Buddhists ask U.S. government to help end sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Bangladesh

Buddhist monks joined protests in Myanmar against the sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Bangladesh, calling for U.S. help.

Hundreds marched in protest.  Police in Bangladesh said that hundreds of Muslims burned at least four Buddhist temples and fifteen homes of practicing Buddhists in late September.  The attacks came after a Facebook photo allegedly posted by a young Buddhist man showed a burned Koran.  Earlier reports had indicated that thousands of Muslim protesters were involved, with some being bussed in, and that at dozens of Buddhist temples were burned.

Sectarian violence has also been taking place in neighboring Myanmar, where there is a Muslim minority.  In June, the homes of Muslims  were torched by Buddhists, who claimed that the violence was in retaliation for Muslim violence.

The protests in Bangladesh continued for several hours with no incidents, with the majority of those involved praying for peace.

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D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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