Ethnic Conflict In Myanmar Case Study

The Muslims and the Buddhists of Myanmar supposedly have a history of conflict. Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has experiences waves of ethnic conflict (Kipgen 2013, p. 298). Such conflict has created a lengthy history of anti-Muslim sentiments among the Buddhist population in Myanmar (Cheesman and Farrelly 2016, p. 14). These sentiments have led to long-term communal tensions between the Rohingya Muslims and the Rohingya and Rakhine Buddhists (Kipgen 2013, p. 298). This perceived history of conflict extends outside of Myanmar as well. Some Burmese Buddhists use international examples of Muslim and Buddhist conflict as evidence of a history of conflict between the two groups: Indonesia and Afghanistan were both once Buddhist-majority countries but now are Muslim-majority (Schissler 2017, p. 382). For many Buddhists in Myanmar, these international examples confirm the fear that Islam historically was and currently is a threat to Buddhism (Schissler 2017, p. 382).

However, the cultural-historical approach’s real role in the ethnic conflict in Myanmar is of a convenient dividing line for

The politicians bring political and economic power, while the monks bring popular support and legitimacy (Ibrahim 2016, p. 64). Together, the Buddhist and nationalistic politicians and monks have created joint organizations, such as the 969 Movement and the Organization for the Protection of Race and Religion, in order to facilitate their partnership (Schissler 2017, p. 381). This fearsome alliance between the Buddhist monks and politicians has created a system of increasingly worsening policies and practices of religious, political, social, and economic discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims and Muslims more generally (Schissler 2017, p.