Rohingya Problem-Is it All About Buddhist Against Muslim?

Aik TC SG

The current hot topic of the day is about the suffering of the Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. We see articles that speak of the tragedies and genocide that is going on there. And if no help is given to them, we may eventually see a whole race being exterminated just like the extermination of the Historical Buddha Sakya clan at the hand of Prince Virudhaka of Koshala or the decimation of Buddhism in India at the hand of the Muslim invaders. Of course no one would want to see such tragedy unfolding again.

We see numerous news reports too which start their reporting with the sentence - ‘In Buddhist dominated Myanmar and then follow by ‘minority Muslim Rohingya’ pleading for help. Well, with such statement, one cannot help but have this nasty feeling and impression that there is a religious war going on out there between the Buddhists and the Muslims, with the Buddhists being the culprits and big bad bullies.

The whole thing is not help with articles squarely putting all the blames on the country’s government policies of not recognizing the Rohingya as citizens, making them live in deplorable condition and having their movement restricted which curtail their opportunity to seek means for a proper livelihood. One can go, tell the Myanmar government that their actions are despicable, but I do not think they care. They are likely to tell you to piss off and mind your own business instead.

It is bad, bad news too when the government decide to introduce their latest new ‘family planning’ law regarding interfaith marriage, religious conversions, family size and birth spacing law mandating women to wait 36 months between one child birth and the next. Of course without fail, this news has become another piece of juicy information for news channels and NGOs. They pointed out that this law is going to be use to target Muslim Rohingya and many other Christian tribes living there. Along the way, somehow these authors seem to forget mentioning that the Buddhists too will also be affected by the law.

Compounding the whole lousy situation is the present of that ‘big bad’ Monk Ashin Wirathu, the Buddhist extremist who spewed hatred against the religious minority. Conclusion - There goes the reputation of a religion that preaches gentleness and non-violence.

We have also heard some asking why Aung San Suu Kyi is keeping silent. Poor Suu Kyi, with the general election just around the corner, what can she say? Open her mouth and she will damn. It will either mean losing votes for her party or condemn by the international communities and NGOs. Can we just be a bit more patient and wait for the election to be over? See if her party wins and what course of actions and solutions she can offer?

We have non-Buddhists and even Imam asking why Buddhists around the world are not speaking out for the Rohingya. One can perceive the mistaken belief that the Rohingya problem is considered a religious conflict between Muslim and Buddhists by these people. But really, the root cause of the problem goes further than that. It is racial in nature. It is about one race predominantly Buddhist who are the majority there and in control of the country, feeling threatened and fearing losing control of ruling the country to other races in the future. One of these races happens to be the Rohingya. Making it worse, happens to be Muslims that does not believes in birth control. Instead of just asking Buddhists to speak out for the Rohingya, they should be asking for the whole world to do so and help them.

Speaking about helping them, except for the ISIS caliphate, I have yet to hear of any rich Arab and other Muslim nations offering asylum to the Rohingya. If the whole issue is truly considered a religious one, we would expect to see these nations coming forward to welcome and accept them to their shores without questions. After all in Islam, believers are all brothers and one is suppose to protect and watch over one another under all circumstances. Why ain’t they doing so?