Rohingya Muslims hold 1600 Hindus hostage in Myanmar, 2 found dead with throat slit

Case ID : a4aee7f | Location : Rakhine State, Myanmar | Date of Incident : Wed, 10 April, 2024

Case ID : a4aee7f

Rakhine State, Myanmar

10 April, 2024

Rohingya Muslims hold 1600 Hindus hostage in Myanmar, 2 found dead with throat slit

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Myanmar's Arakan state, particularly in Buthidaung, a group of Hindus were held captive by Rohingya terror groups, raising fears of a repetition of the 2017 massacre in Rakhine state. Over 1600 Hindus and 120 Buddhists were said to be hostages, with their survival and release uncertain. Religious and ethnic riots have triggered widespread panic, leading residents to flee, while two youths were found dead with their throats slit on April 11. The military regime's alleged support for Rohingya groups against the Arakan Army has fueled tensions. Rohingya militants are accused of looting and burning houses of captives. Rebel groups are urging Islamic terror groups not to succumb to religious divisions, pledging to protect all residents regardless of their beliefs. The 2017 massacre saw nearly 100 Hindus killed by Rohingya militants, as documented by Amnesty International's investigation. Reports indicated that Major General Zaw Min Tun from Myanmar denied having aided the Rohingya terrorists, however, did not confirm or deny the reports of the Hindus being held hostage by terrorists.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the primary category 'Attack resulting in death' under the sub-category 'attacked for Hindu identity'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime. Under this category, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. In this case, Rohingya Muslims took over 1,600 Hindus hostage. Myanmar has seen bitter ethnic violence between the Rohingya Muslims of the state and the Buddhist majority in the country. The ethnic violence has repeatedly led to the persecution of minority Hindus in the country. In 2017, Amnesty International confirmed the brutal massacre of over 100 Hindus and mass graves were also found thereafter. The mass graves had mostly minority Hindus massacred by Rohingya Muslims. The testimonies of Hindus confirmed that the massacre in 2017 was owing to their religious identity. Amnesty has based its report on dozens of interviews conducted in Rakhine and across the border in Bangladesh and throws light on the largely under-reported human rights abuses by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) fighters, who have sowed fear among Hindus and other ethnic communities with these brutal attacks. The report gives details of the massacre in Kha Maung Seik in August 2017, killing Hindus, executing style, sparing those who agreed to ‘convert’ to Islam. The report also states other killings and violent attacks against the other ethnic and minority communities by the Rohingya terrorists. The report says, “Eight Hindu women and eight of their children were abducted and spared after ARSA fighters forced the women to agree to “convert” to Islam. The survivors were forced to flee with the fighters to Bangladesh several days later, before being repatriated to Myanmar in October 2017 with the support of the Bangladeshi and Myanmar authorities”. The details presented in the Amnesty report and the testimonies of Hindus proves that the violence against Hinds is purely based on their religious identity. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database.