Recently, a number of readers have raised quite justified concern over persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma. However, I was taken aback to see how the social networking sites are being bombarded with hate material supported by concocted pictures of alleged Muslims massacres in Burma. Most of the pictures were modified or in some cases blatantly not just edited but re-titled being of events elsewhere in the world such as the insurgency in Thailand and Tibet-China, Chinese earthquake victims burial etc. Previously, a number of extremist organisations have used such tactics to fan hatred and prejudice against other communities in the world. The prevailing tension between Rohingya Muslims and Rankine Buddhists is not something new; it’s been ongoing for decades, there were even several riots in the colonial period. There are a number of Muslims living elsewhere in Burma but not facing any state-sponsored persecution, therefore, problem in Arakan state needs to be viewed in its historical perspective.
A brutal junta was ruling Burma for last many decades which indulged in inhuman oppression of most of the communities and ethnic groups – the Rohingya people were not exception. Now Burma is moving back to democracy; we shall expect that in due course all the ethnic groups will win their rights – a pre-requisite for the nation’s integration. Inter-communal and ethnicity-based tensions are not new to this region whether it’s India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Afghanistan. In all these countries, you will find communities coming face-to-face due to lack of resources and economic hardships.
We should not blindly believe whatever is being posted on social media. Most of the time this behind-the-veil media becomes a curse when used by some narrow-minded people. There is no doubt that at the end of the day, such propagandists will look forward to set up some charity to collect funds in the name of this or that. Let’s try to find out the facts for ourselves and not be swayed with whatever is being received on the net.
MASOOD KHAN
Saudi