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Aug-11-2012 15:00printcomments

Corporate Profits and Dead Muslims: Burma's Sticky Trail of Money and Blood

Buddhists are ethnically cleansing a minority population for the second time in 3 years; here's the back story.

Buddhist killers

(SALEM, Ore.) - People are being ethnically cleansed in Myanmar, while the United States and its corporate hounds are moving in for a different kind of kill.

Some humanitarians the Americans turn out to be; human beings slaughtered in the street by militant Buddhists and as this takes place, the U.S. is in the process of 'normalizing' relations with this former military junta while failing to demand accountability in regard to Burma's terrible record as a Human Rights violator.

Rohingya Muslims have been targeted in a brutal manner since the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman. The first act of violence in retaliation, was a Buddhist mob pulling ten Muslim men off of a bus and murdering them in full public view. The 10 were not even from the region that the accused lived in.

Yet this has not stopped the Rakhine Buddhists from rampaging on the minority Muslim population, who the country's prime minister declared were people without some of the most basic Human Rights.

Still, Americans are doing business with this government of Human Rights violators.

After all Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been a closed country until now, and the corporations have never been able to sink their teeth into the virgin resources of Myanmar and in turn, exploit its population on every imaginable level.

The west had to attack Libya to force corporations onto that soil. The allure of Burma must be great for the business community; they make money and the government and its religious mobs murder the Muslims. Yup, spirit of America in 2012.

The media coverage that the west is publishing, gives credence to the government of this controversial country. I don't know what it is these days with reporters, but if a government says something, even a shady operator like Burma, they just regurgitate the information.

For example, UPI wrote just a few hours ago:

    Human Rights Watch, in a report last week, said authorities in Myanmar were skirting security obligations with their response to an outbreak of violence in Rakhine state in June. At least 78 people have died in the regional conflict pitting Muslims against ...

My point is that the mainstream western media is not just failing to report what is happening, they are actually publishing information that caters to Burmese government.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy, was only recently released from a long term of house arrest.

She is a Buddhist, and it is her people are committing the mass killings of Rohingya Muslims, and she is staying silent while this agonizing Genocide takes place in a nation with barely any media. Photographers who are attempting to document the violence are also being killed.

As I wrote in my last article, this is a repeat of what happened in Sri Lanka only three years ago. In that case, the victims were the Tamil Hindu and Christian minority; yet the killers were the Sinhala Buddhists. The western press and politicians allowed the Tamils to die an agonizing death, tens of thousands were murdered.

Rohingya Muslim child murdered in Burma

The world was silent then, the world is silent now, as if there is an unspoken agreement among the governments to let the people die miserable deaths because they are Muslim.

There is a fundamental difference, actually many, but in Sri Lanka, there were many journalists who died under suspicious circumstances, many and the problem is not over. Sri Lanka's government is associated with what came to be known as 'white van' incidents and this has been a serious problem for years. White vans pull up, men come out, and the intended victim or victims, are whisked away, almost all are never seen again, alive.

Sri Lanka's excuse for murdering so many Tamils, centered around the fact that the rebel force, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) or 'Tamil Tigers', were designated a terrorist group during the time of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. Sri Lanka's forces killed tens of thousands of Tamil Civilians, and claimed the non-combatants killed were used as 'human shields' by the LTTE, the same people dying to protect those civilians.

Many who have examined the facts of that story reject the 'human shield' idea along with the 'terrorist' designation of the LTTE, but Sri Lanka's government does have that to fall back on. Tamil Tigers did kill many Sri Lankan soldiers, there was a history of violent military action there, but where are the justifications for what is taking place in Burma?

Let me make it clear, the Rohingya Muslims are not terrorists, even their swords have been removed in house to house searches by authorities; we reported this several days ago. They are an unarmed population that is dying and scared.

Background on Current Unrest

Burma is a place where people have had much to fear for a long time. But somehow, with the country's so-called 'transition to democracy', the tension is all being unleashed on the Muslim community.

Let's examine the headline from the article below:

Three murderers who raped, stabbed a woman to death to be brought to trial soonest

Those words clearly state that the men accused of murdering a young Buddhist woman were judged guilty prior to their convictions.

The following is the unedited report from New Light of Myanmar (myanmar.com):

Body of Ma Thida Htwe, of Thabyechaung Village

    NAY PYI TAW, 4 June-On her way from tailoring work to home, Ma Thida Htwe, 27, daughter of U Hla Tin, of Thabyechaung Village, Kyauknimaw Village-tract, Yanbye Township, was stabbed to dead by unidentified people at the mangrove near a rain tree beside the embankment road leading to Kyaukhtayan Ward of Kyauknimaw Village and Chaungwa Village at 5.15 pm on 28 May.

    A complaint over the case was lodged to Kyauknimaw Police Station by U Win Maung, a brother of the victim. The police station opened the case under Section 302/382 (murder/robery) of Criminal Procedure Law. The head of Kyaukpyu District MPF and party went to Kyauknimaw Village on 29 May morning and reconstructed the related clues and interrogated three suspects, namely, Htet Htet (a) Rawshi, son of U Kyaw Thaung (Bengali/Islam), of Kyauknimaw (south ward), Rawphi, son of Sweyuktamauk (Bengali/Islam) of Kyauknimaw (Thaya ward) and Khochi, son of Akwechay (Bengali/ Islam), of Kyauknimaw (Thaya ward).

    The Accused Men: Htet Htet, Rawphi and Khochi

    The investigation revealed that Htet Htet (a) Rawshi knew the daily routine of the victim who commuted between Thabyechaung Village and Kyauknimaw Village for tailoring. He, in badly need of money for marrying a girl, plotted to rob her of her valuables she wears. Together with Rawphi and Khochi, Rawshi waited at the rain tree near the scene. Seeing her returning home alone, the three pointed her with a knife and took her to the woods where they raped and stabbed her to dead, taking away five kinds of gold jewellery including MC gold chain.

    In order to avoid racial riots and threat of villagers to the suspects, the Township Administrator and the head of the Township MPF were monitoring the situations and sent the three to Kyaukpyu Jail on at 10.15 am on 30 May. At 1.20 pm the same day, about 100 Rakhine nationals of Kyauknimaw arrived at Kyauknimaw Police Station and demanded to return the three to them who were explained by officials concerned that the three had already been sent to Kyaukpyu Jail. However, the group, unsatisfied with it, was attempting to enter the police station which in return had to fire five shots to disperse them. At 1.50 pm the same day, about 100 Rakhine nationals of Kyauknimaw Village left for Yanbye and the Kyaukpyu District Deputy Commissioner and the head of Kyaukpyu Police Station also went to Yanbye to prevent disturbance and ensure prevalence of law and order settling the problems with the villagers.

    At 4 pm on 30 May, the District/Township level departmental officials and Yanbye Township Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Ba Kyi made clarifications to avoid disturbance at Yanbye Township Administrator Office, and the villagers left the office at 5.40 pm. At 9 am on 31 May, they left Yanbye for Kyauknimaw Village with two boats. The Villagers accepted K 1 million donated for the village and K 600,000 for the victim’s funeral by the State Transportation Minister U Kyaw Khin and five sets of robes and K 100,000 by the State Hluttaw representative U Than Naing for the victim’s funeral.

    At 3.5 pm on 31 May, the State Security and Border Affairs Minister, the deputy head of the State Police Station, the Kyaukphyu District Deputy Commissioner and the head of the District Police Station participated in the victim’s funeral and held discussions with the villagers. At 9 am on 1 June, the State Chief Minister and party left for Kyaukpyu and held discussions with the Kyaukpyu Township youth organization over the murder case. The discussions mainly touched upon handing down deterrent punishment on the murderers soonest and helping prevent riots when they are being brought to trial.

According to lawyers quoted in Burma press, eight people testified in the trial against the three young men. Leading the effort it appears, was Thida Htwe’s angry grief-stricken brother, in a trial that lasted less than two weeks. Htet Htet, accused of masterminding the plot, committed suicide in jail last week, but was handed the sentence posthumously in accordance with Burmese criminal law.

But other observers of the case say Htet Htet was tortured to death, and that is not hard to imagine being possible in Myanmar.

I see nothing in that account that substantiates the case against the young men. The case became a terrible excuse for rampant killing of people who had nothing to do with the crime. The verdict resulted in mixed reactions very much in line with the increasingly polarized debate over Burma's ongoing violence. The Buddhist majority expressed satisfaction with the hasty trial and verdict. Ba Shein, People’s Parliament representative in Kyaukphyu township commended the police force for its quick work.

"It is lucky to have this case solved in such a short period of time otherwise there would be other unwanted problems. They managed to arrest the culprits, seize evidence and hear witness accounts within about 10 days after the crime was committed – I would congratulate the police force their hard work."

Meanwhile, human rights groups are unhappy with the speed and the legitimacy of the trial. Phil Robertson, head of Human Rights Watch Asia division, told Democratic Voice of Burma, "We condemn the imposition of the death penalty in all cases as cruel and inhumane treatment," He added, "...we’ve also had no access to information about this case so there is no way to say whether the three men on trial are in fact guilty."

Chris Lewa, Director of the Arakan Project, said, "My concern would be whether there was any kind of proper judicial system." "This was quite quick, so it seems like a move to try to calm the Rakhine population."
- Three men given death sentence for murder that sparked riots - Hanna Hindstrom - DVB

The following is from Aungsan


    Killing of Traveling Bengali Muslims in Taung-goke

    That case of brutal rape and murder has basically caused religious and racial riots against the Bengali Muslims all over the Arrakan State and the worst case was the killing of ten Bengali-Muslim pilgrims travelling on a luxury bus at Taunggup on their way from Sandoway to Yangon on June 3rd.

    Following news released on the June 5th New Light of Myanmar newspaper details the killing of ten Bengali Muslim men by the Arrakanese mob at the Taunggup Town in the Arrakan State.

    "NAY PYI TAW, 4 June- In relation to the case of Ma Thida Htwe who was ruthlessly assaulted on 28 May, a group namely Wunthanu Rakkhita Association, Taunggup, handed out leaflets around 6 am yesterday to locals at crowded places in Taunggup, bearing a photo Ma Thida Htwe and describing a “Notice” making the people in Taunggup to take notice the intentionally assault of Muslims to Rakhinese women.

    Around 4 pm yesterday, the news that Muslims were on board a car spread to the town and local people crowded the bus from the Yoma Thitsar Bus-line enroute from Thandwe to Yangon while it stopped in Ayeyeiknyein Bus Terminal as passengers embarked and disembarked.

    An official of the terminal ordered the bus to leave for Yangon immediately as the bus was crowded. Some people riding motorbikes followed the bus and made the bus to turn back to the town. When the bus arrived at the junction of Thandwe- Taunggup on its way back to Thandwe, around 300 local people who were waiting there besiged the bus and pulled the Muslims out of the bus. In the clash, ten Muslims were killed and the bus were also destroyed. The crowd dispersed around 6.50 pm after Taunggup Township Administrative Board, Myanmar Police Force and Hluttaw Representative, members of War Veterans Organization and townselders arrived at the scene and controlled the situation.

    The victims were on their way back to homes after staying in Thandwe for religious purposes. The victims include six from Taungdwingyi, two from Myaungmya and two from Thandwe. The bodies of the victims were buried in the Muslims Cemetery in Thandwe today. The attack is under investigation in conformity with the law and officials concerned and townselders are working together to maintain prevalence of community peace and stability.-MNA"

    Following story and photos of that ugly incident were published on a Myanmar language web site Khithit Blog on 5 June 2012.

    (Photos are graphic and weak-hearted should not continue reading the rest.)

    The luxury bus (7kha-7863) from Yoma-thitsar coach line was driven by Naung Naung (a Bengali-muslim) and left Sandoway at noon on 3 June 2012 and reached Taunggup at 5 in the evening.




    On the bus were 5 Arrakanese and 7 Burmese and 10 Bengali-Muslims. While the bus was stopping for a short break at the bus-terminal in Taunggup the passengers got off and sat in the teashop there.

    The ten Bengali-Muslims were noticed by the local Arrakanese youths who had been watching the buses for the purpose of stopping illegal entry of Bengalis from Bangaladesh across the porous border.

    Those youths followed the bus by motorcycles once the bus had resumed its journey towards Rangoon. They stopped the bus at the Nayla-Thitsar Gate just outside Taunggup and forced the driver to return to Taunggup police station for the suspicion of transporting the illegal Bengalis.

    But well before the Taunggup Police Station the hundreds strong Arrakanese mob waiting at the Sandoway Intersection in front of the No-1 Sate High School stopped the bus and forced all passengers and the driver to disembark.

    The mob let the Arrakanese and Myanmar passengers go but forced the Indian looking Bengali-Muslims into the road-side ditch and killed them by bashing them up repeatedly on their throats and heads with Bamboo sticks and timber truncheons.

    The killed were:

    1.      Tay Zar Myint (30) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    2.      Aung Myint (40) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    3.      Maung Ni (47) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    4.      Ni Pwe (56) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    5.      Aye Lwin (50) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    6.      Tin Maung Swe (53) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.
    7.      Zaw Nyi Nyi Htut (36) from Myaung Mya Town of Irrawaddy Division.
    8.      Aung Ko Ko Kyaw (27) from Myaung Mya Town of Irrawaddy Division.
    9.      Driver Naung Naung (30) from Sandoway Town of Arrakan State.
    10.  Conductor Nyi Nyi Htun (25) from Sandoway Town of Arrakan State.

    The news-report emphasized that none of the killed had their Bengali Muslim names mentioned in their NRC (National Registration Cards) but they all were clearly Bengali Muslims. The killings obviously were a racial attack against the Indian-looking Bengali Muslims.

    The bus owned by another Bengali Muslim named Battery Kyaw Kyaw from Sandoway was also totally destroyed and burnt down by the Arrakanese mob as well.
    - Beyond The Myanmar Democray Arrakan Boiling with Anti-Islamic Fever? - Aungsan

There is no question that the nation of Burma is embroiled in tense, religious-ethnic conflict. Those who pay attention know that the relaxing of strong-willed governments often leads to racial violence that was managed prior to the decision to become 'democratic'.

This is taking place in Myanmar and the problem is that the U.S. government and its corporate minions are aiding the process. The world body must intercede and the UN should have thousands on the ground to ensure that this supposed transition to democracy is smooth and real, instead of another Buddhist led bloodbath.

_________________________________________




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anas November 7, 2012 6:21 am (Pacific time)

this is not a terrorist?...every killer will show after this life....every muslim brother dont take arms and take prophat muhammed {s} way


Tiger sumro August 22, 2012 12:31 am (Pacific time)

Aj puri duniya tamasa sekh rahi he ... Ki kese insans insaniyat bhulkar ... Ek dusre ka mazhab ho dusre pe thobh rahe he ........ Kayamat nazdik he ......... Ant hoga hamara ....


mohd yameen August 16, 2012 11:15 am (Pacific time)

its very bad act Allah will never realise to, who person who is going aggainst Allah any of the person hindu or muslim any of them


sasank sekhar August 16, 2012 11:12 am (Pacific time)

stop this its apposite of humanity please stop bcoz we all are is one


Fazlul August 13, 2012 12:46 pm (Pacific time)

Asslaamu wa alaikum ? Mere bhaiyo . Aaj ham muslmano par julm ho raha hai . . Ham sab isliye chup hain ke a ramzan ka mahina hai . Ramzan ka mahi na khatam ho gaya . Uske dusre din burma khatam ho jayega . . Burma ke logo ne hamare muslman bhai aur behno ko bahut takleef di hai . . . . Magar allha paak is ka badla jarur lenge . . Aye allha jisne tere bando ke uper julm kiya hai unko tu dikhade unko tu nashto nabood karde . Aameen summ aameen ?


Arish khan August 12, 2012 10:25 am (Pacific time)

allah in kutto ko aisi mout dega ki rahti duniya tak ek misal bankar rahegi,,itna julm hm musalmano pr eh alleh ke kehar se daro jalimo,kuch to kro muslim bhaiyo...akhir kb tk julm sahoge tum.hmesha kal ke intezar me kyo rahte ho,jihad kro hm sb ek hai .aur inse badla zarur lena hai.kafiro ko mout ke ghat utarna hai.naare takbeer allahu-akbar.


fakruddin August 12, 2012 2:29 am (Pacific time)

plz my brother nothing is thear to kill plz lave the muslims why the media is so sailent plz im plz help out our brothers from burma

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Sean Flynn was a photojournalist in Vietnam, taken captive in 1970 in Cambodia and never seen again.