September 10, 2017 | Latest, Statements
Yet Another Crime Against Humanity in our Turbulent and Tyrannical Era
| The Shia Muslim Council of Southern California voices its heartfelt concern at the cruelties of the extremist groups in Myanmar against powerless Rohingya Muslims. This is yet another crime against humanity of our turbulent and tyrannical era. The UN Refugee Agency’s reports over 120,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee their homes with their villages devastated and pillaged. To date, hundreds of thousands of thousands of men, women and even children have been executed and their women raped and children maimed. Humanitarian aid has been made almost impossible because of blockade of essentials such as food and water and even medical supplies. These citizens of Myanmar, who have lived in Southern part of Myanmar for centuries, have been stripped of their citizenship by the military junta. They have been racially profiled and persecuted by their compatriots, who supposedly follow the Buddhist religion. We are not prepared to believe that such violence can ever be acceptable to Buddhism or any other faith for that matter. Therefore, first and foremost, we ask our Buddhist friends and leaders to be at the forefront of condemning this genocide and help end this abysmal act in the name of their great faith. The SMC hereby calls upon our Government and our elected officials to use all diplomatic channels to help end these atrocities on our fellow Muslims. We also call upon the world Community to bear pressure on the Myanmar government to end the horrifying treatment of this beleaguered ethnic minority. If they fail to stop this genocide, then we ask United Nations to hold the Myanmar government accountable for this genocide by way of sanctions and all other means possible to encourage them to end this massacre. We pray for the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar and all the persecuted people of the world. Jazakum Allahu Khayran, Shia Muslim Council of Southern California |