Minbya: Thousands of haystacks stored on the threshing floor were set on fire to incite communal violence against the remaining Rohingyas

 More than a thousand haystacks were set on fire near the Pauktaw (Muslim) village of Nagara village tract in Minbya Township, Rakhine State, on the night of December 23, according to locals.

Shwe Dulamin, a village official in Pauktaw village, said the haystacks belonged to a farmer named Naw Mala Kaing and were being piled up in a threshing floor for threshing.

"The fire broke out at around 9 pm on the 23rd. It burned more than 800 paddy fields. The owner was waiting in another threshing floor for paddy. There were no guards here," said Pauktaw village official Shwe Dulamin.

A village official said three Muslims were believed to have been involved in the arson attack.

Among the three suspects were a personal altercation with him, and one of the three suspects, a young man from Pauktaw village, Ko U Lu Ya, was being questioned by the Arakan Army AA, according to Shwe Dulamin.

Normal Kane leases the land from a Rakhine man in Thein Taung village, renting about seven acres of paddy per acre for 120 baskets a year.

At present, farmers are harvesting paddy. Buthidaung In townships such as Kyaukphyu, the burning of hay harvested by farmers is continuing.

On the night of the 21st of this month, about 700 haystacks harvested in Kindar Muslim Village, Pho Khaung Chaung Village Tract, south of Buthidaung Township were set on fire.

On the night of December 14, paddy harvested by three farmers in Si Maw village in Kyaukphyu Township was set on fire in a field, and on the night of December 11, paddy harvested in Laung Kyet village, Mrauk-U Township was set on fire. .

In addition, two threshers owned by locals harvesting paddy were set on fire on the night of December 10 in the fields of Hteik Wa Pyin village in Mrauk-U Township.

PHOTO SOURCE:CJ

Gwa, Southern Rakhine State A primary (post) school in the village ward was also set on fire.On the night of December 20, in Mrauk-U Township, In Mucha village, five cows belonging to a farmer were reportedly cut while tied in a barn.

Village tract administrators in Minbya Township have instructed village officials to prevent further incidents in connection with the burning of thousands of haystacks in Nagara village tract in Minbya Township.

"Now we are in a worrying situation. I have told the village authorities to wait for the next farmers to stand near their paddy fields. I have told them to take precautionary measures to prevent further incidents," said Nagara Village Tract Administrator Aung Thein.

This morning, farmers were urged to stay awake in the fields in the fields they were still harvesting, said Pauktaw village head U Shwe Dulamin.

Such incidents in Rakhine State have been going on since the second week of December.

The Arakan Army (AA) issued a statement on December 17 warning that such incidents are a deliberate attempt by ethnic groups to create ethnic clashes as a political maneuver for peaceful relations between Rakhine and Muslims.

The Arakan Army (AA) has said it will identify the perpetrators and protect the lives and property of the Rakhine people.