Genocide in Burma: Monks and Perpetuation of Violence
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:49 pm
An interesting article in this season's issue of Tricycle on the plight of the Rohingya people living in a sector of Burma.
http://www.tricycle.com/feature/buddhis ... lism-burma" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I haven't studied the issue carefully, nor have I visited Burma to get an on the ground sense of what is occurring. Violence seems to be ongoing on both sides, between the Muslim Rohingya people and the Buddhist Burmese.
One thing that does seem to be clear is that Burmese monks have been part of the virulent parade of anti-Rohingya sentiment, fueling further violence against men,women and children. This crisis was an opportunity for the Burmese monastics to take a Dhammic stand against violence, and illustrate for the world what Metta and Karuna means in he face of a very difficult political and ethnic issue. Instead, it appears that some monks have violated precepts and encouraged violence against the Rohingya.
I'm not assessing blame: violence by the Rohingya against the Burmese is to be disdained on a par with violence against the Rohingya. Still, it is shocking to see the Bhikkhus in the streets carrying signs threatening genocidal violence against the Rohingya. I would have hoped for a far better response to this difficult issue from the monks. Their behavior is appalling.
http://www.tricycle.com/feature/buddhis ... lism-burma" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I haven't studied the issue carefully, nor have I visited Burma to get an on the ground sense of what is occurring. Violence seems to be ongoing on both sides, between the Muslim Rohingya people and the Buddhist Burmese.
One thing that does seem to be clear is that Burmese monks have been part of the virulent parade of anti-Rohingya sentiment, fueling further violence against men,women and children. This crisis was an opportunity for the Burmese monastics to take a Dhammic stand against violence, and illustrate for the world what Metta and Karuna means in he face of a very difficult political and ethnic issue. Instead, it appears that some monks have violated precepts and encouraged violence against the Rohingya.
I'm not assessing blame: violence by the Rohingya against the Burmese is to be disdained on a par with violence against the Rohingya. Still, it is shocking to see the Bhikkhus in the streets carrying signs threatening genocidal violence against the Rohingya. I would have hoped for a far better response to this difficult issue from the monks. Their behavior is appalling.