October 4, 2016
Buddhist nationalists have asked Rakhines of Buthidaung township to mobilise in response to alleged atrocities done by local Muslims on Rakhine women. Since Monday, an aggressive Rakhine mob numbering thousands have surrounded a Rohingya Muslim village in Zaditaung and have been threatening a carnage similar to 2012, reports our local correspondent in the area.
At around 11.30 am on Monday, some Rakhine women were catching snails in the paddy fields adjacent to Boli Para village of Zaditaung. Locals alleged their activities were destroying the paddy and they were asked to look for snails somewhere else. At this, the women took offence and soon a quarrel erupted. At one point, the women left the village and went back to their neighbourhood of Gajidong.
Soon, hundreds of Rakhines began to mobilse alleging the women have been raped by the Muslims of Boli Para. Here they found a farmer Yunus and his son Ali Bhutto. They proceeded to brutally assault the father and the son and handed them over to the police.
Hlun Htein and police officials have tried to diffuse the situation and have prevented the mob from entering the Muslim village. They have however refused requests by the Muslim leaders to hand over the father and son, until locals identified the rapists.
Our local correspondent and other sources say there is no evidence of rape.
However, Buddhist nationalists continued to spread the allegation and in the coming hours, thousands of Rakhines from other villages have come to the area and threatened actions similar to 2012. The agitation continued throughout Tuesday, amidst heavy security presence in the area.
In 2012, hundreds of Muslims were killed, many more tortured, and women raped in retaliation after Rakhines alleged one of their woman was raped and killed by Rohingya Muslims.
Latest reports say Hlun Htein and police have entered the Muslim village and conducted house to house searches to look for alleged ‘rapists’. There are fears that many innocent villagers will be arrested and tortured.
Rakhine propganda alleging their women were raped by Muslims
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