Burmese Muslims have been facing persecution and
discrimination for decades. In 1942, at least 150,000 Muslims were butchered by
extremist Buddhists.[1] Afterwards there have been numerous incidents
of violence against Muslims by Buddhists and occasional resistance by Muslims
against the extremist monks. Recently, in the wake of violence that started in
June 2012, some 650 Muslims have lost their lives and thousands have fled their
homes.[2]
Unfortunately, the dead bodies of hundreds of humans were
unable to attract media attention. There hasn’t been any significant reporting
by the Western media on the massacre while the news outlets of Muslim countries
occasionally reported it. Not only the Western governments, but governments of
most of the Muslim countries turned a blind eye too. Only Iranian government
discussed the Rohingya Massacre in the parliament and only the Turkish
officials visited the victims.
There is something about this massacre that people don’t
want to believe; Buddhists can be so violent. Till now all the world was
convinced that the agnostic philosophy of Buddha was the most benign religion
in the world. They don’t have any system to run a state so they let their
countries be secular, their religion doesn’t interfere with their daily life,
they have no concept like Jihad, they don’t believe in God. They were thought
to be the most peaceful people in the world, like their spiritual leader, Dalai
Lama. But the Rohingya massacre has shattered this perception, at least for those
who know what is going on in Burma. So, what is the message this massacre
delivers to those Pakistanis who think religion is the cancer of their society,
and to all of the Islamophobes in the world?
The message is clear. Violence is not a problem with religion;
it is a problem with man. Everyone is pretty much sure that Buddhism doesn’t
teach violence; still its followers have proved to be more violent than
Al-Qaeda and Taliban. Burma is not an ‘Islamic state’, the people in Burma who
are committing the worst crimes against humanity are not Muslims.
In Pakistan people are still not as violent as these Burmese
murderers. The Pakistani Taliban have never killed that much civilians. It doesn’t
mean that Taliban are anything better than the Buddhist monks, it only means
that it’s not religion that is causing violence, it’s the illiteracy and intolerance.
People can be taught to respect each other, they can be taught to tolerate each
other’s opinion, they can be taught the real Islam. Blaming religion for the
violent acts of its followers is like blaming weapon instead of the murderer.
References:
2. Press TV
