It is best to remember that in most conflicts there is enough violence to blame on multiple sides.
If you were to ask the average person in the street ‘Where is Myanmar?’ I would bet dollars to donuts (have you ever heard THAT phrase before?) you would get the response: “What’s a Myanmar?”
Perhaps if the question had been slightly reworded to “Where is Burma?” you might get more relevant answers. Burma was, of course, a UK colony for a long time – think of Burmese Days, George Orwell’s first novel, published way back in 1934 (Orwell had served in the ‘Indian Imperial Police’ in that land for five years, giving him ample material for his book).
Burma became Myanmar officially in 1989 although the word ‘Burmese’ is still used to describe the dominant language and ethnic group. Myanmar has been in the news a lot in recent years because of the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim people living in the country’s northwest who are viewed by Buddhist extremists (Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist) as usurpers who do not belong. The massacres of Rohingya are well documented.
On this day in 2017
What is less well documented, however, are the actions of the other side in this conflict. On this day in 2017, Rohingya Muslim terrorists belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) killed dozens of Hindu civilians, as many as 100. The killings came in the first days of an uprising against Burmese forces, who are also accused of atrocities.
In this brutal and senseless act, members of Arsa captured scores of Hindu women, men and children and terrorised them before slaughtering them outside their own villages
Amnesty International
Myanmar forces kill Muslim Rohingya civilians. Muslim Rohingya terrorists kill Hindu civilians. Members of religion A kill members of religion B. Now where have we heard that one before?
