Review | Book review: how Myanmar squandered its promise of peace and prosperity after the end of military rule

Myanmar’s Enemy Within
by Francis Wade
Zed Books

When five decades of military rule came to an end in Myanmar in 2011, there was hope that an era of peace and prosperity would dawn. Instead, the country has been racked by internal discord and ethno-religious conflict that has pitted the majority Buddhist population against Muslim minorities. Communities that once lived side by side have come to view each other with suspicion and dread, with violence begetting more violence.

At least 71 dead in coordinated attacks by Muslim militants on Myanmar police stations

“Fed from stories of the past, fears were activated so that old friends suddenly took on sinister qualities that turned them into enemies,” Francis Wade writes in Myanmar’s Enemy Within, which charts the rapid escalation of tension across the country since 2012, particularly in Rakhine State, on the west coast.

In May 2012, a Buddhist woman, Ma Thida Htwe, was raped and murdered in Rakhine. The culprits were quickly identified by local newspapers and on social media by their religion: Islam. Events escalated fast. The next month, Buddhist villagers around Sittwe, the state capital, were encouraged to board buses to go torch Muslim homes. Many did. A Buddhist monastery even offered food to participants.

On June 8, a mob of Rohingya, the Muslim ethnic minor­ity, attacked the homes of ethnic Rakhine, who practise Buddhism. This came just five days after 10 Muslims travel­ling on a bus were beaten to death by Buddhists in retaliation for Ma Thida Htwe’s murder.

“The violence of early June 2012 was the first major wave of conflict between Buddhists and Muslims to strike Myanmar as it transitioned away from military rule,” writes Wade.