I want this article to be the first one on this blog. The reason is that Burma is an African country not known too much but people suffer an internal terror there. Please read and make comments, if you want.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT CRIMES IN BURMA ?
Burma has imposed a state of emergency in the central town of Meikhtila
Reports from Meikhtila, a town 90 miles south of Mandalay, described scenes of devastation, with charred bodies lying in the streets and mosques and Muslim-owned businesses burned to the ground. Gangs of Buddhists, including monks, are reported to be roaming the city attacking Muslims, hundreds of whom have taken refuge in a local football stadium.
Around five per cent of Burma's 60 million people are Muslims. Tensions between the majority Buddhists and Muslims were suppressed under the military regime that ran Burma until 2011. Now, the resentment between the two communities appears to becoming increasingly violent.
Under the British rule, economic pressures and xenophobia contributed to the rise of anti-Indian, and later anti-Muslim sentiment. Following an anti-Indian riot in 1930, racial tensions flared between the ethnic Burmese, Indian immigrants, and British rulers. Burmese sentiment turned against those viewed as foreigners, including Muslims of all ethnic groups. Following this, an anti-Muslim riot occurred in 1938, strongly influenced by newspapers.
Myanmar (Burma) is a multi-religious country. There is no official state religion, but the government shows preference for Theravada Buddhism, the majority religion. According to both the statistics published by the Burmese government and the CIA, it is practiced by 89% of the population, especially among the Bamar, Rakhine, Shan, Mon, and Chinese. The new constitution provides for the freedom of religion; however, it also grants broad exceptions that allow the regime to restrict these rights at will.
Although Burma's Jews once numbered in the thousands, there are currently only approximately 20 Jews in Yangon (Rangoon), where the country's only synagogue is located. Most of the Jews left Myanmar at the commencement of the Second World War, and also after General Ne Win took over in 1962. Hinduism is practiced mainly by Burmese Indians.
The Muslim and Christian populations are said to face religious persecution in Myanmar. Since independence, successive governments (both democratic and military) did not grant the citizenship of the Muslim Rohingya of Northern Rakhine and forbid missionary activities. The Rohingyas have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh or to Muslim states. Their claim to citizenship has been marred by disputes with the ethnic Arakanese, who are mainly Buddhists. Some Rohingyas claim to be the original inhabitants of the region, even stating that the temples of Mrauk U were once Rohingya mosques. Those claims have caused the Buddhist Arakanese to be hostile to the Rohingya.
Many minority religions claim that they have a greater following than the official statistics but they also tend to over represent the number of adherents.
(the article is taken from www.infostartdivertismentsiopinie.blogspot.ro)
G.E.S.
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