http://ryanroco.com Ryan Roco Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:34 +0000 http://ryanroco.com en http://ryanroco.com/The-Kachin-Way-of-Life http://ryanroco.com/following/ryanroco.com/The-Kachin-Way-of-Life Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:34 +0000 Ryan Roco 5575126 “If we don’t deter them, the western gate will break,” one senior minister told me, referring to Arakan State, which borders Bangladesh and is home to most Rohingyas. In his view, human rights did not apply to Muslims. These attitudes have spread deep within the populace. Last year, clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar killed at least 180 people and displaced more than 120,000, mostly Rohingyas. Last month, violence spread to central Myanmar, killing dozens and leaving more than 13,000 homeless. Although many culprits have been suggested, I have no doubt that national officials bear some responsibility, and that the violence suggests a power struggle within the elite. Infighting between hard-line and moderate forces in the government, which took power two summers ago under the moderate general Thein Sein, is no secret. His cabinet, Parliament and the army remain dominated by holdovers from the regime of the former dictator Gen. Than Shwe. Many are resisting President Thein Sein’s reforms. “If we don’t deter them, the western gate will break,” one senior minister told me, referring to Arakan State, which borders Bangladesh and is home to most... http://ryanroco.com/Art-As-A-Weapon http://ryanroco.com/following/ryanroco.com/Art-As-A-Weapon Wed, 08 May 2013 12:54:17 +0000 Ryan Roco 5575058 VICIOUS sectarian and ethnic violence has set back the fragile political reforms introduced in Myanmar last year. As tensions flare in the majority-Buddhist country that I and other exiles still call Burma, many fear that the deadly anti-Muslim riots are no accident but the product of an effort led by army hard-liners to thwart both the reforms and Myanmar’s opening to the world. When I returned to my homeland last year — for the first time in 24 years — I witnessed a rising wave of extreme nationalism and anti-Muslim hate speech. I heard senior army officers and government ministers express unfounded fears that Muslims would force their religion on Buddhists and try to “steal” Buddhist women. These hatemongers said that Saudi Arabia was secretly financing Muslim businesses and mosques, and that the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority in the west, were being joined en masse by illegal migrants from Bangladesh. VICIOUS sectarian and ethnic violence has set back the fragile political reforms introduced in Myanmar last year. As tensions flare in the majority-Buddhist country...