Islamic Shura Council of Southern California Expresses Deep Concern on the Plight of Rohingya Muslims
Garden Grove, CA: The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California expresses its deep concern at the brutalities of the military junta and the extremist Buddhist groups in Myanmar (Burma) against the poor and helpless Rohingya Muslim minority, says a Shura Council press release. It adds:
According to the UN Refugee Agency's report, about 123,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee their homes. Many of their homes and villages were destroyed and burned. About 400,000 are internally displaced and thousands of men, women and even children have been killed, raped and burned.
There is a blockade of food, water and medicine. Humanitarian aid is difficult to distribute to them and outside media is not allowed to take pictures and report on the plight of these people. Most of the pictures of the horrible crimes are from private sources and from satellite cameras. It is a most disturbing episode of inhumanity in our modern history.
Rohingya Muslims are the citizens of Myanmar (Burma). They live mostly in Rakhine State in the southwestern part of Burma. They have been living there for centuries. Because of their darker skin color and their faith, they are mistreated. The military government has stripped them of their citizenship. They are rendered stateless. Recently their suffering has increased and they are going through a systematic genocide.
We ask the Burmese government to stop the horrible treatment of their religious and ethnic minority. We ask the United Nations to hold the Burmese government accountable for these crimes against humanity. We urge our US government and our elected officials to speak against these crimes and use our diplomatic efforts and influence to help protect the innocent people. We ask our friends in the local Buddhist community to exert whatever influence they have with the Burmese government to end this genocide. We urge Muslim governments to break their relations with Burma unless it changes it policies towards its Rohingya minority. We urge all Muslims to participate in demonstrations and donate for relief and resettlement of the Rohingya refugees in different neighboring countries. Please pray to God to help them and bring His mercy upon the victims of injustice and intolerance.
- Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Chairman
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