Myanmar arrests 44 suspects after Buddhist-led attacks in Thandwe

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar -- Authorities in Myanmar arrested 44 suspects for their alleged role in sectarian violence that wracked a coastal township in western Myanmar over the last week, state media reported.

<< Distorted corrugate panels are scattered among debris of a burnt building in Thandwe, Rakhine State, western Burma, Oct. 2, 2013.

Five Muslims were killed and scores of homes set on fire when Buddhist mobs went on a rampage in Thandwe, a coastal township in Rakhine state.

The violence came even as President Thein Sein visited the region last week for the first time since in Rakhine in June 2012, killing hundreds of people and forcing more than 140,000 more to flee, the majority of them Muslim.

Few details were released about the latest arrests but a report broadcast on state television late Saturday indicated members of both communities were arrested.

Officials in Rakhine state said last week that the chairman of a Rakhine political party and several of its members were among those detained.

On Sunday, the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper put the total of houses burned down in Thandwe last week at 114 houses. It said three religious buildings - most likely mosques - were destroyed, and 482 people were left homeless.

Thein Sein has been widely praised for overseeing an unprecedented political opening in the Southeast Asian nation since the army ceded power two years ago to a nominally civilian government led by retired military officers.

But rights groups also accuse his government of tolerating, or even abetting, what they describe as ethnic cleansing directed against Muslims in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

They say authorities have done little to crack down on religious intolerance and failed to bridge a divide that has left hundreds of thousands of Muslims marginalized, many of them confined by security forces in inadequately equipped camps after fleeing their homes.

View the original article here

Buddhist nun dies after setting herself ablaze in eastern Tibet

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

Dharamshala, India -- Emerging reports coming out Tibet say, a Tibetan Buddhist nun has set herself ablaze on Tuesday evening, June 11, 2013 (5pm local time) in Tawu county, Karze, Kham province of eastern Tibet, in an apparent protest against Chinese repressive rule in Tibet.

Latest sources coming out Tibet on June 15 stated that the Tibetan nun has been identified as Wangchen Dolma and a 31-year old.

The authorities have surreptitiously cremated her body at the hospital and kept the family members of the deceased under house arrest.

"Now Chinese authorities shut down communication networks completely and putting heavy restrictions on the movement of local Tibetans," sources further confirmed.

The details of the nun were not known as the authorities have immediately imposed a heavy restriction shortly after the incident.

Dolma who set himself on fire to protest the Chinese repressive policies in Tibet, has succumbed to her burn injuries, while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dartsedho county on 14 June.

"Immediately after her self-immolation protest, she was taken to a hospital in Dhartsedho county, eastern Tibet, but it is not mentioned whether she was taken by Chinese police or local authorities," Yama Tsering, a monk from Gaden Monastery in Soutt India told The Tibet Post International (TPI), citing sources in the region.

"She set herself on fire near Nyatso Monastery, Kham region of eastern Tibet, where over 3000 thousands of Buddhist monks from over 50 monasteries in Kham region are currently holding a 10-day annual Buddhist debate meet, started on June 10," Tsering added.

"The Buddhist debate meet is still going ahead this evening, not been affected so far by the incident," he said.

Since 2009, at least 119 Tibetans have self-immolated reportedly to protest Chinese hardline and repressive rule in Tibet and of them 102 were reportedly passed-away due to their severe injuries.

Most of them have called for the return of the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland and freedom for Tibetans.

View the original article here

Sri Lanka mosque closes after attack by Buddhist mob

Home Asia Pacific South Asia Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- A mosque in the Sri Lankan capital has been closed after an attack by a Buddhist mob over the weekend sparked clashes in which five people were hurt.

<< Special Task Force commandos stand guard outside a vandalised mosque in Colombo on 11 August 2013 Hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets

Muslims in Colombo's Grandpass area will now use an older place of worship which has been saved from demolition in a deal struck with the government.

But the authorities have also been condemned for failing to make arrests.

In recent months hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets.

Last month, a group of Buddhist monks protested near the mosque, demanding it be relocated.

But during evening prayers on Saturday night Buddhist-led crowds threw stones at the mosque. Police imposed a curfew when Buddhists and Muslims clashed after the attack on Sunday.

The curfew has now been lifted but hundreds of police and special forces are still present on the streets of Grandpass, BBC Sinhala's Azzam Ameen reports.
'Troubling' attacks

The Sri Lanka Muslim Council confirmed that the mosque which was attacked would be abandoned for an older place of worship which the government had previously earmarked for demolition.

"We have a compromise deal worked out last night," Council President NM Ameen told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "From today, we are out of the new mosque," he said.

After a meeting with religious leaders the government withdrew plans to develop a canal behind the old mosque, allowing Muslims use of that site once more.

"Through a just solution, we have now peacefully solved the issue," minister Champika Ranawaka told reporters.

But the violence has sparked criticism, with Sri Lanka's main opposition UNP party condemning authorities for failing to make arrests.

"Not a single arrest [has been] made so far, when it comes to attacks against religious places over the past year. This why we are seeing more and more attacks," MP Harin Fernando told the BBC.

A US embassy statement said that the incident was "particularly troubling in light of a large number of recent attacks against the Muslim community".

The past year has seen mounting religious tension in the country as hard-line Buddhist groups have attacked mosques and Muslim-owned businesses, as well as churches and clergy.

In February, one group also called for the abolition of the Muslim halal system of certifying foods and other goods.

Buddhist hard-liners accuse Muslims and Christians of promoting extremism and trying to convert Buddhists to their own faiths. Both Muslims and Christians have denied such accusations.

The Buddhist Sinhalese community makes up three-quarters of Sri Lanka's population of 20 million.

During Sri Lanka's bitter civil war, the Muslims - a small Tamil-speaking minority, about 9% of the population - kept a low profile, but many now fear that ethnic majority hard-liners are trying to target them.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Thailand's Buddhist monks to get food lessons after study

Home Asia Pacific South East Asia Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand -- The Buddhist monks of Thailand are not known to be an especially active bunch. Prayers, chanting and the collecting of alms take up much of their time.

<< The monastic lifestyle isn't as healthy as one might expect, researchers found.

But a new study suggests this lack of activity is not as healthy as one would assume. The investigation by Thai academics has discovered that 45 per cent of monks are obese while a full 40 per cent of them suffer from congenital diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Many of them also suffer from various allergies.

The reason for this dismal situation, the scientists concurred, was an unhealthy diet and insufficient exercise. Much of the food donated to monks when they interact with the public is rich and oily and often contains too much sugar. In the evenings, when they are not supposed to eat, many of them will enjoy sweet soft drinks, usually also laden with sugar.

Some monks told the researchers they may sip as many as three such drinks a night.

Along with this is an unhealthy lifestyle. A report in The Nation newspaper said that apart from making their walks for alms, their only real exercise was sweeping the courtyards of their temples. Just over 20 per cent of the monks have annual health check-ups.

The survey's participants were 246 monks from the Dhammayuttika Nikaya and Mahayana movements in 11 of Thailand’s provinces.

The newspaper reported that following the investigation by Dr Pinij Larpthananon and Prof Jongjit Angkatavanich from Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, and Dr Phramaha Suthit Aphakaro, director of the Buddhist research institute at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, a dual track plan had been put into place.

Not only will monks be educated about the sort of food they should be collecting, but a public education campaign will seek to advise people on healthy options they can give to the men in saffron robes.

View the original article here

Beijing orders Tibetan detentions after India pilgrimage

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

Beijing, China -- HUNDREDS of Tibetans who attended an important Buddhist ceremony earlier this year in India have been detained without charge by Chinese security officers on their return to Tibet.

<< Exiled Tibetans attend a religious ceremony at the Chime Gatsal Ling monastery in Dharamsala, India. Photo: AP

According to family members and human rights groups, this is the first time that Chinese authorities have detained large numbers of Tibetan pilgrims returning from the January ceremony, held every year in northern India.

Many of the pilgrims are elderly and have been detained for more than two months in central Tibet, or what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region. The detainees are being interrogated and undergoing patriotic re-education classes, and have been ordered to denounce the Dalai Lama, who presided over the ceremony, known as the Kalachakra, say people who have researched the detentions.

The detainees are being held at hotels, schools and military training centres or bases; some are being forced to pay for their lodging and meals.

The detentions are expected to stoke resentment among Tibetans towards the Chinese government at a time when tensions across the Tibetan plateau are at the highest in years.

The pilgrims were detained at checkpoints while returning overland via Nepal or while flying into Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Some have been released, and many who were held in central Tibet but are registered as residents in other regions have been sent to those areas, according to researchers, who interviewed released detainees and their friends and relatives.

The Kalachakra ceremony, an important teaching ritual in Tibetan Buddhism, takes place every winter in Bodh Gaya, the site in the Indian state of Bihar where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

The Dalai Lama travels there from his home in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala to give teachings, and Tibetans and other Buddhists from around the world attend.

Human Rights Watch said it was unclear how long the detainees were being held, and that there had been no reports of any of the 700 Han who attended the Kalachakra being detained. The Han are the dominant ethnic group in China,

Calls to Chinese authorities in Beijing went unanswered.

View the original article here

Tawu tense after monk’s self-immolation

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

DHARAMSHALA, India -- Over a thousand Chinese armed security personnel have locked down Tawu Nyitso monastery, cutting off electricity and water supply as schools in the region remained closed following Monday’s self immolation of monk Tsewang Norbu.

<< The monk identified as Tsewang Norbu, 29 set himself ablaze on Monday in Ganzi, Sichuan (China)

Tsewang Norbu, 29, had set himself ablaze, raising slogans for the Dalai Lama’s return and freedom in Tibet in Tawu town. Defying the Chinese authorities, monks carried Tsewang Norbu’s charred body to his monastery where almost 10,000 local Tibetan gathered overnight to pay their respects.

Chinese police stopped the gathered people from entering the monastery resulting in the severe beating and arrests of an unspecified number of people. Sensing trouble, Chinese authorities ordered the immediate cremation of Tsewang Norbu’s body.

Speaking to Phayul, Khenrab a monk in Dharamshala with links inside Tawu said that Chinese authorities had cordoned off the funeral site with a three-layered security blanket, barring local Tibetans from attending the funeral.

“Tsewang Norbu’s last rites were carried out at 7 in the morning on August 17 but the local Tibetans who had come in their thousands were not allowed to attend the funeral,” Khenrab said. “They had to pay their last respects from the top of a far away hill overlooking the funeral site”.

In exile, Tibetans and supporters from New York to Dharamshala to Taiwan organised prayers and protests to mark Tsewang Norbu’s sacrifice.

The Dharamshala based Tibetan Parliament-in-exile while paying homage to Tsewang Norbu said, “Such tragic incidents which happen frequently in Tibet are a clear indication of the Tibetan people's deep-seated resentment against the Chinese government's wrong policy on Tibet”.

Social networking sites have been rife with messages of respect and calls for campaigns and protests rallies.
Tendor, the executive director of the Students for a Free Tibet, on his facebook page made an open call of support for a protest rally on August 19 in honour of Tsewang Norbu in front of the New York Chinese Consulate.

Reaching out through his facebook page, Tsewang Rigzin, president of the largest pro-independence organisation in exile, the Tibetan Youth Congress, wrote, “the precious sacrifice by Pawo Tsewang Norbu will give inspiration and rebirth to thousands of more Pawos and Pamos to continue our struggle and ultimately regain Tibet's Independence.”

View the original article here

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes reopen after floods in NW China province

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

LANZHOU, China -- The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, one of the country's three major Buddhist art treasures, reopened as the severe flooding has been effectively controlled in northwestern Gansu Province.

After days of work, the dikes were repaired and traffic resumed to all tourism sites in Dunhuang City. The power supply and telecommunication services also resumed, said a statement released by the Dunhuang City government on Wednesday.

The province's western cities of Jiuquan and Zhangye typically receive little rainfall, relying on water from the icecap of the nearby Qilian Mountain. Located in a basin nearby the desert, Dunhuang is a city affiliated to Jiuquan.

Heavy rains have battered Gansu Province since June 15. In Dunhuang, the rain-triggered floods submerged railways, destroyed a major bridge and hampered transportation and supplies of electricity.

Dunhuang is a renowned tourist city known for the Mogao Grottoes, or the Ancient Caves of 1,000 Buddhas, which became China's first UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

View the original article here