Sami Buddha Myanmar Sokong Penindasan Kaum Rohingya

Buddha selalunya dikaitkan dengan keamanan dengan lagak mulia penuh santun. Tetapi tidak di Myanmar. Sami-sami mereka dirasuk syaitan dan mengadakan perarakan protes dengan sifat perkauman yang menebal.

Ahad lepas, sami-sami Buddha di Myanmar berarak dijalanan menyokong cadangan Presiden Thein Sein untuk menghalau umat Islam Rohingya dari barat Myanmar.

Aksi ini dikecam pihak antarabangsa dengan antara lain Wall Street Journal menyebutnya sebagai chauvinis Buddha manakala Bangkok Post menyebutnya sebagai rasisme.

Mereka mengadakan protes pro-pengusiran yang masuk hari ketiga semalam dengan mengutuk 'keberadaan' kaum Rohingya di negara mereka dan menyatakan sokongan kepada rancangan Presiden untuk mengusir kaum Rohingya dari tanah yang telah didiami kaum tersebut dari zaman dahulu kala.

Nampaknya umat Islam di Malaysia perlu mengambil langkah drastik. Jika semasa tragedi Tak Bai kita berani menggegar pagar Kedutaan Thailand di Jalan Ampang dalam bulan puasa 2004, apakah hari ini ketika dunia mengkritik Myanmar, kita tiba-tiba jadi pengecut?

Buddhist monks come out against Rohingya, Myanmar's beleaguered Muslim minority group

Buddhist monks in Myanmar show public support for President Thein Sein's proposal to send away all Rohingya Muslims

Buddhist monks in Myanmar have come out in droves to support President Thein Sein's proposal to deport all members of the Muslim Rohingya minority group from the country, in the wake of a summer of sectarian violence that has left 90 dead in Rakhine state. 

The Voice of America reported today that large numbers of Mandalay monks attended the third day of the pro-deportation protests, decrying the Rohingya's continuing presence in "their" country. 

Read more: Burma's Buddhist Chauvinism - Wall Street Journal

The Irrawaddy reports the protests had an "unexpectedly large turnout" - a worrisome sign for the Rohingya. Further, police appeared willing to allow the pro-deportation protesters to gather in larger numbers than technically permitted, while enforcing the rules for protesters decrying stricter market rules. 

President Thein Sein suggested in July that the Rohingya be booted from Myanmar and placed on the doorstep of any country willing to accept them - a stance the UN refugee agency has loudly decried. 

The monks support for this ongoing violence against Muslims is especially ironic, in light of the brutal violence that was used against them by the then much-more-repressive junta in the 2007 protests. - Baca selanjutnya di Globalpost

This is racism, not Buddhism

• Published: 5/09/2012 at 02:26 AM
• Newspaper section: News

How do you feel when you see rows of stern-looking Buddhist monks marching through the streets in full force to call for violent treatment of the downtrodden?

That was what thousands of Myanmar monks did when they took to the streets in temple-studded Mandalay on Sunday to support the government's brutal persecution of stateless Muslim Rohingya.

What were they thinking?

The world is full of injustice. But isn't it the business of monks to advise against it, and not to be supportive of any form of prejudice and human cruelty?

Aren't empathy and non-exploitation the key words in Buddhism? Aren't monks supposed to devote their lives to deepening spiritual practice in order to see through the different layers of we-they prejudice so that compassion prevails in their hearts, words, and actions?

Many people outside Myanmar were asking these questions because the anti-Rohingya monks were the same ones who dared challenge the government in 2007 to champion the people's cause, and who themselves faced a violent crackdown by the military junta.

If the Buddha's words were not important to them when they took to the streets, then what was?

The answer is quite simple _ racist nationalism. The monks do want justice for people, but just for their own kind. - Baca selanjutnya di Bangkok Post