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COPY & PASTE AGAIN



COPY & PASTE AGAIN

Last year second week of March 1997, Myanmar's second largest city
Mandalay has been put under a curfew following violent clashes between
Buddhists and Muslims. The Government officials said may have been
politically motivated.  There are certain people targeting the
students, the buddhist monks and the workers to create social unrest
and derail Myanmar's expected entry into the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations in last year, that ASEAN members Indonesia and Malaysia
were primarily Muslim. 

Several  messages (NO.1, NO.2 & N0.3 etc., shown in below ) were
posted to the soc.culture.malaysia, soc.culture.Indonesia and
soc.culture.burma one week ahead to create misunderstandings between
Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar  in March 1997.

" It seems that Anti-government groups  COPY the same tactics from
last year March 1997 and PASTE it in 1998 by sending the following
message to soc.culture.malaysia, soc.culture.Indonesia to create
misunderstandings and problems between Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar
again. 

I am proud to say that Capital of Myanmar (Burma) 's Yangon (Rangoon)
is the only place we can  find Emmanuel Baptist Church and the
Mosque, opposite of the Sule Pagoda.

Please enjoy an article "FREEDOM OF FAITH"  also. 

Best regards,

MR. SOBA
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>Subject:      Muslims in Burma
>From:         "W. Kesavatana-Dohrs" <dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Date:         1998/04/07
>Message-ID:
<Pine.A41.3.95b.980407065827.37244D-100000@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

>Newsgroups:   soc.culture.malaysia,soc.culture.indonesia


>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: 06 Apr 1998 21:49:06
>From: gawdech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>Reply-To: "Conference reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: Recipients of burmanet-l <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Inhumane cruelty against minority Muslims

>12 members of a family shot dead in Akyab?(The News Letter,March,'98)
>RSO.

>A Muslim family consisting of 12 members including two women and two
>children secretly made their way to Rangoon in a small mechanised fishing
boat by sea 
>ruote in early February , 1998 as no Muslim is allowed to travel to central
Burma. However,
> the engine of the boat went out of order and the boat was intercepted by a
SPDC 
>petrol boat. Since then the fate of the arrested persons has remained in
mystry. 
>Strong rumour has it that the patrol party had not only looted the belongings
of the 
>Muslims but also secretly shot dead all the family members after sexually
assaulting the 
>women. It may be mentioned here that the ruling SPDC has restricted the
travel movement
> of Muslims in Arakan and none is allowed to go to central Burma. Any one
found violating 
>the movement order is liable to a penalty of Kyats 250,000  or a jail term of
maximum 
>14 years. Some 14  Muslims who were caught at Taungup township of Arakan
state 
>while on their way to centrl Burma were also reported to have been shot dead.
>( News Letter January, 1998 issue).


=======================================================


NO - 1

>Newsgroups:
>soc.culture.malaysia,soc.culture.singapore,soc.culture.asean,soc.culture.indo
n
>esia,soc.culture.burma
>Subject: Muslims in Burma 1997.

>From: "W. Kesavatana-Dohrs" <dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

>Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 11:53:27 -0800

>Compare this report below to the AP story of Feb. 4.  AP said that
>pressure from Jews abroad resulted in a SLORC decision to cancel its
>own plans to relocate a Jewish cemetary.

>It is apparent that Burmese Muslims are being abandoned by their
>brethren abroad.  Shame.
 
>*****************************************************************

>Cleric says mosques and schools torched
>10.3.97/Bangkok Post
>Supamart kasem
>TAK

>Burmese troops torched mosques and several Muslim religious
>schools during their dry season offensive against rebels last
>month, a Burmese Muslim leader said.

>All Burma Muslim Union (ABMU) vice-chairman Hajji Abdul Malik,
>who was in Kyaikdon village opposite Tak's Umphang district when
>it came under attack by Burmese troops on February 13, told the
>Bangkok Post that the troops set fire to a mosque and a religious
>school in his community.

>Several other mosques were torched elsewhere, he said.

>Hajji Malik who escaped to the mountain before slipping across
>the border into Thailand also claimed that the Burmese troops
>plundered valuables and destroyed crops in the field.

>He said about 4,000 Muslims in Kyaikdon, Pa Klaw Nee, Mae Ha Htee
>Hta and Sakhantit villages were forcibly moved by Burmese
>troops to new settlement at Patein in Kya in Seikkyi district
>where there are virtually no basic utilities such as water.

>Hajji Malik is among some 2,000 Burmese Muslim refugees who had
>sheltered in the forest villages of Ban Kaw Thor, Nong Nok Ped,
>Nupho and Teechorsee along the Umphang Perngklerng Road in
>Umphang district since mid February. They, along with about 8,000
>other Karens, were moved to a new refugee camp at Bang Nu Pho
>last Friday.

>ABMU secretary general Mohammad Hussein charged that the Burmese
>military junta had discriminated against Muslims by registering
>them in a documentation form as "Muslim" while labelling Burmese
>Buddhists as "Burmese".

>He also alleged that some 40,000 Muslims who used to live along
>the Moulmein who used to live along the Moulmein Kyaikmaraw
>region in Mon state were evicted to a new settlement some seven
>miles away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NO - 2

>Buddhist Relief Mission
>Supporting the Buddha Sasana Worldwide
>266-27 Ozuku-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634, Japan
>Tel: (07442) 2-8236 -- Fax: (07442) 4-6254
>e-mail: brelief@xxxxxxx
>Directors: Ken and Visakha Kawasaki

>Press Release	March 18, 1997

>Buddhist Relief Mission wishes to express its deep concern over
>SLORC's latest suppression of protests, officially characterized as
>riots, by Buddhist monks in Burma's second largest city, Mandalay.    

>Being well informed of the volatile situation in the country at this
>time and being fully aware of the Mandalay Sangha's courageous
>commitment to democracy and human rights, we are convinced, first of
>all that SLORC's official explanation for the monks' demonstration is
>unreliable and secondly that the military's quelling of the protest
>poses great danger to members of the Sangha and to other pro-democracy
>activists.

>Buddhist monks played a key  role in 1988 national pro-democracy
>uprisings when hundreds of thousands of people dared to demonstrate
>against the military dictatorship.  When these demonstrations were
>brutally suppressed, thousands of unarmed citizens, including monks
>and novices were arrested or killed outright.  In 1991, Buddhist
>monks, especially those in Mandalay, organized a boycott to resist and
>oppose the military junta which resulted in the imprisonment and
>forcible disrobing of many hundreds of monks.  

>There have been signs of unrest among younger monks who want to see a
>restoration of democracy in the country. 

>Because the Buddhist Relief Mission regards the situation in Mandalay
>as extremely serious, we strongly urge the international community to
>show support for the monks as they protest against the SLORC.  We also
>urge the media to pay close attention to events in Mandalay, the
>imposition of a curfew, troop movements, roadblocks, arrests, and
>human rights abuses. 

>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------

NO - 3

>Newsgroups: soc.culture.burma
>Subject: ABYMU UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN MANDALAY
>From: 8888 <caroline@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 

>ABYMU UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN MANDALAY

>This information was received by telephone from Mandalay on 19 March
>1997 at 2:10 p.m., and updates the information put out in the ABYMU
>statement of 18 March 1997.

>1. The Slorc have begun arresting the monks involved in the
>demonstration of Monday, 17 March 1997, and have divided them in two
>groups, now under detention.
>2. 15 of these detained monks have already been given summary trials
>and sentenced to lengthy jailterms.
>3. The other detainees are still being tried or awaiting trial within
>the prison.
>4. It has not yet been confirmed exactly how many monks are under
>arrest.
>5. Afraid of public involvement or censure, the Slorc have continued
>to say that the issue is the result of Muslim-Buddhist conflict. It is
>should be noted that many believe the Slorc were actually behind fro
>the bomb explosion at Kaba Aye Cave in December 1996, which took place
>shortly after the December student protests in Rangoon. The Slorc
>claimed that the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and the Karen
>National Union were responsible for the blast. The ABYMU believe the
>Slorc may use similar tactics at this time to weaken or destroy this
>movement by the Sangha.


>Central Leading Committee
>All Burma Young Monks' Union
>19 March 1997

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FREEDOM OF FAITH

by Kyi Kyi Hla

(Excerpt from Myanmar Perspectives Vol: II 3/96)

It has been the brithright and prerogative of the Myanmar peoples to
profess faith in any kind of religion they choose, or for that matter,
not to embrace any religious teaching if they so wished. There has
never been and will never be any sort of coercion or obligation in the
matter of religious faith in our country. That is why, from time
immemorial people of different religious faiths have lived together in
amity throughout the long years of our history without a single case
of religious persecution. 

Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Moslems and animists dwell together and
respect each other's covictions. There has never been any  kind of
religious inquisition, no pogroms, no witches burned at the stake, nor
have there been religious wars. Myanmar kings, like
absolute monarchs everywhere, possessed the power of life and death
over their subjects but never was this used for religious persecution.
Buddhism has flourished, but not at the expense of other faiths. True,
all Myanmar leaders of yesteryear and today are patrons of Buddhism,
but they have always been generous in their support and encouragement
of other religious sects.

For Myanmar people, religious tolerance and respect for another's
faith is part of the normal course of events. It is nothing unusual or
new, but because most Mynamar people are devout Buddhists, and be they
rich or poor, always ready to donate generously towards the
propagation of their faith, there is a possibility that some is
informed persons might harbour misconceptions about freedom of faith
in our country.

The following translated excerpts from the address made by the
Secretary l of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lieutenant
General Khin Nyunt at the Thirty-Second All Myanmar Kachin Baptist
Conference and the Centennial Commemoration of the Creation of the
Kachin Script held at Mandalay on January l, l 996 will surely dispel
all doubts on the matter of religious freedom in Myanmar.

At the inaugural ceremony of the Conference Lientenant General
KhinNyunt, after extending his congratulations on the auspicious
occasion of the centenary commemoration ofthe origin ofthe Kachin
script and on the peace and harmony that had been achieved with our
Kachin brethren, emphasized the fact that the emergence of  the Kachin
Baptist Council was due to the freedom of faith and the mutual love
and respect which existed between the national races ofthe time. It
could be traced, he said, to the permission granted by King Mindon to
visiting American Baptist missionary Dr.Cushing to begin his work in
Bhamo. King Mindon, in spite of being a truly devout Buddhist and
patron of the Fifth Buddhist Synod, had wisely and magnanimously
granted the permission requested.

Mr Roberts, another American missionary later asked King Thibaw for
permission to open a school for Kachin nationals and in 1883 he
established a primary school where the children were taught to read
and write in Myanmar. He said King Thibaw was a man well-versed in
Buddhist literature. Yet with good will he permitted missionary work
and the teaching of the Bible to Kachin nationals. The first Kachin
baptism and the origin ofthe Kachin script bear testimony to the fact
that Myanmar monarchs had been liberal in their views on religion and
had granted freedom of faith. He noted that American Baptists had been
freely allowed to propagate their religion and that they had also
hadthe opportunity to invent the Kachin script based on the spoken
lauguage . Earlier in 1834, a Mr Bronson had used Roman letters to
invent the Kachin script but success was achieved only in 1895. 

The Secretary 1 then lauded the diligence and good will of the eight
missionaries who had worked on the Kachin script for sixty years.
Except for Mr. Bronson the remaining seven had used the Myanmar
alphabet for the Kachin script. It was however Dr. Ola Hanson who
finally succeeded in devising the Kachin script which is now in use
based on the Roman letter invention of Dr. Bronson. Dr. Ola Hanson
compiled over 10,000 Kachin words,  of which 7,000 to 8,000 were
everyday expressions.

The Secretary then spoke of how the Kachin language in written form
flourished through various stages, of the publication of an 11,000
word Kachin English dictionary in 1906, the publication of the first
Kachin newspaper in 1914 and the books that were issued including a
Kachin grarmmar and hymns. The peak of this development was reached
when the Bible was translated into the Kachin language and duly
presented to the Kachin nationals on the 50th anniversary of Kachin
baptism in 1927

He attributed the improved relations between the different Kachin
clans such as the Jingphaw, Lawwaw, Lacheik, Rawan, Lisu and Zaiwa to
the emergence of the Kachin script. It also widened their sphere of
knowledge which led to greater understanding and to religious,
economic and social progress.

Commemoration of the centenary of the Kachin script, the Secretary
stated, was a fitting tribute to the Union Spirit and the solidarity
of the Kachin nationals and expressed his hope and good wishes that
the centennial of the Kachin Baptist Council be celebrated in the same
memorable manner in Myitkyina in 1997.

He further explained how the Kachin Baptist Council had now been
ffiliated to the Myanmar Council of Baptists and said that it had the
second largest membership among the 15 racial and regional
associations, which according to the 1994 figures, has 260,000 members
in the entire country. 

He stressed the freedom of faith enjoyed under the government of the
State Law and Order Restoration Council and how the Ministry of
Religious Affairs had been separated from the former Ministry of Home
and Religious Affairs and reestablished as an independent body in
order that the affairs of all religions in the country could be dealt
with equitably.

He also spoke of equality before the law irrespective of religious
faith and the impartiality in job opportunities and in the
educational, health and social spheres. He elaborated on the support
and encouragement given so that Christianity could thrive, such as
publication of religious literature, newspaper, radio and television
coverage, exchange visits for religious missions, seminars and
establishment of relations with international Christian associations. 

The census figures of 1993 show that there are over 2.2 million
Christians and 5, 200 churches in Myanmar. 

The Myanmar people, the Secretary 1 said, believe that religion
benefits mankind both in secular and religious affairs and they
therefore hold in equal regard the faithful of other religions who are
free from suppression. The Secretary remarked that Myanmar nationals
are familiar with Christianity which stresses loving kindness.

He also touched upon the fact that some persons who bear ill-will have
in collaboration with foreign broadcasting stations, been circulating
rumours to the effect that there is religious suppression and
persecution in Myanmar. These groups are bogus religious or social
organizations intent on inciting unscrupulous persons to disrupt peace
and progress in Myanmar, with a complete disregard of the loving
kindness, forbearance and forgiveness taught by Christianity. He
reminded the genuinely faithful to beware of these unscrupulous beings
who will use Christianity as a tool to suit their purposes and
exhorted them to denounce such persons of ill-will.

In conclusion, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt called upon all Kachin
nationals to constantly consolidate national unity and strive for
perpetual peace in the Kachin State, guided by the tenets of peace and
good will preached by the Christian religion. He also urged them to
co-operate in endeavours for the realization of the political, social
and economic objectives of the Kachin State and thus achieve equal
development as an integral part of the Union of Myanmar. 

Kyi Kyi Hla
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Excerpt from Myanmar Perspectives Vol: II 3/96