By Dr. Habib Siddiqui
July 24, 2015
In Buddhist Burma, rape is increasingly used for genocidal campaigns against Muslims and other minorities. The state of Arakan had her share of troubles in recent years, all started with rumors that a Buddhist woman was violated by a Rohingya Muslim. Based on medical reports, Dr. Maung Zarni and I, including many other human rights activists, have shown that there was no truth to such allegations. But the extermination campaign that followed resulted in the death of thousands and the uprooting of nearly a quarter of the Rohingya and other Muslims of Burma. The targeted violence did not confine itself to Arakan but spread everywhere. Before the start of a new hate campaign, there was always some false allegations lodged against one or two Muslims to stir up the Buddhist mob to start the genocidal campaign against Muslims.
Last month, the crimes of the Arakan state were repeated in Mandalay - all with a false claim.
The news below is from Mizzima:
The communal violence in Mandalay early this month in which two people died began after a fabricated claim by a woman that she had been raped, state media has reported.
A police investigation found that the Buddhist woman was paid to make false rape claims against two Muslim brothers, AFP news agency quoted the state-controlledNew Light of Myanmar as reporting on July 20.
The violence in Myanmar's second-biggest city erupted on July 1 after the fabrication was published on social media, including on the Facebook page of the Venerable U Wirathu, and a mob converged on a tea shop run by two Muslim brothers whom the woman had falsely accused of rape.
In the ensuing days of violence, which resulted in a curfew being imposed in Mandalay, two men ? a Buddhist and a Muslim ? were killed, more than 20 people were wounded and buildings and cars were destroyed or damaged.
AFP said the July 20 report in the New Light of Myanmar cited the Ministry of Home Affairs as saying that a medical examination of the woman, named as Phyu Phyu Min, found "no sign of rape or other violence".
"After a detailed investigation she confessed that she accused the two men because she was paid" to do so by two other people who apparently had a personal dispute with the tea shop owners, the report said.
It said the woman, and one of men alleged to have paid her to fabricate the story, had been arrested.
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It is good news to know that in Thein Sein's Myanmar eventually truth has been revealed, and the criminal woman and her patron arrrested. But will the Muslim victims see genuine justice? Can they live securely without being attacked by the Buddhist mob? Can the government do the right thing to integrate them on an equal footing as citizens of Myanmar?
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