By Eko Armunanto

A Buddhist monk Wirathu calling himself Burmese bin Laden was recently labeled on the cover of Time magazine as the Face of Buddhist Terror. He is the Buddhist monk accused of stoking religious hatred across Burma, said NBC News contributor MacGregor.
Briefly describing what’s in its printed version entitled “The Face of Buddhist Terror,” TIME says “His face as still and serene as a statue’s, the Buddhist monk who has taken the title ‘the Burmese bin Laden’ begins his sermon. Hundreds of worshippers sit before him, palms pressed together, sweat trickling silently down their sticky backs. On cue, the crowd chants with the man in burgundy robes, the mantras drifting through the sultry air of a temple in Mandalay, Burma’s second biggest city after Rangoon. It seems a peaceful scene, but Wirathu’s message crackles with hate: Now is not the time for calm.”
Sparked widespread protests across the country, Burmese government banned the TIME magazine portraying Ashin Wirathu as the Burmese bin Laden. Circa said Wirathu leads the radical Buddhist group 969 which says that the country’s Muslim minority threatens national security and racial purity. Violence against Muslims has resulted in 250 deaths and displaced 150,000 people in the past year.

Syed Nahas Pasha

UK Shadow Minister for International Development, Rushanara Ali, MP, has urged the British government to apply pressure on the Burmese authorities to address the humanitarian crisis in Burma and put human rights at the heart of their reforms process.

Burmese president Thein Sein will soon begin his official tour of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and France, it was announced yesterday.

Ali expressed worries about the humanitarian crisis in Burma’s Rakhine State and the human rights abuses against the Rohingya, a Muslim community, and other minorities in Burma.

She acknowledged the progress the Burmese government had made towards political and economic reforms since President Thein Sein took office. But, she said, the international community should not ignore the considerable work the Burmese government still needs to do.

Rushanara Ali, MP, who recently visited Burma, said, “Since inter-communal violence first broke out last year, Rohingya Muslims have been forced into segregated settlements and their movements have been restricted, stripping them of their livelihoods and rendering them reliant on aid. Displaced people are living in constant fear of violence, abuse and harassment both from the security services and from fears of a further attack from sections of the Rakhine population.

She urged the UK and the international community to press the President to make real commitments to bring those responsible for inter-communal violence to justice.

“There are growing concerns regarding the disparity between the President’s words and his actions as Burma’s human rights record remains poor,” she said. “There can be no impunity for those committing human rights abuses in Burma.”

AFP

YANGON (AFP) –  Myanmar has sentenced more than 20 Buddhists to prison for their roles in religious riots in March, including a deadly attack on a Muslim boarding school, lawyers and police said Friday.

The convictions follow earlier concerns among rights groups that Muslims were bearing the brunt of the legal crackdown on suspects involved in the unrest which shook the central town of Meiktila.

The Buddhists were sentenced on Wednesday and Thursday on charges including murder, assault, theft, arson and inciting unrest, said a police official who did not want to be named.

According to state media, which did not specify the suspects’ religion, the sentences ranged from two years for minor offences such as theft to 10 years for murder, with some defendants handed several terms to be served separately.

Some of the charges related to the deaths of students at an Islamic school on the outskirts of Meiktila, according to Ba San, a lawyer who was at the court.

“We have to say that both Buddhists and Muslims have been sentenced if found guilty,” he told AFP.

More than a dozen Muslims have been convicted in relation to the violence, with a number receiving life imprisonment for murder.

In May seven Muslims were sentenced to between two and 28 years for their parts in the killing of a Buddhist monk during the unrest, which was apparently triggered by a quarrel in a Muslim-owned gold shop.

He says this follows as “night follows day” if legitimate grievances by the Rohingya community in Rakhine state aren’t dealt with.

Senator Carr has wrapped up a two-day visit to Myanmar where he has held talks with the government, opposition and community representatives in Naypyidaw.

Presenter: Karon Snowdon

Speaker: Bob Carr, Australia’s Foreign Minister
CARR: Well I put it to three or four ministers, to the Opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, I put it as well to the Speaker of the Parliament, Shwe Marn, They know that Australia is deeply concerned about the position of the Rohingya, and about what appears to be systemic discrimination directed against them. They acknowledge that more work needs to be done in Rakhine State, where the Rohingya live.
 
SNOWDON: Did you get a sense that the government isn’t prepared to confront the anti-Rohingya elements, especially within the community of Buddhist monks in the country?
 
CARR: I would say, I’m not in a position to be that specific, but I would say, after speaking to representatives of two political parties, representing the non-Rohingya population, if we can put it that way in Rakhine State, that the problems are deep seated. There is a very strong prejudice directed against these people, how one would measure that, I’m not sure, but certainly the representatives of these groups I spoke to appeared hostile to the notion of Rohingya enjoying full citizenship and the rights that go with it and I found this somewhat, somewhat depressing.
 
SNOWDON: Very briefly, did you meet the Rohingya community representatives?
 
CARR: Yes, I did.

Myanmar has sentenced two Buddhist men to seven years in prison for murders during religious violence in March that left dozens of people dead, a local official said.

The defendants were convicted after separate trials at the district court in Meiktila for their part in deadly rioting in the town, which mainly targeted Muslims and sparked waves of religious unrest across the country.

Meiktila district chairman of Tin Maung Soe said one man, aged 24, was sentenced on June 28, becoming the first Buddhist known to be sentenced for a serious offence over the rioting, which left at least 44 people dead.

“He was found at the scene where some people were killed during the unrest in Meiktila. That is why he was charged with murder,” he told AFP.

He said the second suspect, aged 21, was handed sentences of seven years and one year with hard labour – to be served concurrently – on Friday for his part in the killings.