Muslim farmer’s paddy bundles set on fire in Minbya Twsp

By DMG 24 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
24 December 2021, Minbya

Bundles of paddy belonging to a Muslim farmer from Nagayar village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township were reportedly set on fire Thursday night.

The sheafs of paddy owned by U Lumalarki were burned to ash at about 9 p.m. on December 23, said U Lubiarrlaw, a village official.

“Bundles of paddy were set on fire. The owner was sleeping at a location about two miles from the scene of the incident. We don’t know exactly if it was a fire caused by negligence or arson, and are investigating the cause of the fire,” the village official added.

“He [U Lumalarki] complained to me that his bundles of paddy had been burned,” said U Aung Thein, an administrator of Nagayar village. “A total of over 1,000 bundles of paddy were set on fire. He was sleeping at a location when the incident occurred.”

Nagayar village-tract is an ethnically diverse area consisting of five Arakanese villages, two Daingnet villages, one Mayamargyi village and three Muslim villages.

Two bundles of paddy were also reportedly set on fire in Kanda (Muslim) village, part of the Pho Khaung Chaung village-tract in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, on December 21.

There were multiple reports of paddy harvesters and sheafs of paddy being set on fire in Arakan State over a period from December 9-14.

In a statement on December 17, the United League of Arakan (ULA) — the Arakan Army’s political wing — said that some townships in Arakan State had experienced a “series of extraordinary events” this month that it warned could lead to sectarian conflict.

The Arakan Student’s Union, a group of Muslim students and the Arakan Students’ Union (Universities – Yangon) issued a joint statement on December 23 condemning the suspected crimes in Arakan State as acts of sabotage intended to divide the people of Arakan State.