Buddhist

YANGON (MYANMAR): The conflict between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine province may have been touted as the reason behind the attack on Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple, but the issue of the Rohingyas is seen less as a clash between religions and more of an ethnic and economic problem within the rapidly developing country whose military government started the process of democratic reforms two years ago. The reforms initiated by former military generalturned president Thein Sein which have led to the release of National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the lifting of sanctions imposed by the US are now translating into huge foreign investments in the country which is a largely untapped reservoir of natural gas and other resources. 'For a vast majority of people, there was frustration at seeing economic opportunities slip by during the military regime,' says U Thura Ko Ko, chief representative of the Texas Pacific Group Fund which advises foreign investors coming to Myanmar . 'With the country opening up, there is competition for scarce land and resources . I would therefore say the fundamental cause of tension in areas like the Rakhine region is economic.' For many others in Yangon , Myanmar's former capital , dotted with colonial-era buildings, the reluctance to view the clashes in Rakhine through the prism of religion is evident. 24-year-old doctor Thurein Hlaing Win voices what many young people feel about the problem. 'The issue is not Buddhists versus Muslims at all. The attacks on Rohingyas are simply intended to drive them away as the local people in the region, even the government, views them as intruders.'

Follow the Times of India - World section

FEATURED TODAY IN Rest of World MOST POPULAR Across Times of India