The challenges ahead as Myanmar negotiates the road to reform have always been known to President Thein Sein and the country’s well-wishers. Among these, none causes more discomfort than the instability unleashed by primeval forces of race and religion, which he suggested is the work of enemies out to undermine progress towards openness.

The anti-Muslim unrest that roiled central Myanmar the past week called for firm action and his threat of force to quell the violence was justified, even if the thought of a crackdown was unnerving. Not only was political liberalization at risk, but Myanmar’s reputation as a benign Buddhist state was being tainted by the hostilities. Periodic attacks on Rohingya Muslims in the western region obviously fed into the sectarian frenzy in the Mandalay and Pegu regions.

Thankfully, the violence has eased, after the president addressed the nation, but underlying sources of tension remain to be tackled. One might ask if firm resolve to put down the pogrom against Rohingyas in the past might have made a difference. The cultural animus towards Muslims that had been kept under a lid during the long junta years is now out in the open in the “Myanmar spring” of open political contestation. The dangers are grave as institutional reforms can be swept aside if bigotry takes hold.

The president needs to neuter the “political opportunists and religious extremists” whom he alleged were orchestrating the latest attacks. There have been suggestions a residual hard core in the old military and “socialist Burma” establishments, opposed to opening up political and civic space, has been playing the religion card to sow disaffection towards the reformist government. The troubling implication is that Buddhist leaders and the laity are being made a tool, which would dismay many Myanmar people as monks are regarded as heroes for having stood up to the junta. It would be good to unmask these agitators as it is a matter of time before they suggest the president is raising a mere bogey.

Addressing the grievances of ethnic minorities is important for Myanmar as it presses on with the improvement of people’s lives in diverse areas. Of the two issues impeding national reconciliation, the more sensitive one is the status of Muslims whose ancestry is mainly South Asian. It could be determined by an all-party parliamentary commission to gain the support of the people. The other is the long-drawn ethnic insurgency in the Karen, Shan and Kachin borderlands. The minorities have to be brought into the fold to give Myanmar’s democratization full meaning. The nation’s international supporters will be rooting for this so that socio-economic development is not held back.

(The Straits Times)

(Asia News Network)