Bangladesh: Rohingya and politics behind the anti-Buddhist violence
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Muslim attacks to Buddhist communities in Bangladesh are born of "political, not religious questions ", "the story behind the anti-Mohammed film' and cartoons hide the Rohingya's social demands", a local source, anonymous for security reasons, tells AsiaNews. The attacks took place September 29 and 30 last in the upazila (sub-districts) of Ramu, Ukhia, Patia and Teknaf (Chittagong Division, southeast). Police have arrested 166 people over the violence.
The disorders are mainly concentrated in Ramu, where a crowd of at least 2 thousand Muslims razed 15 Buddhist temples (one of which is 250 years old) and burned more than 100 homes. The final toll is about 24 temples demolished (22 Buddhists and two Hindus) in the whole area, and thousands of people forced to flee their villages. The violence erupted after the publication on Facebook of a photo offensive to the Koran, which soon spread to mobile phones via bluetooth. Yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamic opposition party, called for the arrest of Uttar Kumar Barua, a Buddhist charged with having posted the image on the social network. The political party also condemned the violence and vandalism, accusing some leaders of the government "of implicating Jamaat in the violence".
According to the source, "twin interests" are behind the incidents; the Rohingya who "used the occasion to draw attention to their problem," the other, Jamaat, who "never miss an opportunity to put the government in a bad light [Awami League, moderate and pro-Western, ed]. " The Rohingya, a Muslim minority native to Rakhine State of Myanmar, is the center of an unresolved ethnic political issue: Yangon does not recognize them as a race, and considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Dhaka, however, refuses to accept them.
In this situation, the source points out, " there is the risk of remaining blind to serious consequences: once again, the Bengali settlers [Muslims] will exploit the situation to occupy the lands of the tribals in the area [mostly Christians, Buddhists and animists] and drive them away. " In recent years, in fact, Bangladesh is experiencing a period of rapid overpopulation: the so-called settlers (Bengali originating in other areas) covet tribal lands (concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts), and illegally take possession of their properties. This widespread trend for some time, said the source, threatens to become "a real social problem" that will "explode at any moment."
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