LAHORE: Dozens of political, religious and social activists staged demonstrations and rallies on Friday to condemn the massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the silence of the international community over the issue.
“The mass murder of Rohingyas Muslims should be stopped; Pak Army should play its role for protection of Rohingyas; why are the United Nations (UN), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and international community silent; youth should raise voice for Islam instead watching cricket and joining politics, the banners read outside Lahore Press Club.
The demonstrations were organised by the Sunni Ulema Council, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Khaksar Tehreek, Pakistan Awami Tehreek, traders union and others. The participants chanted slogans against the Myanmar government and torched effigies of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Ashin Wirathu—spiritual leader of the anti-Muslim movement.
The speakers said Pakistani Muslims are hurt by the treatments of Myanmar government towards Rohingya community, adding that the UN’s silence over the issue is criminal.
“No state, except Turkey, raised its voice against the government in Myanmar to protest the murder of Rohingya Muslims,” they alleged.
Muslim nations need to get united to counter this and Raheel Sharif should lead Muslim Army and tell the West that any threat to a Muslim community is a threat to the entire Ummah,” they said.
The Rohingya are persecuted community in Myanmar and reviled by Rakhine Buddhists who refuse to recognise their rights and term them Bengalis instead—illegal immigrants.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has sought to defuse the row over the term Rohingya instead ordering officials to refer them as “Muslim communities in Rakhine”.
Home to around one million Rohingya, Rakhine State in Myanmar has been hardest hit by the religious violence which has also forced Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh.