Why won’t Buddhists speak up for the Rohingya?

The Mufti of Perlis notes that no religious figure has condemned the persecution in Myanmar.

PETALING JAYA: With the nation in conflict over the Rohingya boat people crisis, Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has noted the silence of religious figures, particularly those of the Buddhist persuasion, regarding the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar.

In a Facebook posting, Mohd Asri condemned the brutality that Myanmar Buddhists were perpetrating against the Rohingya, who are Muslims. He said it was strange that the world had not chosen to label them extremists or say the teachings of Buddha advocated violence as they tended to do with the Muslims.

“Why does the world associate Islam with violence but stay silent when Muslims are brutally murdered?” he asked. “Are the Buddhists in this country condemning the persecution in Burma (Myanmar)?”

He said that while Muslims often condemned the wrongdoings or violence perpetrated by fellow Muslims as a sign that Islam did not advocate violence, rarely had followers of other religions done the same.

“We rarely hear figures of other religions, such as Buddhism, objecting to the violence perpetrated by their co-followers. Hopefully, they will adopt a firmer stance.”

The Rohingya people have long faced persecution in the increasingly polarised Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship.

A recent crackdown at the Thai border saw many human traffickers leaving their human cargo, Bangladeshis and Rohingya, floating aimlessly at sea with rudimentary instructions on how to reach their destinations.

However, the Malaysia government has stood firm and ordered “seaworthy” ships carrying the desperate and dying immigrants back to sea on grounds of national security.