Myanmar steps up security after Muslim-Buddhist violence

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http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC120610-0000003/Myanmar-steps-up-security-after-Muslim-Buddhist-violence

Myanmar sent troops and naval vessels to the western state of Rakhine on Saturday after seven people died in the worst fighting in years between minority Muslim Rohingya and Buddhists.

A senior government official said hundreds of Rohingya had rioted on Friday in Buddhist communities and an overnight curfew had been imposed in Maungdaw Township.

It was not clear what had sparked the unrest but the western region has been tense for days after reports of the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman blamed on Muslims and the reprisal killing last Sunday of 10 Muslims.

MRTV said seven people had died and 17 had been wounded in the unrest on Friday, and around 500 buildings had been destroyed in Maungdaw.

"It's just like a living hell. I wonder how long we will have to live like this?" said Mya Khin, a housewife.

The Rohingyas went on the rampage after prayers on Friday. They hurled rocks and torched houses and buildings, witnesses told Reuters by telephone.

The presents a challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government, which replaced a military junta last year and says it wants to forge unity among all groups in Myanmar, one of Asia's most ethnically diverse countries.

Most Rohingya are stateless, recognised as citizens by neither Myanmar nor neighbouring Bangladesh. The U.N.'s refugee agency estimates there are about 800,000 of them in three districts of Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh.

Resentment of Rohingya runs deep among Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist, ethnic Burman majority. The government and many Burmese refuse even to recognise them as "Rohingya", referring to them as "Bengalis".

On Thursday, the government announced it had appointed a minister and police chief to head an investigation into "organised lawless and anarchic acts" in Rakhine state.

It took the unusual step of announcing the probe on the front page of official newspapers and removed from news websites references to Muslims as "kalar", a derogatory term for Muslims of South Asian descent in Myanmar.

In a statement in official newspapers on Saturday, the All Myanmar Islam Association condemned "the terrorising and destruction of lives and properties of innocent people" and called on Muslims across the country to live in peace.