Demonstrations against Rohingya atrocities

Thousands of Rohingyas and locals held peaceful demonstrations in several parts of the country to protest against reported atrocities against the Muslim community in Rakhine state.

Anti-Myanmar slogans were heard and placards carried as they marched for about three kilometres from a mosque in Jalan Ampang to the Myanmar Embassy in Jalan U-Thant here after Friday prayers, to hand over several protest notes to an embassy official.

There are more than 40,000 Rohingya refugees in this country and the number of Rohingya protesters outnumbered the locals at the demonstration.

They called on the country to stop the atrocities against the Rohingyas.

"We submitted an 11-page protest note asking Naypyidaw (Myanmar capital city) to stop the act," said a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Gabungan NGO Gerakan Merah Malaysia leader Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos after the rally.

"We will send a memorandum to the United Nations if Myanmar does not take immediate action," said the leader of another NGO, Amir Amsaa Alla Pitchay of Ikatan Rakyat Insan Muslim Malaysia.

The unhappy voices of Malaysians were also heard in MELAKA as Malay Islamic World (Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam or DMDI) president Tan Sri Mohd Ali Rustam called on ASEAN, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the UN to take immediate action to stop the massacre.

He said what was happening in Myanmar was an "extremely awful violation of human rights" against the Rohingyas, especially the women and children.

"We endorsed in the DMDI convention last week, our condemnation of the Myanmar Government over the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and that action must be taken to stop this immediately, " he told Bernama.

Various media outlets have reported that members of the minority ethnic group faced summary execution, rape and their homes and villages were torched as thousands were forced to flee the violence.

In PENANG, hundreds of people took to the streets in George Town to vent their anger over the brutal treatment of the Rohingyas.

They were seen marching from Masjid Acheh to Masjid Kapitan Keling after Friday prayers while carrying banners and placards condemning the atrocities being perpetrated in Myanmar.

They were joined by Penang Religious Affairs, Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs exco Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim and local religious figures, among others.

The demonstrators also criticised Myanmar's democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to end what they called "Rohingya ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine.

Earlier today, the Penang State Assembly passed a unanimous motion to condemn the cruelty inflicted on the Rohingya community.

Several other small-scale demonstrations were also held outside other mosques statewide, carrying similar message, with the hope the ethnic cleansing will cease.

Meanwhile, Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) head, Dr Yusri Mohamad called on

Muslims in the country to support efforts to extend aid to the oppressed Rohingyas.

He said the Myanmar Government should allow bodies like the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the media to monitor the situation on the ground.

Friday prayers today were marked by recitals of special prayers for the safety and well-being of the Rohingya community.

-- BERNAMA