Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Maungdaw township authority issued a warning to the trustees from the administration office of the Muslim religious gathering center (Tabaleak Markaz), in Maungdaw, on February 19, after a large prayer meeting, an elder from Maungdaw said.
“A huge number of Rohingya gathered in the religious gathering center (Tabaleak Markaz) and prayed for peace and listened to religious sermons,” the elder said.
“The Rohingya who gathered at the event are mostly farmers, religious leaders, businessmen and elders from Maungdaw Townships.”
“We informed to the authority about the event, but the authorities called the administration officers when they saw a huge number of Rohingya devotees,” said a devotee from the gathering center.
The Township administration officer warned the religious gathering center’s trustees not to hold gatherings like this event in the future and the trustees had to sign a bond agreeing not to do so , said a member of the village administration office.
The township officer also warned the village administration officer of Myoma Kayoundan (Seikda para) not to allow events like this in the future, even though the government didn’t give an official reason for the ban.
Religious persecution is still going on in the northern Arakan State after President Thein Sein’s government took office and the new government declared its intention to move towards democracy, a politician from Maungdaw said.
