June 18, 2013
Pathoes.com
Rev. Danny Fisher
Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Myanmar Muslims Genocide Awareness Convention
in Culver City, CA. I went because I felt it was important to put my
presence where my mouth was: as I’ve indicated here at this blog, the situation in Burma
has been incredibly distressing to me, and rather than simply talk
about it, I want to be more involved in helping in any small way that I
can to get it resolved.
I’ve certainly tried to be involved, at least from my desk. My friend
Joshua Eaton and I collaborated last year on an open letter from
Buddhist teachers and scholars and others on Islamophobia that you can
read at buddhistletteronislamophobia.wordpress.com.
(Joshua authored the letter — though a few of us offered little tweaks
and edits — and I put together the website and helped him get the word
out and generate signatures.) Not long after I also added my name to “A Joint Buddhist-Muslim Statement on Inter–Communal Violence in Burma”,
authored by my friend Bill Aiken at SGI-USA. In addition, I took the
time to write a substantial post about Engaged Buddhist icon Aung San
Suu Kyi’s silence and lack of action on this matter back in November,
and you can read that post here.
Satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch that shows “widespread destruction of Rohingya homes, property.”
As I explained in that post, for the uninitiated: the Rohingyas are the
800,000 or so Muslims who live in the western part of Burma. They have
lived in the area of the Rakhine state for centuries, with much
immigration and flight between Burma and Bangladesh — the result of
ever-changing political fortunes and conquest. British colonialists encouraged
their immigration from Bangladesh in the nineteenth century to boost
their agricultural yield in the region. By 1939, the population of
Rohingya Muslims (and tensions with local Rakhine Buddhists) had risen
to such a degree that a commission of inquiry
decided to close the border. Once World War II began, the British left
the region, and terrible violence erupted between the two groups.
Thousands died. More bloodshed ensued when the Japanese arrived: the
Rohingyas were supporters
of the Allies — some of them even served as spies for the British — who
had promised to support them in their goal of a separate Muslim state.
Tens of thousands are believed
to have fled to Bangladesh at this point. Following the coup of 1962,
more were forced to seek refuge in Bangladesh and Pakistan due to the
junta’s targeted attacks on the Rohingya community. In 1982, General Ne
Win tightened a nationality law in the country and effectively (and
illegally) rendered the Rohingyas a stateless people.
Today, the United Nations consider
the Rohingyas “one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.”
Right now there is considerable unrest and devastating violence — dozens
are dead, whole villages have been razed, and well over 100,000 have
been displaced — in the Rakhine state as a result of what the Agence France-Presse identified as “the rape and murder of a Rakhine women and the revenge mob killing of 10 Muslims.” By last fall, Human Rights Watch
had issued a report noting that “recent events in Arakan State
demonstrate… state-sponsored persecution and discrimination [of the
Rohingyas],” including murder, rape, and mass arrest. Reuters
released a shocking special investigative report not long after which
led with what was essentially a confirmation of HRW’s report: “The wave
of attacks was organized, central-government military sources told
Reuters. They were led by Rakhine nationalists tied to a powerful
political party in the state, incited by Buddhist monks, and, some
witnesses said, abetted at times by local security forces.”
International news agencies and the Buddhist media have since been
following the situation closely, and have reported on those in the
Burmese sangha who are encouraging violence, as well as those trying to
do something to help. It was all this news and information that brought
me to the Myanmar Muslims Genocide Convention on June 9th.
Attended by easily 250-300 people or more — the crowd grew steadily
throughout — the audience at the convention was made of largely persons
of South Asian heritage, quite a few of them readily identifiable as
Muslim from their hijab, kufi, and other distinctive dress. Things got
off to a very strong start with some simple, important points of
clarification from host Devin Hennessy.
In the context of the event, a “Myanmar Muslim,” he stated, was “any
Muslim living in the borders of the country, regardless of ethnicity.”
This is an important point considering that, even though the Rohingya
Muslims of the Rakhine state are dominating news coverage right now,
there are more than one-hundred ethnic groups in Burma, and many of them
have Muslims in their ranks. Hennessy also laid the groundwork for
later discussion about proper terminology in this situation by stating
that it had “escalated to a genocidal level,” and that the word
“genocide” was being used specifically because what is happening is
“within the criteria” for its use.
Culver City Mayor Jeffrey Cooper |
These introductory remarks were followed by a dua from a young boy in
attendance, and a statement from Culver City Mayor Jeffrey Cooper. As
the mayor took to the stage, I braced myself for the usual, rote
politician’s speech at these sorts of things, only to be very pleasantly
surprised: he spoke movingly as both “a Jew and the husband of a
Burmese Muslim woman” about how much the cause and the event “hit home”
for him. The powerful launch of the event wrapped with the singing of
two national anthems: the United States and Burma’s.
Before speakers and others rose to speak, the Burmese American Muslims
Association presented a video of their own making (with quite a lot of
clips from this Al Jazeera English report)
to set the stage for anyone unfamiliar with the situation in Burma. Two
things in particular struck me in the video presentation, though
neither were surprises exactly — just shocking to see explicitly: first,
this clip from the BBC,
which shows an attack on Muslim-owned gold shop, with police doing
nothing and Buddhist monks joining in the violence. Second, the
explication of how precisely what’s happening in Burma now fits with
scholar and Genocide Watch president Dr. Gregory H. Stanton’s “8 Stages of Genocide” was arresting.
This segued nicely into Dr. Stanton himself, who presented prepared
remarks for the conference via video. He noted that the plight of the
Rohingya has been on Genocide Watch’s radar for at least two years, and
offered useful perspective on what it means to be a Rohingya right now:
no ID cards (needed for education and travel), placement in displaced
persons camps and forced labor for many, no government employment,
limits on marriage/childbirth, coercive situations, and a host of other
indignities. Dr. Stanton also highlighted the unique threats to Rohingya
refugees and “boat people” fleeing Burma.
In addition, he noted that the attacks on Muslims in Burma had reached
the level of genocidal massacre, saying that “the world must speak out.”
He chastised Aung San Suu Kyi, calling her much-discussed silence as a
Nobel Peace Prize laureate “unacceptable.” Dr. Stanton also outlined
other things that he felt must happen now: (i) Burma’s parliament must
pass legislation to make the Rohingya citizens with full rights; (ii)
displaced persons camps must be dissolved with UN and ASEAN assistance;
(iii) authorities must cease all rights violations; and (iv) Bangladesh
must stop turning away and pushing back refugees. This was the first of
many times that the issue of Rohingya citizenship would come up in the
proceedings.
The second instance came with the next speaker, who also spoke via
video: Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, campaign officer for Burma Campaign UK. She
began by lamenting that the international community still hadn’t “gotten
the balance right” in terms of praise for Burma’s reforms and
concrn/penalty over human rights violations. She pointed out that
sanctions on Burma had been lifted despite stated benchmarks not being
met; by her count, at least eight international laws and treaties are
currently being violated by the Burmese government. As many others have
pointed out, she reminded the audience that the Rohingya’s exclusion
from citizenship in particular represents a clear violation of Article
XV of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. “Casual racism and intolerance
exist and must be acknowledged and confronted,” she said. “The Burmese
have to decide what it means to be Burmese.”
Rev. John Iwohara. Photo by the author |
At this point, after quite a bit of information had been presented, the
organizers wisely changed up the pace and brought Rev. John Iwohara of
the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple to
the stage. “It is difficult to receive a human form,” he preached,
explaining the Buddhist way of helping others, or, at the very least,
“acting less inhumanely.” “The pain and loss of losing a loved one is
the same for everyone; you don’t feel more or less if you’re a Buddhist
or a Muslim or a Christian or a…” he continued. He invoked the
Dhammapada‘s fifth verse and King Ashoka’s experience at the Kalinga War
as resources for Buddhists thinking about their approach to this
situation. “Let us take this opportunity to exchange anger for love, and
violence for beauty. May every life help us find beauty and joy.”
The Buddhist representation at the conference continued in a way with
Gordon Welty from the U.S. Campaign for Burma, who named Soka Gakkai
International president Daisaku Ikeda as “his mentor” during his
remarks. A board member of the organization, he offered a helpful
blow-by-blow of how things in Burma have escalated to the point of
genocide. Like his predecessors, Welty stated that the removal of the
1982 citizenship law was the “first step” in fixing the problem. He also
said authorities must “unambiguously” devote themselves to ending mob
violence.
Omar Jubran, executive member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-LA |
A rousing speech by Omar Jubran, executive member of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-LA, was followed by a presentation of
photographs by Matt Rains. Rains
has done striking, groundbreaking work photographing Muslims in Burma,
and jolted the audience as much with his words as his images. He claimed
to have seen “boxes of DVDs from the national government” delivered to
monasteries and video halls, which were then used to stir up anti-Muslim
sentiment. “This has all been devised by the government,” he said
flatly.
Naama Haviv, a genocide expert with Jewish World Watch, spoke next about
genocide in general. She joked about being the only speaker who didn’t
know anything about Burma, but added that genocide happens in places
where leaders are “habituated” to it. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, she
reminded us, was actually the second (arguably third) such event in that
country’s history. With such a violent past in the form of the military
junta’s reign, she felt Burma was definitely a place that we should
continue to watch closely.
Naama Haviv, a genocide expert with Jewish World Watch |
Statements of support from House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman
Ed Royce and Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Downing
were read by Hennessy before the mighty Dr. Maung Zarni rose to speak.
Buddhist magazine readers will undoubtedly recognize Dr. Zarni, whose
name has been coming up a lot lately: his piece “Buddhist Nationalism in Burma” was a feature in one of the most recent issues of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and Alex Caring-Lobel interviewed him
not long ago for Trike’s Awake in the World blog. A Visiting Fellow at
the London School of Economics, Dr. Zarni received applause when he
began his remarks by saying, “I offer my apologies as a Burmese — and a
Buddhist at that.” Saying he felt compelled to “speak truth at any
cost,” he castigated his fellow Burmese for “sleepwalking into a
genocidal space,” adding that “the Buddha himself was not a Burmese, so
he would be treated as such an outsider [under current laws and
conditions].” Joining the chorus of voices decrying the 1982 citizenship
law, he noted that “this problem has come to the Rohingya,” and not the
other way around.
A panel discussion and Q&A with Haviv, Dr. Zarni, Dr. Rowley, Dr.
Uddin, and Lwin Oo followed. Among the questions addressed was, “Why
haven’t a majority of Buddhists — who are supposedly against violence —
come out to strongly denounce the racist ’969 Movement’? Are they
silently supporting them?” Dr. Zarni spoke about the false, fear-based
narrative of 969, and how it ”criminalizes” Islam, and produces a
largely complicit Burmese Buddhist population in the country. He then
went “on the record” to say that the 969 Movement enjoys “the full
backing of the Burmese state.” He continued, “In this [current]
scenario, the 969 Movement is going to thrive and help destroy the
Muslim communities. Therefore, I think it is important for the Buddhist
community to wake up to the danger of 969, which is self-destructing the
Burmese society.”
Dr. Maung Zarni. Photo by the author |
While the question, and Dr. Zarni’s response, were helpful, the question
that was more important to me personally was, “What can Buddhists,
particularly Buddhists outside of Burma, do to help?” So I set out to
ask a few of the conference organizers and participants this question.
“Burmese Buddhist is different from other forms of Buddhism,” one of the
conference’s spokesmen, Yousef Iqbal, told me. “So they don’t actually
look at other Buddhists as ones who can inspire them. Unless you can
find a Burmese Buddhist, in Burma’s Theravada Buddhist tradition, to
say, ‘Killing people is wrong and you should not do it,’ I’m not sure
how much it will do.” While he acknowledged the important contributions
of Buddhists from other traditions, like Rev. Iwohara, he was clear
about what was needed: “More participation from the Theravada, the
Burmese Theravada Buddhists. They should be involved, especially those
who have spiritual authority.”
Iqbal’s co-spokesman, Yusman Madha, was more optimistic about the wider
Buddhist community. “It would definitely be helpful — definitely,” he
said in response to my question of whether or not a more pronounced,
ecumenical Buddhist response to the situation would be useful. “The
teachings of their faith are being flouted by these thugs, and they
should now speak up. There are Buddhist monks in Burma speaking up, but
they are in the minority.”
Dr. Wakar Uddin |
Dr. Uddin agreed, and told me, “American Buddhist organization can do a
lot to influence the [anti-Muslim] monks in Burma. We really believe
that American Buddhist leaders can have a tremendous influence on this
situation, and teach the heretical Buddhists in Burma that this is not
the right path. We would like to open up more of a dialogue with the
American Buddhist community, in fact. We’ve spoken to some monks here in
America, and they’ve been receptive. The vast majority of Burmese
Buddhists in America have a totally different vision [then their fellows
within Burma]. We can work together — the Rohingya in diaspora and the
American Buddhist community.”
As we talked, Dr. Uddin added, “We look forward to making these
connections with American Buddhists, but we don’t have the means and
know-how. We don’t know who to approach, or how to approach them. We’ve
asked ISNA, the Islamic Society of North America, to help us open up a
dialogue. We need to get connected to Buddhist leaders and discuss this
and develop strategies.”
Before the conference, but even more so after, I was determined to help.
After talking with Dr. Uddin about approach, I’d like to say, for
whatever it’s worth, that I’m happy to help in any way I can to make
these connections and get this conversation started. If you’re the
leader of a Myanmar Muslim group and you’d like assistance making
connections, please leave a comment. And if you’re a Buddhist leader,
please feel free to leave a comment alerting us to anything you might be
willing to do or offer.
Dr. Uddin offers a good starting point for us as concerned Buddhists in
America: just get Buddhist American leaders to the table with Rohingya
in diaspora to talk. At the very least, let’s all of us, as Buddhists in
America, make sure this happens.
At one point during the conference, it was observed that the event bore
the year 2013 in its title, implying that the Myanmar Muslim community
is digging in for what portends to be a long struggle. If we as
Buddhists in America truly aspire to love all beings the way a mother
loves her only child, we need to get to that table with Rohingya leaders
and see to it that this doesn’t become a yearly event.
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