Maungdaw, Arakan State: District and township administration offices again banned Azan prayers with loudspeakers in Maungdaw on December 28, according to a religious leader from Maungdaw.
“The order was dispatched to village administration offices by U Aung Myint Soe, the district administration officer and U Kyi San, the township administration officer.”
“Some of the village administration officers from Burma’s Border Security Force (Nasaka) Area No. 6 were ordered to tell their villages not to use the loudspeakers while reciting Azan prayers in the Mosques.”
U Than Htun, village administration officer of Shwezar Village, ordered locals not to use loudspeakers while praying in the mosques on December 27, according to an elder from the village.
“The message was again delivered by Captain Hay Win Min Htun, the officer in charge of Camp 14 under Nasaka Area No. 6 while the Nasaka called a meeting with village elders and village administration officers on December 27.”
“We had to stop using loudspeakers for prayer calling in the mosques after the meeting in Shwezar.”
“This is part of the new civilian government’s style for moving toward a ‘disciplined democracy’. Although the head of the state U Thein Sein has stated that freedom of religion is available in the country, the authorities are trying to stop some systems of religion other than Buddhism in northern Arakan State where the Rohingya community, which believes in Islam, reside.”
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) promised the Rohingya community that it would remove restrictions on marriage, education, movement, and building places of worship when the party campaigned in northern Arakan State prior to the 2010 elections. However, the promises seem to have disappeared, as more restrictions are being placed on Rohingya citizens.
“Burma persecutes the Rohingya, the minority Muslim group of northern Arakan, denying them citizenship, and perpetuating many forms of human rights abuses.”
According to Freedom House, Rohingya women particularly suffer at the hands of the government. Freedom House has reported mass military rapes of Rohingya women. Fearing for their lives, many of these women have fled the country to Bangladesh, UN Watch – a nonprofit NGO – stated a during recent session on women’s rights during the Forum on Minority Issues of the UN Human Rights Council.
