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| Myanmar police inspect a damaged mosque at a village near Okkan on May 1, 2013. Photo: AFP |
Two Muslim women have been sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labor by a Myanmar court for inciting religious violence, apparently by touching a young Buddhist monk.
The women were detained for “insulting religion” following the April 30 riots in Okkan that saw Buddhist groups destroy multiple shops and homes in a single rampage, killing one Muslim man and injuring at least nine others.
The conviction will likely be a red light to human rights groups who believe the Myanmar judicial system is biased in favor of the country’s Buddhist majority. Despite the arrest of 30 people in relation to the Okkan unrest, there are yet to be any Buddhist convictions. According to residents and rights groups, up to half of the Muslim population has left the town to seek residence with relatives elsewhere or in temporary shelters.
It’s believed the crimes were intentionally “insulting”, according to a first-hand account by Myint Thein from the National Unity Party, a pro-government political group, who was present at the trial.
One of the women apparently knocked against a novice monk while he was performing the Buddhist ritual of giving alms—causing outrage from surrounding Buddhists—while the other was accused of grabbing the same young monk by the shoulders, which is considered highly inappropriate from a woman of any denomination.
The Okkan case is representative of the greater conflict that began in the Rakhine State late last year. It is estimated that hundreds were killed and over 140,000 displaced in the communal clashes, with most of the displaced thought to be Muslims.
The Okkan convictions follow heavy sentences handed down to Muslim men after similar clashes in both Meikhtila and Lashio. Like in Okkan, there are yet to be any Buddhist convictions from the multiple other riots that took place in Rakhine State.
As the Buddhist-Muslim tensions flare up in Rakhine and throughout the country, communal violence continues to undermine Myanmar’s attempt at a smooth transition to democracy.
Last Thursday, opposition leader and head of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung Sun Suu Kyi, reiterated that the rule of law and a “responsible” vigilance in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are necessary to end religious conflict in the country.
