The last few weeks fears have materialised to reality, as extremist Buddhist attacks have spread further than just within the Arakan region in Myanmar, to Mandalay and now to Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

The opportunistic ‘969’ extremist group, had started the violent rampage in the Meikhtila township of Mandalay, which is now razed to the ground, unrecognizable to the local inhabitants who used to call the area their home. The now barren land has had a 1000 houses and 12 mosques burnt down, and 12,000 Muslims have been displaced, who have now taken refuge in the football fields in the town centre.

In the span of a week, violence spread to other parts of Muslim populated areas who had experienced the same brutal treatment from the 969. These areas are the Pyin Ma Nar township, Aye Lar township, Yamal Thin township, Paung Tay township, Zeegong township, Nathilin township, Myonu township and Gyo Bin Kauk.

Yangon has now become the latest region to succumb to these attacks. Last night, at around 3:30 am, Buddhist Extremists had burned down the local Islamic school named, ‘Madarasa Sadiqia Hefzul Quran’ (on 48th street) which had taken the lives of a total of 13 students. The group had attacked the school with petrol bombs, with 70 students still on school premises.

The confirmed names of the deceased students are as follows:

Rahimullah (aged 13) s/o Haji Isa – Rekyaw Pazuntaung Town
Muhammad Hashim (aged 14) s/o U Min Lat – Rekyaw-do Town
Muhammad Omar (aged 15) s/o of Dala Town U Aung Shwe
Abul Basher (aged 13) s/o Molvi Arif, Boglar Town
Abdul Latif (aged 13) s/o U Zaw Min, Shwe Pyi Tha Town
Muhammad Sohail (aged15) s/o Muhammad Elyas, Tarkata
Hasson (aged 14) s/o U Natha, Kowkrik Town
Abdul Subhan (aged 14) s/o U Zaw Min, Kan Daw Lay Town
Ibrahim s/o U Hammim, Inn Gon
Arif (Aged 14) of Inn Gon
Faisal (aged 14) s/o Ibrahim of Tarkata
Abul Refaat (aged 16) s/o U –kyaw Min, South Dragon
Afzl (aged 14)
The local Yangon media had falsely reported that the cause of the attack was accidental and caused by an ‘electric malfunction’, but after speaking to our sources in Yangon, they had told us that the stench of kerosene was so strong that they could smell it from their homes. There is no questioning the well planned nature of this attack and our sources also have stated that it was funded too. The 969 Buddhist extremist group led by Monk and ex prisoner, Wirathu who was jailed in 2007 for carrying out anti Muslim attacks was released last year under the President’s Parole. Our sources have now given the names of accomplices of Wirathu who are aiding these racially geared attacks (unconfirmed):

General Khin Nyunt
Thiha Thura, former Vice President
Tin Aung Myint Oo, current Immigration Minister
U Khin Yi, Member of Parliament
U Aung Thaung former Industry Minister
The names of those funding these attack (unconfirmed):

Zay Kabar U Khin Shwe(a sitting Member of Parliament),
U Kyauk Taung, drug lord from Taung Goke township Arakan
U Tay Za
The Buddhist rain festival is expected to take place on April 14th, and our sources are expecting many more simultaneous attacks on Muslim communities in Burma to take place.

The Rohingya have trended on twitter, have been written about in newspapers, and some politicians have issued a few lines in the form of a statement about them. But meanwhile, the violence rages on. Recently, Burma had been praised for its democratisation process, for allowing private newspapers to print after 50 years. Bluntly, the freedom of press means nothing whilst the freedom of so many are being so violently extinguished. Our sources stated what is to be expected in the near future:

“We Muslims here are afraid that if the situation is going like this, we will be finished at once”.