Buddhist - Muslim Relations: Resolving Conflict

A facebook friend posted this

My immediate thought was, "wow! another dimension to buddhist-muslim conflict". Also sounds like. "you started it first!". Not the best way to resolve conflict.

Here are the key points of my response on FB (edited):

I went through the article again and I think some items where the facts are doubtful. I did a check on the  author Ahinamo Kurasawa From Tokyo - this name has not appeared anywhere else. Not sure who he is.  First red flag!

I check the website and points to a “charity ceylon”.  The owner of the site is listed as “Prof Van Haizen”.  Search this name on Google, it  links to a FB page, TheistvsAtheist. A quick glance at the postings seems to be a thinly veiled attack towards Islam and Christianity. You might like to view i and draw your own conclusion. This is, second (very fine) red flag. 

On checking with whois.com, we found:                                                                                                  

religionmind.com is registered to 

Name:Jayantha Wijesingha

Street:10th mile post, Rajawaka, Balangoda, Sri Lanka

City:Balangoda

State:Sabaragamuwa

Postal Code:11111

Country:LK

Phone:+94.777771348

Why Sri Lanka, this is not mention at all on the site. Another possible red flag.

Overall, I would not put much credit to this piece of news.  Until we can verify, or contact the author - I think circulation of such news needs to be refrained as it is possible that this is a fake news.

My Concerns

Fully agreed that it is not a religious conflict. I think we need too go into addressing the perception and growing mistrust on both sides of the divide.  

There are several point I have brought up:

1. Regarding the credibility of the news article you introduced which seem to point towards some of a muslim - buddhist conflict. the facts are doubtful, and the writer is doubtful.
2. One of the key issue is messaging, I have made clear in public forums and I share again - to avoid using the terms “Muslim Rohingya” and “Buddhist Arakans”. It created by the media to sensationalize the news. It also points to a very subtle division and implies a religious-based conflict. We must change this narrative.
3. The situation is that it’s a serious human rights issue that needs to be addressed on various levels - social, governmental and inter-governmental levels. On the social side, we must begin in our minds to remove misunderstanding and perceptions about muslims and islam and build more understanding. 
4. We are also working hard to have the Muslims brothers and sisters appreciate Buddhism.  Efforts to build bridges must be strong. One common enemy we have is religious fundamentalism and violent extremism.

We need to continue to practice our duty to strive for peace in the spirit metta, karuna, mudita and upekkha.