By Ellen Wulfhorst

Reuters 

April 14, 2014

Reuters won a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for international reporting on the violent persecution of a Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Pulitzer Prize Board at Columbia University announced.

The board commended Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters for their "courageous reports" on the Rohingya, who in their efforts to flee the Southeast Asian country, "often falls victim to predatory human-trafficking networks."

Stephen Adler, Reuters Editor-in-Chief, said in a statement he was "immensely proud" of the "high-impact series."

"For two years, Reuters reporters have tirelessly investigated terrible human-rights abuses in a forgotten corner of the Muslim world, bringing the international dimensions of the oppressed Rohingya of Myanmar to global attention," he said.

Szep, from Washington, said: "What we were writing about was under-reported. I hope through this, there is greater international attention of the risks and presence of religious violence in Myanmar."

It marks Reuters' first Pulitzer Prize for text reporting. Reuters was also a finalist in the investigative reporting category for exposure of an underground Internet marketplace where parents could bypass social welfare regulations and get rid of adopted children they no longer wanted.

The Guardian US and The Washington Post were each awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service for their coverage of secret surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency. Their reporting was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed details of global electronic surveillance by the U.S. spy agency.

The board said the Guardian US' reporting helped to spark debate about the relationship between the U.S. government and the public over issues of security and privacy and the Post's reporting explained how the disclosures fit into a larger framework of national security.

Reporting on the leaks, which began last June, sparked international debate over the limits of government surveillance and prompted President Barack Obama to introduce curbs on the spying powers of the National Security Agency earlier this year.

"We are particularly grateful for our colleagues across the world who supported the Guardian in circumstances which threatened to stifle our reporting," Guardian Editor in Chief Alan Rusbridger said in a statement.

"And we share this honor, not only with our colleagues at The Washington Post, but also with Edward Snowden, who risked so much in the cause of the public service which has today been acknowledged by the award of this prestigious prize," he said.

Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum last year after the U.S. Justice Department charged him with violating the Espionage Act.

The Boston Globe won for its breaking news coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt. Finalists in this category included The Arizona Republic for coverage of a wildfire that killed 19 firefighters and The Washington Post for coverage of the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.

The prize for investigative reporting went to Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity, for his reports on how some lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners stricken with black lung disease.

The prestigious prizes, awarded by Columbia University, are given in 14 categories of journalism as well as drama, music, poetry and books.

Named after journalist and publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who left money to establish the Columbia Journalism School, the awards are decided by a 19-member panel of editors, news executives and academics.

The Pulitzer Prizes can bring badly needed attention and recognition to newspapers and websites competing for readers in a fragmented media industry, where many are suffering from economic pressures and budget constraints.

(Editing by Scott Malone, G Crosse)

By Yu Jincui

Global Times

April 14, 2014

Three years after the Myanmar government opened the country to the world, nascent democratic reform has brought optimism about development and myriad hopeful investments. However, a strain of religious extremism that permeates the country, especially western Myanmar, is threatening the progress. 

International aid groups fled the strife-torn state of Rakhine early this month, after some 400 rioters attacked their residences and offices in the state capital Sittwe, irritated by rumors that a female international aid worker had desecrated a Buddhist flag. 

Some staff claimed they have been barred from going back to resume services. Although local Myanmar officials pledged a return of those workers "later this month," a date hasn't been specified yet. 

Given that tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are living in displacement camps that are heavily reliant on food and medical assistance from NGOs or the state, the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar has drawn mounting international pressure. 

The UN as well as Western countries such as the US and Britain issued warnings to the Myanmar government last week, urging an early solution to the crisis and meaningful steps to protect humanitarian workers and residents in the future. 

With conflicts between Muslims and Buddhists escalating in Rakhine, aid groups who are accused of favoring Muslims have drawn the ire of some Buddhists for quite a long time. 

Although NGO representatives strongly denied the accusation, demonstrations and riots demanding these groups leave have put the government under growing pressure. 

In February, Myanmar government expelled the main healthcare provider in Rakhine, Doctors Without Borders. 

A more dangerous tendency is that a violent strain of religious extremism is surging, which threatens humanitarian assistance work and disturbs the pace of reforms. 

Renata Lok-Dessallien, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar, said the attack on international organizations undergoing in Myanmar was "an attack on the entire humanitarian response in Rakhine state." 

The plight of aid work and Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine undermined Western optimism that the country is embracing democracy, and has increased criticism over the "inaction" of Myanmar government over the deteriorating conditions. 

There is no question that the Myanmar government has a responsibility to ensure the return of the aid workers that were forced to flee, and the government also needs to work out a plan ensuring humanitarian assistance is provided fairly, safely and securely in future. 

But more importantly, the newly democratic country should keep alert to the growing violent trend of extremism that may kidnap the reform process. 

Myanmar's transition faces a rocky road because of the country's vulnerable economic foundation, complicated multi-ethnic background and the deeply rooted influence of military. The Rohingya issue has long been a thorny one that has made Myanmar a global target of criticism. Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and refused to grant them citizenship despite many have lived in the country for generations. 

In the recent census, the first in three decades in Myanmar, "Rohingya" is not listed on the form as one of the acceptable ethnicities. Many observers have expressed concerns that not allowing people to self-identify as "Rohingya" could only fuel discrimination against Muslims as well as sow the seeds of widening estrangement. 

In the foreseeable future, the decades-long Rohingya Muslim issue will remain a contentious part of Myanmar's transformation agenda and be a cause for the international community to point fingers. 

There is no favorable solution to tackle the headache yet. Even the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi evades giving a clear-cut position over the Rohingya issue, kindling opposition against her from activists and human rights groups. 

But the communal violence between the majority Buddhists and Muslims must be curbed. Otherwise, the rising tide of Buddhist nationalism and extremism may intensify in the run-up to the election and derail the country's transition. 

Myanmese cherish the changes in their country very much. One of my Myanmese friends posts about her improving life and reposted inspiring news concerning Myanmar's development every day on WeChat. 

A US-funded poll released recently by the International Republican Institute concluded that 88 percent of respondents sampled across Myanmar believed things in the country were heading in the right direction, and 57 percent held that their economic situation was going to improve in the coming year.

With the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and the census controversy, criticism has intensified over the country. The aid work needs to be resumed as soon as possible and the violent trend needs to be curbed. This requires serious government efforts, though we shouldn't deny the real changes in the country. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. yujincui@globaltimes.com.cn

RB News 

April 14, 2014

Taung Pyo Lat Wal – Today afternoon police torched the office building of MRCS and UNHCR in Taung Pyo Lat Wal in Maungdaw district. After the fire stopped four Rohingyas were arrested and inhumanely tortured, according to locals.

After stopping the fire of MRCS and UNHCR office in Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township at 2 pm, departmental officials, ward administrators and ward in-charges came and see the situation. Then military, police and departmental officials accused that the building was set fire by local Rohingyas. After that they arrested Four Rohingyas – (1) Ward 1 in-charge Noor Husson, (2) Ward 2 in-charge Abdullah, (3) Ward 5 administrator Dildar Ahmed and (4) Ten Households head Abdul Karim from Ward 2. Firstly they were brought to Agriculture office and hardly beaten up by the officials, police and army men. They were then brought to the police station lockup and again inhumanely beaten. Ten Households head Abdul Karim from Ward 2 was released in the late evening. 

He said that the remaining three are in very serious condition after they have been tortured several times. He added that he believes that Ward 1 in-charge Noor Husson is believed to have died now as his situation was the most worst among remaining three.

As of now the three Rohingyas are not in the police station lockup and nobody knows their whereabouts. The families of the three Rohingyas searched the hospital but they didn’t find them.

RB News 

April 14, 2014

Taung Pyo Lat Wal – An office building of MRCS and UNHCR situated in the compound of Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township police station of Maungdaw district in Arakan state was torched by police. 

Today at 12:30 pm an office building of MRCS (Myanmar Red Cross Society) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township which is situated in the compound of Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township police station was torched by police. The fire stopped it at 2:00 pm.

The office building of MRCS and UNHCR was built in 1996 and the building is about length 60 feet and width 30 feet. Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township was created in 2004 and the families of police were living in that building since the time the police station was built in that compound until last month. As the office of MRCS and UNHCR has less function, they could stay. However the police families were removed from the building in last month. 

The police's families are displeased with being removed from the building and now they are under pressure from the authority as they were order not to enjoy the water festival for being armed security forces. So according to locals, they just created a misunderstanding between the Rohingya villagers and authorities by torching above mentioned office.

These twins were born little more than two weeks ago in a Muslim IDP camp near Sittwe. Their mother suffers tuberculosis, is very weak and can't breastfeed them. The family is so poor that they can only given them cheap powder milk not suitable for infants, so they have not received proper nourishment during their first two weeks of life. As the Burmese government has expelled all INGOs and international agencies working in the area, neither the mother nor the twins can receive any medical treatment.

By John Zaw

UCA News

April 14, 2014

Nori Slum’s ribcage, already much too visible on his emaciated torso, rises and falls in rhythm with the hacking cough he developed a year ago. The 45-year-old developed tuberculosis last year, forcing him to be quarantined away from his family in their hut in the Dar Paing camp for displaced persons outside of Sittwe in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Many of the camp’s residents are dependent on the medicine provided by international aid groups, but Nori has gone more than a week without his. In late March aid organizations were forced to evacuate the region after orchestrated attacks on offices and equipment by Buddhist mobs angered at aid going to people like Nori Slum, a member of the Rohingya minority whom Rakhines believe to be illegal Bengali immigrants. In all, around 1,500 humanitarian staff have been forced to stop working.

The UN described it as “an attack on the entire humanitarian response in Rakhine state,” and lists have been circulated around Sittwe branding Rakhine people who had been helping the aid programs as “offenders”. Those Rakhine NGO workers who have remained in the town are now reluctant to continue work.

Nori Slum has so far survived the medicine drought, although he says he needs assistance “as soon as possible – I have no medicine and no food.” But his achievement is small compensation: tragedy befell his family on April 2 when his four-year-old daughter died of pneumonia. Her family was unable to get her to hospital in time, and the resources in camp clinics have suffered hugely as a result of the events of late March. Now is the peak of the dry season, and on top of the lack of healthcare, aid groups are warning that potable water in the more remote camps housing around 20,000 people will soon run out.

The evacuation of aid groups followed on from a decision by the government in February to suspend the work of French charity Medicins San Frontieres (MSF). The group was accused by the government of falsifying reports about its treatment of 22 survivors of a massacre of 40 Rohingya in northern Rakhine that the UN said involved Myanmar security forces.

Residents of the Te Chaung and Dapaing camps near Sittwe say that eight people have died from treatable diseases in the last two weeks. That is likely to rise unless aid is immediately reinstated, but aid workers complain that the government is stalling on allowing the resumption of assistance.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Health has said the government will be able to fill the void left by aid organizations, but confidence in this assertion remains low. In the 19-bed Dapaing hospital, which until the evacuation had been run by an international NGO, a government-appointed doctor comes for just three hours a day. A ucanews.com reporter visited the hospital around midday on April 7, but the doctor had already left, and referrals to the main hospital in Sittwe for Rohingya were being blocked.

Until its suspension in February, MSF had been the key provider of medical aid to the camps, but had also assisted around 700,000 patients across Rakhine state. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on April 2 that healthcare for more than 300 children with severe malnutrition in Sittwe camps had been suspended, and 15,000 children now have no psycho-social support.

Liviu Vedrasco, technical officer at the World Health Organization (WHO), told IRIN news on April 9 that the absence of services is “leaving hundreds of thousands of people without the only health care they had to begin with.”

HIV patients are also acutely feeling the loss. Anti-retroviral treatment for Maung Maung will run out at the end of April, the 35 year-old says from his hut in the Dar Paing camp. “I’m very concerned about whether I will get treatment next month,” he says. He faced a similar situation in 2012 when aid distribution was hampered by the first wave of violence between Rakhine and Rohingya, which eventually drove the thousands of Muslims into camps.

“Back then I couldn’t even move my body to go to the toilet,” he says, adding that his health problems are compounded by the worsening shortages in food.

There’s little that the victims of the violence can now do. Negotiations are ongoing between NGOs and the government, but time is running out for the refugees.

“I pray that international aid groups can resume their operations immediately, as praying is the only option for the vulnerable IDPs,” Maung Maung says.

RB News 

April 13, 2014

Maungdaw, Arakan -- Rohingya houses in Sin Thay Pyin hamlet of Longdon village tract and Phan Myaung hamlet of Nga Sar Kyu village tract in Maungdaw Township of Arakan state burnt down to ashes on March 10, 2014 and again on March 15, 2014, and four women were arrested.

The authorities arrested three Rohingya women from Sin Thay Pyin and one from Phan Myaung. They are (1) Sha’ Ah Nu D/o Hamid Hussein (Age 29), Noor Ankis D/o Jamal Hussein (Age 46) and Hasina Zuhar D/o Iman Hussein (Age 35) from Sin Thay Pyin hamlet and Gul Zuhar D/o Abdul Rahman from Phan Myaung. The authorities forced them to stand in front of burnt houses and took the photos. Then they were taken to the police station in Kyain Chaung village.

Reportedly four women and the one woman arrested on March 10, 2014 were brutally beaten and tortured in the lockup in Kyain Chaung. They were forced to say that the Rohingyas torched their homes by themselves. The police harassed them by various ways. They burnt their genitals with candles. The women were sent to Kyain Chaung hospital on March 16th for the treatment. The doctor of the hospital, Dr. Nu Kaythi Zan blamed the police for inhumanly burning the genitals of the women, according to locals.

On March 17th, the women were sent to the court in Maungdaw for interrogation and later brought back to Kyain Chaung police station.

On April 11th, they were brought to Maungdaw court for interrogation and they got chance to talk with their love ones for 3 minutes. They said they don’t even know how to describe their plights behind the cell. They claimed that they have been kept without clothes since the time they were arrested.

According to locals, they will be sentenced to at least seven years on false allegations that they torched the houses. In reality, the houses were set fire by a group of Rakhine extremists by using chemical powder. Some remote devices were used in torching houses.

Additional reporting by MYARF.

RB News

April 13, 2014

Washington, D.C -- The International Affairs Council of George Mason University in Washington held its 8th Annual Conference on Global Governance at Edwin Meese Conference Center on April 11th 2014. The Conference hosted a number of honorable speakers representing different regions and institution of the world on the theme “The Dynamics of Democracy”. Eight honorable speakers form various organizations spoke at the event. Dr. Wakar Uddin, the Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, spoke on Transition to Democracy in Burma with respect to ethnic rights with emphasis on Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan state in west and Kachin, Karen, and other ethnic groups in east Burma. Dr. Uddin unraveled the intricacy of unfolding events in ethnic regions in the fledgling democracy. He highlighted important issues of ethnic identity in the national census. Breaching of the agreement with United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) and a number of international donors by the Burmese Government on ethnic/race identity related issues is a major concern expressed by the international community, including UNFPA. “Rohingya people want to freely express who they are – it is just a matter of their identity like anyone else in the census” Dr. Uddin stated.

The issues on ethnic minorities vary by region in Burma. While other ethnic minorities are fighting for the greater autonomy in their states, Rohingya people are asking the Government of Burma to respect human rights and return their citizenship that the Burmese Government has revoked. They are not only facing major human right violations, ethnic cleansing, and genocide by some definitions, but are also facing major security issues where the radical Buddhist mobs and monks are committing violent attacks against them in Arakan state and the Pathi Myanmar Muslims in Central Burma. Security of Rohingya people in Arakan has become more serious as international humanitarian relief workers had to be evacuated following attacks on them by radical Buddhist mobs.

Rohingya in IDP camps and numerous villages are totally dependent on the international relief groups for sustenance. The absence of NGO’s deepens the problem, and many are in imminent danger due to the shortage of food, water, and medical supplies. Dr. Uddin also pointed out that prior to the attacks of NGO offices by radical Buddhist mobs, the Burmese Government had ordered the closer of the office of Doctors Without Borders, known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) cutting of the much needed medical aid. Replying to questions about the international community’s discontent with Noble Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi long silence on Rohingya issue, Dr. Uddin pointed out that despite Suu Kyi’s initial positive gesture after the first outbreak of violence there are deepening complexities such as Suu Kyi’s ill-perceived view of “Global Muslim Power” as she stated earlier, the growing influence of radical Rakhine elements in Suu Kyi’s NLD party, her miscalculation on political dynamics for popular support in the Buddhist community, have all caused discontent in the international community, apparently tarnishing her image as the icon of democracy and human rights in Burma.

The government’s constant denial of Rohingya as an ethnic group and violence against the Rohingya people is a grave matter of concern, he stressed.

By Karen News

April 12, 2014

A human rights advocacy group calls for investigation into Britain’s decision to give millions in aid money to assist the Burma government’s census as international criticism mounts over the census process.

Burma Campaign UK, a human rights advocacy group based in Britain, has called for an official inquiry into the “decision making process” that saw Britain’s government decide to give $16m in aid money for Burma’s census.

Burma Campaign UK questioned why Britain’s’ Department for International Development (DFID) was funding the census that is racist. “British aid is paying for a census which discriminates against the Rohingya.”

Mark Farmener, Director of Burma Campaign UK, claimed that the census trampled human rights. “This census has been disastrous, and led to children dying, and it’s all underpinned by international aid, including £10m from DFID,” he said.

Burma’s government is facing mounting criticism from international human rights groups for excluding the country’s ethnic Rohingya in the national census – instead labeling them as ‘Bengali’ thus implying they are foreigners – with even the United Nations agency tasked with carrying out the census expressing “deep concern” over the process.

In an April 1st statement, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) went as far as to point out that the census it was funding was a “departure from international census standards, human rights principles and agreed procedures.”

The UNPA said that Burma’s government had reneged on a previous understanding that ethnic groups could freely declare their ethnicity, including the Rohingya.

“It [the Burma government] explicitly agreed with the condition that each person would be able to declare what ethnicity they belong to, including those who wish to record their identity as of mixed ethnicity… Just before the start of the census, however, senior officials announced that people who wish to define their ethnicity as Rohingya will not be able to do so,” the UNFPA said.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, warned that the deteriorating situation in Rakhine State could amount to “crimes against humanity.”

Mr. Quintana was also critical of the Burma government census. “It is not only in Rakhine State that people object to the ethnic categories included in the census,” he said. “It became clear during my discussions with communities in Kachin State that the Government has approached the census without sufficient or meaningful consultation with all affected communities.”

UNHCR estimates that there are 140,000 people now living in displacement camps who had fled inter-communal violence in Rakhine State, with perhaps a further 700,000 vulnerable people outside the camps.

By Shada Islam

Dawn

April 12, 2014

DESPITE optimistic talk of the “Asian Century”, many countries in the region are struggling with important economic and political challenges — and/or have become entangled in seemingly intractable historical disputes.

Myanmar stands out as a country which — despite many challenges, especially as regards violence and discrimination against Rohingya Muslim — is continuing work on an impressive political and economic transformation.

It is in fact a triple transition as Myanmar prepares for milestone elections in autumn 2015, conducts ceasefire talks with ethnic groups and works on important constitutional changes ahead of next year’s polls.

With the economy growing by six to seven per cent a year and labour costs still low, foreign investments are pouring in. Myanmar’s current chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations provides President Thein Sein with a further opportunity to boost the country’s regional and international profile.

However, increasing ethnic violence and civil unrest, especially in Rakhine state, among Buddhist groups and the stateless Rohingya Muslims, is a big, dark spot on Myanmar’s credentials. International criticism of the government’s failure to stem the violence is increasing, with 46 countries, including the United States recently joining forces with the EU at the United Nations Human Rights Council to express serious concern over the situation of the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine State.

The resolution also asked for the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar for one more year and urged an opening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country.

Additionally, there is concern that while growth rates are high, Myanmar remains one of Southeast Asia’s most impoverished countries. Foreign partners worry that any slowdown in reform efforts in the run up to elections will make it even more difficult for the government to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.

On the bright side, attracted by a growing consumer base and low-cost workforce, foreign investors are lining up to establish a foothold in Myanmar. A foreign investment law was passed in 2012 allowing some overseas firms to fully own ventures.

In a bid to further open up, a telecommunications law was passed last year and foreign energy companies have recently been given rights to explore offshore Myanmar. The country is also slowly opening up its banking sector, with foreign banks expected to be allowed to operate independently by the end of the year. About 35 international banks already have representative offices in Myanmar.

The next stage of political reform looks set to be especially challenging. The government is hoping for progress toward peace through the signature of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with ethnic armed groups.

The government has also embarked on the difficult task of amending the constitution, including article 59(f), which debars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because of the foreign citizenship of her children and late husband.The process is proving to be more complex than anticipated, however, prompting fears the reform process is running out of steam.

The census currently under way in the country — which also asks sensitive questions about race and ethnicity that human rights groups have repeatedly warned puts vulnerable populations such as the Rohingya (regarded by the authorities as illegal Bengali immigrants) at additional risk, is another complication.

Ethnic minorities, which together make up about 40 per cent of Myanmar’s population, contend that they were not properly consulted ahead of the census, which requires respondents to identify themselves as one of 135 ethnic groups.

Myanmar joined Asean in 1997 and was to take the Asean chairmanship in 2006 but was passed over amid international pressure due to its poor human rights record. Although the country now shines in the global spotlight, as current Asean chair, Myanmar faces a tough regional agenda, with its partners and the international community anxious about the country’s ability to host the multiple high-level meetings scheduled for the year and to keep Asean on course to meet its 2015 end-target for establishing a frontier-free economic community. Myanmar is also current chair of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and as such is under strong pressure from increasingly vocal Asean civil society groups to adhere to the human rights commitments which are part of the Asean Charter.

Myanmar has come a long way in a very short time. Visionaries in the government and the region say there is no reason the country cannot fulfil its long-term ambition to become a regional powerhouse. To make the dream a reality, however, Myanmar will have to learn that economic growth and progress must be shared by all its people, human rights must be respected — and there must be a place in the country for all ethnic groups, whatever their religion.

—The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels.

By Qutub Shah 

RB Article

April 12, 2014

“He is not a monk just because he lives on others' alms. Not by adopting outward form does one become a true monk. Whoever here (in the Dispensation) lives a holy life, transcending both merit and demerit, and walks with understanding in this world — he is truly called a monk.” (Dhammapada: 266-267)

Shame on those followers who have a spiritual leader like Wirathu! Unfortunately, the Buddhism which is known as a moral philosophy rather than a religion that is introduced by an immoral monk, who has been described as notorious chauvinist by The Economist, as a Buddhist Terrorist by Time Magazine, as brutal Buddhist by The Independent magazine, as fanatical Buddhist monk by the Int’l Business Times, as a Burmese Bin Laden by himself, etc. Yes, a Shaven Bin Laden. Let me ask Wirathu; are The Economist, Time Magazine, The Independent Magazine and Int’l Business Times all illegal immigrants or Muslim Terrorists who want to conquer Myanmar?

Unfortunately, the Buddhism that is based on Eradicating kilesa (root defilement or akusala-mūla): dosa, moha, lobha from the humanity and other beings to avoid samsaric existence, is introduced today in Myanmar by some fake monks whose entire life is lost in these kilesas.

Br. Wirathu, As a monk, how will you justify the crime for which you were sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003? A monk…criminal prisoner! Not political prisoner! A monk whose life is supposed to be dedicated for the salvation of humanity has to seek refuge under amnesty of military personnel like U Thein Sein! How and why? Shame on those clappers on your speeches!

Buddhism and Nationalism

Buddhism was not identified with racial individuality of people. The term ‘arya’ is not used by Buddhist Scripture as a racial term; rather, it is an honorific for all those who embrace the Dharma. Literally, it means ‘the noble ones’.

Over the centuries effective rituals were developed to reconcile the presence of non-Buddhists in what some Buddhists perceive to be the cosmic center of the Dharma. These premodern systems of integrating the other have now been supplanted by a modern concept of a Buddhist nation state that is exclusionary rather than inclusionary. Myanmar stands the best example.

The Buddha was a prince. His father was King Suddhodana. It means that his castle background was warrior and he was brought up in a royal family. He belongs to Sakya clan, after which the republic was named as Sakya Republic. So, Sakyans were the majority power of the Sakya Republic. Very interesting is that he, the Buddha neither refuge to this majority power or political background to introduce his message nor he misused his teachings for social showmanship, public support, prevalence over others, unlike Wirathu.

Therefore, it’s crystal clear that Wirathu’s efforts for intermingling the religion with politics and his mischief by the name of Religion are not but his diversion for the principles of Buddhism and innovation into it. If chauvinism was supported by Buddhism, today the Buddhism would not transcend to other from Sakya, and then to Wirathu!

Tripitaka strong prohibit killing of lives, the violent actions, the merciless atrocities, destructions of properties practiced by Wirath. If these crimes are committed by the name of Buddhism, then the Buddhism is not what the Buddha has founded on the basis of morality, faith and purity. These are considered as the worst crimes in Buddhism, and the punishment is to be reborn in Niraya (Hell realm), In Dhammapada stated, “Six things that lead to Niraya (hell) are: taking life, theft, living carnally, falsehood, evil desires and wrong views.” (A.iii.432)

No history recorded Buddha as terrorist, chauvinist or brutal. But he was just and reformist. For instance, there was a historical conflict between Sakyas and Koliyas over the water of Rohini. Sakyamunni has reconciled between them without discriminating to Sakyas, where he is attributed to. He also dissuaded King Ajatasattu from attacking the Kingdom of the Vajjis.

Buddhism and Government

The Buddha used to give good suggestion for government unlike Wirathu. In the Jataka, the Buddha had urged and given rules for good governance, known as 'Dasa Raja Dharma'. 

The Buddha once said, “When the ruler of a country is just and good, the ministers become just and good; when the ministers are just and good, the higher officials become just and good; when the higher officials are just and good, the rank and file become just and good; when the rank and file become just and good, the people become just and good.”(Anguttara Nikaya)

Buddhism and Economics

Wirathu calls for national boycott of muslim-owned business. This is totally against Buddhist guidance regarding Economics. In the Cakkavatti Sihananda Sutta, the Buddha said that immorality and crime, such as theft, falsehood, violence, hatred, cruelty, could arise from poverty. So, In the Kutadanta Sutta, the Buddha suggested economic development instead of force to reduce crime. In addition, a moderate human mentality says it is bad to instigate someone to boycott other’s business. It is worse if this instigation comes from a monk who is quite dependant over the society, as the word ‘Bhikkhu’ laterally means “Beggar”.

Wirathu and Marriage Restriction Attempt

This is only Wirathu in Burmese history, who called for banning interfaith marriage. As Buddhism regards the celibate monastic life as the higher ideal, as a monk how Wirathu can realize what romance is? What a woman’s heart needs? What’s good or bad for her? Isn’t it absurdity of a monk to discuss about the pros and cons of two things: woman and comb? His proposal was unwanted by even his community. This is the pposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has slammed his attempt as "a violation of women's rights and human rights".

Listening to or reading Wirathu's sermons reminds me the saying of the Sri Lankan Chauvinist monk of 20th century, Dharmapala. In 1908 he declared that “Buddhism was completely identified with the racial individuality of the people.” As scholar Peter Schalk states about it, “This is probably one of the most conflict creating public statements made in the 20th century.” I want to comment on Wirathu’s description of Muslims openly as ‘Enemy, Mad Dog, etc.’ “These are probably the most conflict creating statements made in 21st century.” 

All in all, one can easily doubt whether he is ‘a wolf wrapped up in sheep’s skin’. Anyway, let it be a spiritual exhortation from a student of comparative religion to guide you to nirvana. "Nibbānam paramam sukham.” MN:75.21

Press Statement

Save Rohingya ethnic minority from Genocide and protect their rights

We, the undersigned organizations are deeply concerned over the on planned way genocidal actions against innocent Rohingya people through their exclusion from ongoing census 2014.

The ruling Burmese government official is grossly involved in conducting ethnic cleansing of Rohingya for decades, which has already transformed to genocide in the recent time. With a view to achieving the goals of Genocide against indigenous ethnic Rohingya in Arakan State, the Burmese Government officials are systematically empowering the extremist Buddhist gangs and engaging its ceasefire groups to killing the Rohingya innocent civilians, while these ceasefire groups are hugely inviting their rebel counterparts from Bangladesh, India and China. 

All these groups and Burmese security forces are merely receiving technical supports from high handed power that gives extra ordinary and uncontrollable courage in pushing out the western authorities, humanitarian agencies and international observers through the uses of extremist religious weapons in Southeast Asian region.

It is very true that President Thein Sein led the current Burmese quasi-civilian Government has already betrayed with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Department for International Development (DFID), donor countries and agencies in keeping government commitment of conducting the census as international standards, while the Burmese Government has assaulted the world’s humanitarian processes through systematic attacks on INGOs and NGOs offices and country-wide violence eruptions in order to push out the International Agencies and Humanitarian Groups from Burma.

We affirm that when the Burmese Government is able to make weakening the international witnesses in Burma, its plans toward massive killings will start up as unexpected genocide. In this regard, we appeal to the international community as follows:

1. To push United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to arrange an emergency session to send United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Arakan State, Burma as urgent as possible that only protect massive killings and mass graves in the country.

2. To exert effective pressure on Burma for urgent suspension of the census and to re-conduct a fresh in line with international standards and human rights principles as fulfillment of Government commitment in allowing ethnic Rohingya to fill up their original name “ROHINGYA” and stop unlawful propaganda of “BENGALI”.

3. To retrieve the funds of UNFPA, DFID and other donors to save the lives of innocent, defenseless and helpless indigenous Rohingya ethnic minority with their full citizenship rights and human security as per international treaties and norms.

Endorsed by:

1. Arakan Observer Group

2. Australian Burmese Rohingya Association (ABRA)

3. Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA)

4. Burmese Rohingya Association of Queensland-Australia (BRAQA)

5. Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organization (CBRO)

6. Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee (RARC), Malaysia

7. Rohingya Concern International (RCI), USA

8. Rohingya Education and Development Organization (REDO)

9. Rohingya National League for Peace and Development (RNLD)

10. Rohingya Ulama Council (RUC), Malaysia

11. Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF), Arakan-Burma

By Reuters

April 11, 2014

RANGOON — A group of women dressed in green sarong-like longyis and simple white blouses stand around a table piled with census forms entering neat notations on spread sheets by hand.

The women will have to go through 37,579 family census forms in the next 24 hours, according to officials, using hand calculators to tally the total numbers because they have no access to computers.

The scene underscores the challenges of carrying out a census in this poor and sprawling nation dominated by Buddhists.

The census - the first in three decades - has long been mired in controversy, much of it concerning the counting of Rohingya, Muslims who lives in western Rakhine state and often described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

Officials say some 100,000 school teachers have fanned out across Burma, also known as Myanmar, on foot collecting data for the census, expected to count from 48 million to 65 million citizens.

On the final day of the census, estimated by rights groups and other groups to cost $74 million, volunteers went door-to-door in Rangoon, Burma's commercial capital.

Trucks with loudspeakers blared reminders for people to be counted and shops, buildings, ferries and busses were plastered with posters encouraging people to take part.

Susu Win, a volunteer tallying numbers in Rangoon, said she worked 12 hours a day and interviewed, on average, 100 families.

“The biggest problem is that we had to climb eight, nine floors in four to five buildings a day with no elevators,” she said.

Rights organizations and ethnic groups in Burma have called for the census to be postponed until it can be carried out fairly and safely.

The government had promised international sponsors that ethnic groups could choose their classification.

But a day before the census kicked off, presidential spokesman Ye Htut indicated that use of the term Rohingya would be prohibited.

In Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, Buddhists protested against the use of the term Rohingya, saying it would give them legitimacy.

The government describes the Rohingya as Bengalis and says many are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Rohingya Stress Ethnic Origin

Rohingya activist Wai Wai Nu, who says her family has been in Burma for centuries, said census-takers at her Rangoon home refused to list her as Rohingya, saying it was not permitted.

When she demanded written proof, she was told it was a verbal order.

The 27-year-old activist said the vast majority of Rohingyas insisted on being recorded by their ethnicity.

“Our ethnic identity is very important to us for getting equal rights with other people in Myanmar,” she said.

Repression during nearly 50 years of military rule kept ethnic tensions in check in one of Asia's most diverse countries. But these have burst into the open since 2011, when a quasi-civilian government took power.

The country has endured several spasms of violence pitting Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya. At least some of the attacks were blamed on Buddhist extremist groups.

Critics argue that Myanmar's government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) knew the census would be problematic before it began, but ignored the concerns.

Rights groups say the government is deliberately preventing the Rohingyas from being counted.

“The writing was on the wall and everyone knew it,” said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a rights group based in Southeast Asia.

“The government never had any intention of recognizing the Rohingya ethnicity through the census.”

Trouble broke out last month, when 400 rioters in Sittwe, Rakhine's regional capital, damaged offices, homes, warehouses, and vehicles belonging to aid groups and the U.N.

International aid workers withdrew.

The problem is not limited to the Rohingyas.

The government and UNFPA have been criticized for basing the census on 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. Critics say that is outdated and inaccurate.

Ethnic groups say their political representation and claims to ethnicity could be compromised if they are undercounted.

According to Human Rights Watch, several armed ethnic rebel groups said they would bar census-takers from their territory.

Questions have been raised about the validity of the census.

“If UNFPA and the government heeded warnings to at least remove the ethnic and religious questions, then a partial census would have been better than none at all,” said Smith.

“At this point, it would've been better for the country if the enumerators stayed home.”

By University of Western Sydney

April 11, 2014

Chief Government Whip, Federal member for Berowra and Australia’s longest serving Minister for Immigration, The Hon. Philip Ruddock, MP will be the special guest speaker at an Open Forum at the University of Western Sydney’s Parramatta campus on Thursday, April 24.

The Open Forum will focus on the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority from the Rakhine State in Burma (Myanmar). Over the years, many thousands of Rohingya fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh and along the Thai-Burma border, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Most recently in 2012, heightened ethnic tensions in Burma led to clashes which left dozens of Rohingya Muslims dead in Rakhine state, the withdrawal of aid workers and shortages of medical, water and food supplies. According to the United Nations, the Rohingya are now one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

Mr Ruddock will be joined by Dr Graham Thom, Refugee Coordinator with Amnesty International Australia since 2000, who has been working on behalf of individual asylum seekers as well as on broader human rights issues relating to refugees will also provide commentary at the Forum.

In 2007, Dr Thom joined with UNHCR and a number of Australian NGOs in Bangladesh visiting the Rohingya refugee camps, where 26,000 refugees have been trapped for over 15 years. In 2009 and 2010 Dr Thom undertook research missions with Amnesty International to Malaysia to examine conditions faced by refugees both in detention centres and in the community. He also met with a number of Rohingya refugees.

Dr Sev Ozdowski, Former Human Rights Commissioner and Director of Equity and Diversity at UWS, will chair the Open Forum.

“The situation for Rohingya refugees in the camps and in their communities in Burma where recent attacks have increased their vulnerability is critical,” says Dr Ozdowski.

The Rohingya Muslims have a long history of persecution and discrimination in Burma. They are viewed by authorities and the majority Buddhist population of Rakhine state as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Recently, tensions arose again over a government census – the first in three decades – which led to anger among Buddhists that it may lead to official recognition of the Rohingyas.

By Samantha Michaels 

The Irrawaddy

April 11, 2014

RANGOON — The US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs has raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in Arakan State during meetings with Burma’s president and other high-level government officials in Naypyidaw.

Daniel Russel said he spoke “very candidly” during meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with President Thein Sein as well as Burma’s foreign minister, information minister and deputy minister for border affairs. The discussions focused on the government’s short- and long-term plans in restive Arakan State, as well as preparations for Burma’s Asean chairmanship and US concerns about press freedoms in the country.

Accompanied by US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, Russel was briefed by Deputy Minister of Border Affairs Maung Maung Ohn about plans to restore humanitarian aid in Arakan State following attacks on the offices and residences of international NGOs and UN agencies in the state capital Sittwe last month. Maung Maung Ohn was the head of a commission established by the Burmese government to investigate the attacks in Sittwe, and earlier this week he criticized state authorities for their weak handling of the incident.

“I conveyed Washington’s concern about the humanitarian situation, as well as our strong hope and expectation that the government will provide the security and the access to international humanitarian agencies necessary to address the needs of the people in distress in Rakhine [Arakan] State,” Russel reporters during a media roundtable at the US Embassy in Rangoon on Thursday.

Russel told The Irrawaddy that he was encouraged by the government’s commitment to provide increased security for INGOs but added that he would need to see whether the plans translated to action on the ground.

“It’s still very early days, because it was only yesterday [Wednesday] when the government issued a statement describing their response plans,” he said, noting several positive signs, including indications that travel authorizations would be granted to NGOs. “We need to wait and see what those statements and commitments translate into in terms of practical steps that allow for early access by humanitarian agencies in a secure environment that allows them to restore the level of service that we previously have seen.”

He said that he and the ambassador raised concerns about the inability of specific INGOs to continue providing critical medical services in the state, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), whose operations were suspended in Arakan State in late February.

“It is very clear to me that the government takes this problem seriously, and that from the top-down it is looking for ways to facilitate the early return of international aid agencies, and to do so in a way that contributes to the long-term solution to the situation,” he said.

Asked to comment on the Burmese government’s insistence that problems regarding the Rohingya in Arakan State are domestic issues only, Russel told reporters that the interruption of humanitarian services was also a concern for the international community.

“There are domestic issues involved. There are also universal principles involved. We don’t interfere in the domestic affairs of any country, but we certainly act in support of universal principles, including humanitarian principles,” he said.

Earlier this week, presidential spokesman Ye Htut reportedly accused Britain of interfering in Burma’s domestic affairs after the British foreign minister summoned the Burmese ambassador to discuss ongoing restrictions of aid organizations in Arakan State.

Press Freedoms, Asean Chairmanship

In meetings with Burma’s Minister for Information Aung Kyi, Russel said he emphasized the United States’ willingness to assist the Burmese government adjust to “the new era of media openness.”

“We very much welcome the end of censorship laws, we very much welcome the effort to create a legal framework that protects journalists,” he said. “I did share our concern about recent cases where journalists have been arrested and imprisoned under what strike us as arcane and obsolete laws.”

In the latest jailing of journalists in the country, a video reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison for trespassing after visiting a government education office during office hours and attempting to conduct an interview. Four journalists and the chief executive of Rangoon-based Unity journal are now on trial for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act after reporting on an alleged chemical weapons factory in the country, while a reporter at Eleven Media Group was sentenced to three months in jail in December for defamation and trespass after writing a story about corruption in the judicial system.

Regarding discussions about Burma’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, Russel said he expected US President Barack Obama to participate in the East Asia Summit to be chaired by Thein Sein in Burma in November.

“I made clear to the foreign minister that from the US perspective, Burma’s Asean year was off to a great start,” he added.

Russel traveled to Burma after a visit to Thailand, and he returns to Washington on Friday. In addition to Burmese government officials, he spoke with representatives of INGOs as well as representatives of diplomatic missions and civil society groups.

The assistant secretary of state has visited Burma twice in the past, including with Obama in 2012 and with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011.

RB News 

April 11, 2014 

Maungdaw, Arakan – Land owned by Zahadiyah Mosque in the middle hamlet of Kyain Chaung village tract of Maungdaw Township in Arakan state has been encroached upon by the wife of a police officer, according to locals. 

In 2011 Than Than, the wife of police officer, Soe Chay, promised the custodians of a Maungdaw mosque that she would pay monthly rent for using the mosque’s land and building a shop there. Once the shop was built she ceased to pay rent and she is now building a house on the land of the mosque. The mosque is located in front of the police station in Kyain Chaung village tract and it is called Zahadiyah mosque. 

The mosque custodians went to submit a complaint letter to the village administrator, but the senior clerk, Tun Win, threw the letter onto the floor and scolded the custodians who went to complain. 

The mosque is about 50 feet away from the land where the wife of police officer is building the house, but the land is owned by the mosque. The toilet of the mosque is just behind the house she is building and she is now trying to destroy the toilet and build there as well. She promised the mosque custodians that she would pay rent but has failed to do so, and is now occupying the property of the mosque. 

“We complained against her to the police station. They didn’t take any action. Then we tried to submit letter to the village administrator but our letter was thrown onto the floor and the senior clerk was very rude towards us for complaining,” a villager told RB News.

Additional reporting by MYARF.