Myo Min Soe
March 24, 2013
I have a feeling that days are getting longer since 20th March, 2013. I wish the attacks of 969 extremists would be over soon and people would be living in peace and harmony as before. Before I continue I want to clarify the word “attacks of 969 extremists” I used above. The words “riot” or “conflict” are used in almost all media reports to label the Meiktila case. As much as I understand, the words “riot” or “conflict” are for the case when two sides attack each other. But, in Meikhtila, the attacks came from one side and Muslims were victims. That’s why I wrote, it was the attacks of 969 extremists.
So, what is 969? All I know is that the 969 campaign is organized by some Buddhist extremists who spread hate letters accusing that Muslims are planning to dominate the country and so on. Although the letters include only nonsense lies, most of the Buddhists believe and they want to believe. Yes, they want to believe. They want to believe everything written bad about Muslims. They never think twice logically.
Let’s go back to Meikhtila case. On March 20, 2013 morning, there was a quarrel between shopkeepers and customers at a gold shop. The gold shop owners are Muslims and customers are Buddhist villagers. I don’t know who was right or wrong but the customer was the one who slap the shopkeeper woman first. After that, the shopkeeper man beat the customer with a chair.
That small quarrel became something else when the customer didn’t go to police station but went out and came back bringing a mob of 969 attackers. So, they came and destroyed the gold shop. They destroyed other Muslim shops. They destroyed Muslim houses. They destroyed one mosque after another. They set Muslim houses on fire. And they started killing Muslims. The worst case was that they burnt to death 28 students and 4 teachers from an Islamic School. Since all Muslims houses were destroyed or burnt, all Muslims had to hide here and there. Eventually, with the help of Min Ko Naing, Muslims were escorted out of the town. All Muslims had to raise their hands on their way as if they were prisoners of war.
I heard, one monk died with burns. But it is still unclear how the monk was burnt because muslims were fleeing away and 969 extremists destroying Muslim houses and Mosques at that time. According to the estimations on March 22, there were 44 deaths, 800 houses and 11 Mosques destroyed. Since the Muslims are minority in Meikhtila, 800 houses and 11 Mosques mean all.
Here, I want to mention that there were many good Buddhists in Meikhtila who hid their Muslim neighbours when the 969 terrorists came. It was said that students and teachers of Islamic school were initially given refuge by a Buddhist neighbour. When he refused to transfer the Muslims to the terrorists, his house was burnt along with the Muslims inside.
What amazed me most is that although Muslims were victims and 96 9Buddhists were attackers, most of the Buddhists are still saying that Muslims are dangerous threat to them. It is hard to believe when people blindly say “white” although they are seeing black.
You may wonder why police forces couldn’t control the situation. Actually, they didn’t control at all. They came and watched the terrorists destroying the Muslim houses and mosques. It was said that, the terrorists were going in and out of the line of police guards. Police did nothing to stop them. Why? Because, they were ordered not to do anything, according to news reports by Radio Free Asia. Here, another good question arises. Who is behind the 969 terrorists? I think you can guess the answer.
(This reflects the author’s opinions).
