Rohingya

Lord Buddha would have definitely helped the Rohingya Muslims: Dalai Lama

Amid mounting concern over the treatment of the Rohingya Muslims, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Sunday said that Lord Buddha “would have definitely helped” the Rohingyas” and he felt “very sad” about the violence.

“Those people…harassing some Muslims…should remember, Buddha definitely would have helped those poor Muslims,” the spiritual leader said. “I feel…so very sad.”

Nearly 300,000 of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya population have fled the violence-hit Rakhine state where the Myanmar’s army has allegedly launched a crackdown following a raid by militants on August 25.

Rohingyas have been denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants, despite them claiming roots in the country that go back centuries. The community has been subjected to violence by the Buddhist majority and the Army in Myanmar. The country’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to stand up for the more than 1 million stateless Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.

Rohingya Muslims accuse Myanmar’s security forces of mass killings and rapes and the burning of hundreds of villages.

India has also expressed its “deep concern” about the situation.

“India remains deeply concerned about the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar and the outflow of refugees from that region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday evening that also urged Myanmar to handle the situation with “restraint and maturity”.

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