December 5, 2016
Muslim community in
Myanmar decried Sunday’s rally led by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and
expressed their disapproval of his interference on the internal affairs of
Myanmar.
“We find the rally, led
by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul
Razak, was nothing but aiming at the political interests of the Malaysia’s
ruling party. We affirm that the unfortunate situation facing Myanmar need not,
and should not, be exploited for self-interest and political purposes,” said
the announcement released by the Coalition of Myanmar Muslim Civil Society
Groups.
“We also disapprove of Mr Najib connecting the situation with a religious
cause. We hereby reassert that the Muslim community in Myanmar does not take it
as religious persecution, but a controversial ethnic issue,” said the
announcement.
But Najib has said his actions served to point out the rights abuses allegedly
occurring in Rakhine that he described as “genocide” of the Muslim community in
Rakhine.
Najib said Sunday’s rally in Kuala Lumpur was meant to send a message to the
Myanmar government that “enough is enough” as he vowed to fight for the rights
of the Muslim community in Rakhine.
In response, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi accused the international
community on Friday of stoking resentment between the two communities in
northern Rakhine State.
She appealed for understanding of Myanmar’s ethnic complexities, and said the
world should not forget the military operation was launched in response to
attacks on security forces.
“I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to
maintain peace and stability, and to make progress in building better relations
between the two communities, instead of always drumming up cause for bigger
fires of resentment,” Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Singapore state-owned
broadcaster Channel News Asia during a visit to the city-state.
Najib-led rally was
nothing but an attempt to boost the political interests of Malaysia’s ruling party:
Myanmar Muslim community
“It doesn’t help if everybody is just concentrating on the negative side of the
situation, in spite of the fact that there were attacks against police
outposts.”
The Malaysian protest is a flouting of the long-standing policy of
non-interference by ASEAN members in each other’s affairs.
Some critics accuse Najib, who is in the midst of a financial scandal, of using
the rally to win the support of his country’s Muslim Malays ahead of general
elections due in 2018, which may be held earlier.
The Muslim community in Myanmar stressed the need to take international
cooperation and multi-faceted approaches to finding a lasting peaceful solution
to the situation in Rakhine state saying it is a “delicate and sensitive
situation.”
“At such a time, we are dismayed by poorly informed initiatives like the rally
in Malaysia, which could further worsen the already difficult situation and be
considered as a threat to the unity and stability of the ASEAN community,” said
the announcement.
The Muslim community said they appreciated the government’s efforts, including
the establishment of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by the
former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The community invited support that would yield positive results and respect
national sovereignty, reiterating that discrimination based on religion and
race would not be tolerated.
No comments:
Post a Comment