1. On 25 June 2014, a famous online news portal called Thit Htoo Lwin spread false allegations of rape of a
Buddhist woman by 2 muslim brothers.
2. The Muslim men in question owned a well to do café called Sun Café.
3. On 1 July 2014, a group of fake monks and thugs caused trouble at the Sun Café. That same night,
a group of thugs on motorcycles, armed with wooden clubs and knives, verbally harassed, swore and
threw stones at the café. The crowd swelled and gathered around 26 B Road and along the 83rd and
84th Streets, throwing stones, breaking into the Muslim shops in the area, damaging and looting Muslim
property. Muslims were forced to barricade themselves indoors.
4. The above mentioned acts of violence happened in the presence of local police forces and under
the watch of the passive authorities, the mob threw makeshift fire bombs at the mosque in the area.
5. The police force did not take any action against the perpetrators apart from half-hearted verbal
admonishments.
6. On 3 July 2014, a 51 year old Burmese Muslim man by the name of U Soe Min was on his way to the
local mosque for morning prayers when he was ambushed by thugs in the vicinity of the Sun Café and
brutally beaten to death. Three other Muslim men were also severely beaten up by the thugs shortly
after U Soe Min’s death.
7. Again, no action was taken to bring the perpetrators to justice by the authorities.
8. All Muslim owned businesses were shut down for fear of further attacks by the Buddhist mobs and
Muslims were reducing to hiding in their houses, not daring to step outside their homes.
9. Local Muslim leaders sought audience with the Mandalay Regional Chief Minister, Ye Myint where they
appealed to the Chief Minister to help protect Muslims’ lives and properties in Mandalay. As a result,
the Chief Minister increased security presence in Mandalay. However, no action was taken against the
terrorist Buddhist monks that continued to swell in numbers in the city.
10. Between the 3rd and 4th of July, the authorities issued a curfew and arrested 2 Muslim Imams
and a group of worshippers at a mosque. On top of not taking action against the thugs and protecting
the Muslim residents, the police conducted cordon search operations extensively only in Muslim homes
and masjids, seizing items deemed as weapons which were in actual fact being kept for self
defense by the Muslims.
11. As of today, 4 July 2014, the terrorist mobs continue to grow in numbers, suspected to be
a 10,000 strong crowd along with a hundred plus vehicles and motorcycles shouting death chants and anti-Muslim slogans.
12. Later, on the same day, the authorities cut off internet access and electricity, effectively shutting off
Mandalay from the rest of the world. Previous incidents of violence against Muslims in Burma were always
preceded by the same sequence of events –imposition of a curfew, cutting of internet access and electricity followed by the burning and
destruction of Muslim homes and property and killing of innocents.
13. Later there was open anti Muslim hate incitement in funeral of Tun Tun who was killed by
unknown assailants. The funeral procession was allegedly taken over by the Buddhists Monks
. The mobs with swords and clubs freely roamed the four corners of Mandalay, cursing and swearing Muslims. They burned down a small Masjid at Muslim Cemetery,
and destroyed the burial place.
