After visiting Myanmar last September, I was of the view that the problems and acts of violence in Rakhine state of Myanmar were the result of resentment and hatred toward the Rohingya minority instead of a religious confrontation between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority. When I heard about the targeting of houses of Kaman Muslim villagers in the October 2012 violence and reported incitement of anti-Muslim sentiments in Karen State by Buddhist monks, I feared this was an indication of a potentially worrying trend. Then, the recent news that a Muslim religious school was attacked by a Buddhist mob of 300 in Yangon incited by a weekly journal quoting a monk's inflammatory remarks truly made me reconsider my initial conclusion.
This phenomenon does not only occur in Myanmar, recently in Sri Lanka, anti-Muslim sentiments were stirred at a demonstration organized by the radical Buddhist party Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Strength Force). Demonstrators used slogans similar to the ones used by radical Rakhine Buddhists: "Muslim extremists are threatening the Buddhist race, monks are ready to fight." I was already intrigued by Michael K. Jerryson's informative book on the role of Thai Buddhist monks in a religio-political conflict in Southern Thailand, titled "Buddhist Fury: Religion and Violence in Southern Thailand." However, at the same time, I was encouraged by the open letter co-written and signed by some of the world's foremost Buddhist leaders calling for compassion and expressing their concern about the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. While the challenge seems to be quite complex, I hope these Buddhist leaders will continue their messages of peace and compassion to the Buddhist communities in these countries.
