting of women? Burma has
one of the most beautiful cathedrals in CBD, so are the mosques. Do Dubai
has one? Does Jordan have one? Burma boast one of the oldest Mosques in
CBD too. Are there any Buddhist temples build in Saudi Arabia? Why dont
you guys point a finger to Saudi before pointing finger to us saying we are
intolerant as that hurt our pride. We are the most laid back easy going folks
and that led us to this mess. Sai Babu should think before he was misled or
he tried to mislead the readers.
What we see is that media agencies, NGOs and opposition in exile are also
working with Rohingya and also some hard liners inside Burma, inevitably
some of us (on both sides are racists, bigoted haters) and so we got into this.
But this Rohingya issue started as imported labour to illegal immigration to full-blown invasion or land grabbing operation of this scale.
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Per video in link below, Burma’s 8888 Generation supposedly pro-democracy, pro-human rights leaders held a press conference in Yangoon on June 8th for the express purpose of denouncing the Rohingya as non-citizens of Burma who have no claim to any rights, residency or sympathy.
Watching this press conference, the expressions on the 8888 Generation leaders’ faces, their body language, listening to their words, will probably come as a shock to most Western observers I would guess. It’s as if the 8888 Generations’s 20 to 30 years of struggle and credibility disappear down the drain in front of your eyes.
I might be wrong, but it seems to me if An San Suu Kyi doesn’t make a clear statement as to her and her party’s attitude and stance in regard to the Rohingya situation while she has such a large media platform on her European trip, during her visit to Oslo to accept her Nobel Peace Prize, her own reputation, international stature and standing is also at risk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEC7_vVb3S8&feature=share
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Facebook is where anyone can open account Sai Babu can be
John O’Neill, Juicy May Lay can be Margaret Watote, John
the bigot can become Tom the liberal.
Any conjecture based on such sources are not reliable, any
quotes made on FB’s comments are not news worthy.
Burmese exile media agencies such as DVB can also shut
down their own servers and saying Hacker bareback lovers
have harmed our servers for hatred of Dr. wanna be Malik
the moron, Dr. Maung Ne the naive, or plain simple Ghaby
the gullible or (Homer) Simpson the stupid. But I wonder
are some academics with glorified diplomes are joining in
this chorus, saying “Well, this FB account is asking for the
heads of Rohingya, so he must be a Burmese and Buddhist!”
What a wonderful logic! How about thinking “Are there any
external or internal forces at work, Burmese may mistrust
the outsiders and they are xenophobic but are those Rohingyas
really spotless saints victimised by Burmese. Are their pains,
self-inflicted? Is Bangladesh also responsible for them too?
What motivate them to choose Burma rather than the land of
their ancestors while Burma itself can only offer livable land,
fresh water, access to South East Asia. While those are the
incentives for an immigrant who enter into Burma illegally,
what are the motivations of their leaders? Have they been
benefiting from donor money, do they get support from the
agents such as Saudi Arabia, etc.. Where do they get the $$
to lobby US congress, etc.. So those are the questions ANU
researchers should seek.
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
The comment by much quoted expert Nicholas Farrelly that online comments are part of the story but they are NOT the only story and stating on the record that He dose not think these sentiments are not all that widely held in Burmese Buddhist society is very very much newsworthy.
Thank you for those.
Racing for answers in divided Myanmar
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, here you can find what Bertil Lintner (an experienced Burma-expert) thinks about what’s going on in Arakan State.
http://www.theweek.co.uk/asia-pacific/burma/47364/burma-regime-inciting-rakhine-conflict-discredit-aung-san-suu-kyi
I’m not saying I agree with Lintner (it’s a bit too speculative for my taste, but he does know a lot about Burmese politics and “ethnic conflicts”)
Since I have posted a few times here, I should mention that I was born in Burma. In fact, I think, I am half Rakhine, but I’m not so sure. I never thought these things were important when I was growing up in Burma in the 50’s. My school-mates were probably from a variety of “ethnic backgrounds”, but as a young boy I didn’t really care about these things. Later in life, I once had to fill up a census form in the US and I left the slot on “race” empty. You know, this question about whether you’re Caucasian, Jew, Hispanic, South Asian, Oriental, Black blah blah blah. What nonsense is that! It’s all done in the name of “affirmative action” etc. I don’t know about Australia, but in the US this racial classification is still a big deal. I sometimes joke to my “white” friends, when they use the word Caucasian, whether their grandfather was born in the Caucasus mountains (by the way, people in continental Europe don’t use the word Caucasian for whites). Aren’t we all descended from African ancestors? I am even proud of the amphibians that gave rise to mammals and “finally” to our so “enlightened” species called “homo sapiens”. Sapiens (wise) indeed!
Coming back to Violet Cho’s article, I of course, agree that concepts like “race” and “religion” are constructed by human societies to fulfill certain functions (whether they are good or bad for us is a different question) and people in Burma (and elsewhere) should just lighten up (I’m not talking about skin-colour here!) and think more about the common future of our children on this fragile planet, rather than digging up old history books trying to bask in the “glorious” past (especially military conquests and territorial claims and stuff like that). That stuff is sooo yesterday (as my kids would say). The earth is old and Burma’s history is just a blip in time.. I’m not saying we should forget the past but intelligent people can get over it! So wake up and try to build a tolerant, just and peaceful society. GDP growth and conspicuous consumption is not that important, but I would wish better health and education (especially in science and technology) for all the children of Burma (and of the whole world for that matter).
May they become homo sapientior (wiser)!
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Thanks Ohn,
Appreciate your follow-up; I take your advice well. There’s no doubt we need to be careful with how we explain such a messy situation — and that is not an easy task. I’m always open to suggestions about how analysis, and efforts to communication it clearly, can be improved.
My sense is that you and I perhaps aren’t far apart in how we see this situation. I am very happy to focus on those common understandings and the shared interpretive mission that follows.
Hoping for the best, and best wishes to all,
Nich
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
True that there are despicable comments written in free and easy outlets. And it is most certainly not caused by the mainstream media. And true it is newsworthy.
But the suggestion that the Buddhist Burmese do not respect Muslim like they do to the Christian minority is not called for. Neither is the speculation that extremist Buddhists are trying to purge the Rohingya. Or interpretation that the anti- Rohingya is blurred into anti -Muslim.
Things are bad as they are but when someone, especially an expert comes along and put a label it becomes that label. Before that, it was simply a stupid loose, if objectionable, talk.
Here there Is potentially more danger than the Thai situation which is strictly domestic.
All it was requested was please do not interpret in the worst possible light as it may be fulfilled.
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
link to AFP report from western Burma and Rohingya refugee camps with Rohingya asking An San Suu Kyi to speak on their behalf:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-114352-Rohingya-Muslims-call-for-Suu-Kyi%20s-help
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Link to Burma news agency/website Mizzima piece on situation in western Burma:
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/analysis/7311-violence-throws-spotlight-on-rohingya.html
Leaving the farm
Sounds like Professor Iam would have enjoyed a year living among the Amish.
Intolerance, Islam and the Internet in Burma
Thanks Ohn,
I struggle to see where the media is glorifying this rhetoric or why they should be responsible for the vitriol of online haters.
We are all trying to make sense of it, put it in context, compare it to other situations (Thailand, May 2010, sometimes springs to mind…), provide interpretations and offer some hints (where possible) of understanding. Why would you rally against that? The sad fact is that under the circumstances these online comments become news. I pointed out as much a few days ago on this thread — but it didn’t stop the vitriol, and the worst of it never makes it onto New Mandala anyway.
Anonymous Internet commentators like yourself may prefer if no attention was paid to the most extreme views (or “bad jokes” as you call them). But the world naturally wants to understand why there is sectarian strife in western Burma. These attitudes seem to provide part of the answer. And I struggle to see how ignoring the existence of these views is a more appropriate stance for journalists or academics to take. Where there are other issues that need to be accounted for then I think we are all ears. There is a big international appetite for trying to understand the complexities of this situation. The online comments are part of the story…
…but they are not the only story…
So, perhaps you’d like to hazard a guess at my earlier question on the breadth of these sentiments in Burmese Buddhist society. For the record, I don’t actually think they are all that widely held. Am I being proven wrong?
Best wishes to all,
Nich