I Vesten er det en udbredt opfattelse, at muslimer er aggressive og buddister fredselskende – sådan er det nok ikke, og slet ikke i Burma: Her det nærmest lige omvendt, selv om muslimer kun udgør et lille mindretal i det førhen så isolerede land.
Rioters have burnt Muslim-owned houses and shops in an outbreak of apparent sectarian violence in Burma, BBC online reports Sunday.
The trouble broke out overnight around the central town of Kanbalu, when police refused to hand over a Muslim man accused of raping a Buddhist woman.
The violence is a stark reminder of how much anti-Muslim sentiment there is in Burma and how little the authorities are doing to contain it, notes BBC.
Earlier this week, a car carrying UN human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana was attacked by a crowd in the central town of Meiktila as he tried to investigate sectarian attacks there in March.
He has accused the country’s government of failing to protect him when his convoy came under attack as some 200 people surrounded his car, punching the doors and windows.
At least 43 people – most of them from Burma’s small Muslim community – died in the violence that erupted after an argument at a Muslim-owned shop.
The violence sparked clashes in at least three other towns and left more than 12.000 Muslims displaced.
The clashes in Meiktila were the worst since ethnic violence in Rakhine state last year, where nearly 200 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes.
The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens.
