What are the reasons for massacre of Muslims in Myanmar?

The issue of human rights, during 20th and 21st centuries has been recognized as an important paradigm; hence, international community expects the west to take a clear stance over violation of human rights.
It is a while that Muslim minority in Myanmar is facing a fierce ethnic cleansing by some extremist Buddhists and villages in Arakan district, near Bangladesh borders, is witness to catastrophic massacre of Muslims amid the deep silence of the world media.

Myanmar government, however, in a bid to solve the disagreement between Muslims and Buddhists, follows an exclusionary policy regarding six million Rohingya Muslims and the President proposed expulsion or gathering of minority Muslims in refugee camps are the only solutions for the Muslim minority in this country.

The origins and reasons why Buddhists, popularly recognized for their peacefulness, should commit such crimes is an issue which is discussed in an exclusive interview Taqrib News Agency (TNA) has done with Nozar Shafiee, Iranian expert on Asia issues.

Dr. Nozar Shafiee, Iranian analyst said the anti-Muslim violence is a result of three factors, the first of which is the cultural atmosphere in Myanmar because people in myanmar has not learnt religious tolerance and that people with different religious views can enjoy a peaceful coexistence.

He also counted the closed political system of this country as the second factor saying, “Tyrannical, totalitarian and dictator systems count any move as a threat against their survival and a Muslim minority in Burma is not an exception to that.”

Nozar Shafiee noted that Muslim population in Burma is estimated to be six million while the survey announced by the government is one million.

The issue, according to this university professor, is that Muslims in Myanmar, like the people across the globe demand their rights while the oppressive government in this country counts Muslims as a threat subsequently it is trying to evacuate them from Burma.

The third factor which influences Myanmar violence is silence of the international bodies, especially western governments.

This Asian Affair expert expressed regret over the idea of “The War of Civilizations” which foretells a future war between different religions and denominations and that’s the reason for creating friction between Buddhists and Muslims.

Reacting to those who count Myanmar massacre, only a domestic issue free of any western intervention he said, “”Even if we take Myanmar events as a domestic issue with no foreign origins, the west is still to be blamed for that.” and added what involves the west in this problem is dual stances it is following regarding human rights and reiterated, “Now the question is why does not the west, which claims for liberalism and maintains human rights as the essence of liberalism, criticize this obvious violation of human rights in Myanmar?”

Shafiee also added that the issue of human rights, during 20th and 21st centuries has been recognized as an important paradigm; hence, international community expects the west to take a clear stance over violation of human rights. That means the west follows dual standards, when regarding anti-Muslim moves, it not only does not prevent the crime but also encourages the violator with its silence.