Burmese Buddhists Beheaded In Malaysia’s Selayang

(Translation of blog-posts direct from various Burmese Blogs this week.)

This was what BERNAMA the National News Agency of Malaysia reported under the headline “Myanmar Man Found Dead With Slash Wound In Selayang” on June 1, 2013.

“KUALA LAMPUR, June 1 (Bernama) – A Myanmar man was found dead with a slash wound on his neck at Jalan 8/3A, Pusat Bandar Utara Selayang, here Friday night. Sentul deputy police chief Supt Othman Abu Bakar said the body was discovered by one of his countrymen at a back lane behind a shop at 10:15 pm.

“According to the man, he earlier saw a group of men whom he did not recognize but believe to be Myanmar nationals (Muslim Bengalis from Burma) train a torchlight at the deceased’s head. He then went to Seri Muni, Selayang police station to report the matter,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

Othman said the deceased who had not been identified, had a 12-centimetre wound on his neck. Police also found a knife near the scene of incident. The remains had been sent to the Kuala Lampur Hospital, he said. -- BERNAMA”

Bengali-Muslims Killing Buddhist-Burmese In Selayang

According to the small community of Burmese-Buddhist workers in Selayang the recent violent confrontations between Buddhist-Burmese and Bengali-Muslims there had so far resulted in two Burmese deaths and three Buddhists severely wounded and ended up in the Selayang Hospital.

“In May-30 incident two were killed, three were seriously wounded, and one has been missing since. Now more than a hundred Buddhists have been taking refuge in the Kapone Buddhist Monastery. The Muslim attackers on their motorbikes have since been circling the Monastery from outside and making serious threats to burn down the whole monastery.

These Muslim criminals are not locals from Selayang here. Even the local Muslims are fearful of these Bengali thugs, but our Burmese embassy is still talking down the troubles and claiming everything is peaceful normal here,” said U San Win the Chairman of Kapong Burmese Funeral Association.

Two dead Burmese-Buddhists were identified as Khaing Min (32) and Min Zaw (33) both originally from the town of Pegu in Burma.

“My brother (Min Zaw) has been working in Malaysia for over 10 years now. He was a very good man who just minded his own business. Now our embassy is not just denying our deaths our ambassador is even telling people that us Burmese here are just drunkards and starting fights and all that bad shit.

We do not get any help from our embassy and because of the threats on our lives we couldn’t work for three days since. Only the Burmese Funeral Association here is helping with My brother’s funeral,” bitterly claimed the sister of murder victim Min Zaw.

Nyunt Nyunt Yee the wife of deceased Min Zaw also added, “My husband was a Burmese Buddhist and I think the other victim also was a Burmese Buddhist. We didn’t know each other well though. I work in a textile factory and now I’m trying to bury my husband with the help of Burmese Funeral Association.”

Burmese Embassy is downplaying the Selayang Killings

Vegetable sellers from Burma in Selayang Markets.

Famous Colonel Ye Htut the Deputy Minister for Information and the official government spokesperson had so far denied the Muslim killings of Burmese Buddhists in Selayang. And following was what U Tin Latt the Burmese Ambassador in Malaysia said on the official MRTV the Burmese government TV station on Second June.

“Here in Malaysia we have nearly 300,000 legal workers and about 40,000 illegal workers from our country. And also there are more than 90,000 listed with UNHCR as refugees. Mostly Bengali-Muslims self-proclaiming as so-called Rohingyas.

I have to explain a little bit about what sort of place this Selayang is. Like the Thirimingla Markets in Rangoon the Selayang Markets is the wholesale market supplying fruits and vegetables to the whole Kuala Lumpur. Both legal and illegal Burmese workers and also Bengali-Muslims claiming as refugees are working in the Selayang Markets.

The Selayang Markets is also a place so notorious for drugs-dealings and murders and all sorts of crimes that even the Malaysian Police do not really enforce the laws effectively there. That is the necessary background information of Selayang Markets. 

And this was what exactly happened there since May-30.

First incident was at about 2 pm May 30 a Burmese vegetable seller from Selayang Markets on his way home was attacked by unknown assailants on motorbikes and he is now being treated in Selayang Hospital.

Then at about 10 pm on May-31 another Burmese worker on his way home was attacked by another unknown group of people. Same day May-31 another Burmese worker living in West-Selayang was killed. So those were three main incidents. So far there are no attacks on the Buddhist monastery in Selayang.

What had been happening so far in Selayang were not the religious confrontations between Muslims and Buddhists as some are loudly claiming. Those cases were just crimes happening in the notorious Selayang Markets.

But I have a serious responsibility to protect our citizens. So I had reported those incidents to the Malaysian Foreign Ministry so that their officials could do whatever necessary diplomatically. I also personally know the Malaysian Police Chief and I had requested him to kindly give his attention to those small incidents in Selayang.

What has been happening in Selayang is criminal matters not religious troubles such as Bengali-Muslims killing Burmese-Buddhists. I would like to remind our Burmese nationals working in a notorious place like Selayang Markets that they are here mainly to earn money for their country and their families and thus they should be drinking less and avoid getting into fights as much as possible.”

Major Zaw Htay the Director of President’s Office in Naypyidaw also told the Eleven Media Group that the Myanmar Foreign Ministry is now investigating the Selayang matters and will be announcing the findings soon.

Related posts at following links:
Bengali-Muslims Killing Buddhist-Yakhines in Malaysia
Killing of Yakhine-Buddhists in Malaysia