Myanmar warns hajj pilgrims to steer clear of politics in Mecca

Dec 10, 2007, 6:01 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's military regime has warned 325 state-sponsored hajj pilgrims to stay away from political activities while in Mecca, news reports said Monday.

Myanmar Minister for Religious Affairs Brigadier General Thura Myint Maung issued the warning to the pilgrims Sunday before their departure for Saudi Arabia, said The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece.

'The pilgrims are to stay away from activities or participation in political and economic affairs violating the existing laws, bylaws and rules and regulations prescribed by the State,' said the minister.

He said the 325 Burmese Muslims on the state-supervised hajj 'are to give priority to religious affairs only.'

The week of the Hajj starts on December 18 this year.

Thura Myint Maung claimed that the government has provided necessary assistance to Myanmar's Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Hindu religious communities.

There is some truth to the government's claim that it does not discriminate against any particular religion.

Although a predominantly Buddhist country, the ruling junta had few qualms cracking down on peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks last September, clubbing monks and shooting their laymen followers.

There has been a long, well recorded history of persecution of Muslim minority groups in Myanmar, especially the Rohingyas of Arakan State, thousands of whom have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh due to policies that deny them citizenship and rights to work.