Myanmar leader vows to use force to quell riots
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2013, Friday
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MYANMAR President Thein Sein said yesterday that his government will use force if necessary to quell deadly religious rioting that started last week, as attacks on Muslims by Buddhist mobs continued in several towns.
In his first public comments on the violence, Thein Sein warned in a televised speech that he would make all legal efforts to stop "political opportunists and religious extremists" trying to sow hatred between faiths.
The recent religious unrest began March 20 with rioting by Buddhists targeting minority Muslims in the central city of Meikhtila that left at least 40 people dead and drove 12,000 from their homes. The unrest spread this week to several towns in the Bago region, about 160 kilometers north of the country's biggest city, Yangon.
Curfews and bans on public gatherings have been imposed in the affected areas, but state television reported that groups of people attacked houses, shops and religious buildings yesterday in two towns in Bago.
"In general, I do not endorse the use of force to solve problems. However, I will not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of the general public," said Thein Sein.
"We must expect these conflicts and difficulties to arise during our period of democratic transition," he said in a 10-minute speech. "As we rebuild our society, we must rise above 60 years of historical bitterness, confrontational approaches and a zero-sum attitude in solving our differences."
Occasional isolated violence involving majority Buddhists and minority Muslims has occurred for decades. But tensions have heightened since last year when hundreds of people were killed and more than 100,000 made homeless in violence in western Myanmar between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya.
In his first public comments on the violence, Thein Sein warned in a televised speech that he would make all legal efforts to stop "political opportunists and religious extremists" trying to sow hatred between faiths.
The recent religious unrest began March 20 with rioting by Buddhists targeting minority Muslims in the central city of Meikhtila that left at least 40 people dead and drove 12,000 from their homes. The unrest spread this week to several towns in the Bago region, about 160 kilometers north of the country's biggest city, Yangon.
Curfews and bans on public gatherings have been imposed in the affected areas, but state television reported that groups of people attacked houses, shops and religious buildings yesterday in two towns in Bago.
"In general, I do not endorse the use of force to solve problems. However, I will not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of the general public," said Thein Sein.
"We must expect these conflicts and difficulties to arise during our period of democratic transition," he said in a 10-minute speech. "As we rebuild our society, we must rise above 60 years of historical bitterness, confrontational approaches and a zero-sum attitude in solving our differences."
Occasional isolated violence involving majority Buddhists and minority Muslims has occurred for decades. But tensions have heightened since last year when hundreds of people were killed and more than 100,000 made homeless in violence in western Myanmar between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya.
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