Just a short ride from Masoerein monastery, from where Ashin Wirathu preaches anti-Muslim rhetoric, a Muslim community lives side-by-side with their Buddhist neighbours. A mosque and a Buddhist temple are situated next to each other.

“Muslims and Buddhists have been living peacefully as neighbours for hundreds of years,” said Tin Swe Aung, a leader of the Muslim community in Kyauk Sit Tan, Mandalay.

He believes all the violence against Muslims was politically motivated. “There had been no violence until the NLD [National League for Democracy] won the by-election with a landslide victory in 2012. It started in Rakhine before spreading to other parts of the country,” said Tin Swe Aung.

Like most Muslims in the neighbourhood, Tin Swe Aung believes that their future depends on Aung San Suu Kyi. But their hope for a better future is mixed with fears and anxiety. “As long as Muslims are still the target of hatred and people use religion as a political tool, we fear there will still be violence.”

Tin Swe Aung blamed the violence on the government. “The government uses divide-and-rule tactics against the minorities and Muslims,” he said, and accused Ma Ba Tha, an organisation of nationalist Buddhist monks led by Wirathu, of being an instrument of the government in stoking anti-Muslim fervour.

He said his Muslim community harboured no grudges against the NLD for not fielding a single Muslim candidate in the election. “We understand the pressure Suu Kyi was facing,” he said.

Tin Swe Aung believes it would take a long time for the religious divide to be bridged. Education is a long-term solution to the problem, he said.

—The Nation/Thailand

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2015