Posted on 07/10/2014 3:51:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In Burma, an ultranationalist Buddhist militia is training to "defend the fatherland" against Rohingya Muslims.
I Was a monk. Most of us used to be," says a heavily armed soldier in the rugged mountains of northern Burma's Kachin state. "When I heard about this army, I really wanted to join. You know, in Rakhine state, we need to defend Buddhism."
The soldier fights for the little-known militia of Buddhist nationalists referred to as the Arakan Army. In his khaki uniform, a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder, he is far from the peaceful Buddhist monk of the Western imagination. Yet some officials of the Burmese government, which faces challenges from countless ethnic armies, see the Arakan Army as a potentially useful ally in their efforts to consolidate one Burma.
Anyone familiar with the recent sectarian conflict in Burma will shiver at the militiaman's words. Since the country embarked on its rapid liberal reform process in 2011, communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims has swept the country. The bloodshed began in 2012 in the Arakan Army's home state of Rakhine, where ultranationalist Buddhists targeted the Muslim Rohingya population -- whom they dismiss as "illegal Bengali immigrants" -- in severe pogroms.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
When Buddhists murder ragheads, it's "severe progroms." When ragheads murder just about anyone who wanders by, it's a "religion of peace."
It's about time islime reaped what it has sown all these centuries.
What you said.
Amen, IronJack.
If you love pacifism, then you should be willing to fight for it.
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