Buddhist mob lynched a Rohingya man in the Rakhine State capital Sittwe on Tuesday, reported the irrawaddy.com citing the district’s Police Major Win Naung.
The report also states that the lynched man was one of seven self-identifying Rohingya Muslims from Dapaing camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Sittwe taken by police to witness a trial in Sittwe Township court.
Further, the report states that the Rohingya group visited Ywar Gyi Mrauk quarter which is two kilometers from the court in downtown Sittwe during a break in the trial, when they were attacked by a gang of men from the ward.
One man was killed on the spot and another Rohingya man from the group was severely injured.
Major told irrawaddy.com that the injured man is receiving treatment at Sittwe General Hospital and also added that the mob was armed but he did not specify what ‘weapons’ the mob was carrying.
Myanmar government does not recognize Rakhine State’s Muslim minority Rohingya as one of the country’s official ethnic groups, and calls them “Bengali.” The use of the word Bengalis is also curious as these people are considered to be of Bangladesh who entered Myanmar some time back only. Interestingly, Buddhists in Bangladesh are also under similar threat and have faced harrowing times under the Muslim-majority Bangladesh. The Chakma Buddhists are often abused and are labeled Indians or Burmese/Myanmarese by zealots.
Rohingya Muslims: India secular, grateful to Hindus for help
Sittwe has certain areas where Rohingya Muslims are forbidden to do any shopping at the town market and entering Rakhine quarters. The Rakhine residents are also forbidden from visiting Muslim quarters without police permission reports the Irrawaddy highlighting country’s fractured religious bonhomie.
Major Win Naung told the paper that the police were not aware that the group of Rohingya had traveled to Ywar Gyi Mrauk quarter, a restricted area for Rohingya Muslims while the Sittwe residents told The Irrawaddy that the attack took place in the area on Tuesday afternoon.
Money collection bid for Rohingyas in Kashmir rings alarm bells again
Repeated attacks on Rohingyas has made them take shelter in India while many Muslim nations have all but paid a mere lip service to their cause.
However, Rohingya population increase in many parts of India has also become a part of the problem as many of them are considered to have become radicalized.
