UNB, Dhaka :
An internationally-acclaimed Buddhist peace activist has called upon the monastic leadership in Myanmar to take a stand against ethnic cleansing in that country.
“To the Buddhist leadership, to the monastic leadership in Myanmar, asking them to take a stand in the name of Buddhism against ethnic cleansing, against this killing and against what many people see as genocide,” appealed Richard Reoch in an exclusive interview with the United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
Born in Canada and settled in UK for many years Richard was part of a 16-strong International Interfaith Peace Corp delegation that visited on March 26 and 27 the camps in Cox’s Bazar to see the plights of forcefully displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar. Richard’s co-delegates included leaders belonging to different religious faiths – Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.
“I am not a convert to Buddhism, I was born Buddhist. I have lived in the Buddhist tradition all my life. I have never come across anything in the Buddhist teachings that is anywhere close to a justification for this,” said Richard Reoch, a former president of Shambhala, a worldwide community based on the Buddha’s teachings on enlightened society.
Richard Reoch, who worked for Amnesty International for over two decades including holding the position of the international right body’s media head, said, “It was profoundly troubling. A doctor said that she had worked in war zones and refugee camps all around the world in her life, and had never seen anything like this. It’s not just the scale of the problem; it’s the horrific way in which these people (Rohingyas) were treated.”
He went on to add, “This was particularly important for me as a Buddhist because this atrocity is being carried out, it’s still continuing by
people who said that they are doing this in the name of Buddhism. A very important moment for me was to be able to look at those people in the eyes and say to them how deeply saddened I am and Buddhists around the world are.”
Richard said, “There is a desperate need for international funding, because the international media spotlight has moved on. Bangladesh cannot possibly sustain this situation all on its own and it needs the international community, both governments and people, to continue to be generous in meeting the most basic needs for these people.”
Richard Reoch, who left Dhaka for London on Friday, said they would encourage generosity from the world Buddhist community.
He dubbed it as a kind of ‘hysteria’ – the frenzy with which Rakhine villages were burned, babies were thrown into the flames, and women were treated in the most abominable way. “It’s like one of these eruptions of madness.”
“But, I am very sad to say that this madness has been very deliberately fanned by men wearing the sacred robes of the Buddhist tradition. The profound mistake here is that they are somehow thinking that they are protecting Buddhism. “
“In fact, this is how a faith is destroyed. When people see these things being done, which are the exact opposite of the teachings of Buddha, people lose confidence both in that faith, and in religion altogether,” said Richard, also a former trustee of the Rainforest Foundation founded by English musician Sting (Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner).
On the question of Rohingya repatriation, Richard said, “This is one of the things that the refugees spoke to us. They said there are three things that are necessary for their return. One is safety, another is citizenship and the third is justice.”
An internationally-acclaimed Buddhist peace activist has called upon the monastic leadership in Myanmar to take a stand against ethnic cleansing in that country.
“To the Buddhist leadership, to the monastic leadership in Myanmar, asking them to take a stand in the name of Buddhism against ethnic cleansing, against this killing and against what many people see as genocide,” appealed Richard Reoch in an exclusive interview with the United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
Born in Canada and settled in UK for many years Richard was part of a 16-strong International Interfaith Peace Corp delegation that visited on March 26 and 27 the camps in Cox’s Bazar to see the plights of forcefully displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar. Richard’s co-delegates included leaders belonging to different religious faiths – Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.
“I am not a convert to Buddhism, I was born Buddhist. I have lived in the Buddhist tradition all my life. I have never come across anything in the Buddhist teachings that is anywhere close to a justification for this,” said Richard Reoch, a former president of Shambhala, a worldwide community based on the Buddha’s teachings on enlightened society.
Richard Reoch, who worked for Amnesty International for over two decades including holding the position of the international right body’s media head, said, “It was profoundly troubling. A doctor said that she had worked in war zones and refugee camps all around the world in her life, and had never seen anything like this. It’s not just the scale of the problem; it’s the horrific way in which these people (Rohingyas) were treated.”
He went on to add, “This was particularly important for me as a Buddhist because this atrocity is being carried out, it’s still continuing by
people who said that they are doing this in the name of Buddhism. A very important moment for me was to be able to look at those people in the eyes and say to them how deeply saddened I am and Buddhists around the world are.”
Richard said, “There is a desperate need for international funding, because the international media spotlight has moved on. Bangladesh cannot possibly sustain this situation all on its own and it needs the international community, both governments and people, to continue to be generous in meeting the most basic needs for these people.”
Richard Reoch, who left Dhaka for London on Friday, said they would encourage generosity from the world Buddhist community.
He dubbed it as a kind of ‘hysteria’ – the frenzy with which Rakhine villages were burned, babies were thrown into the flames, and women were treated in the most abominable way. “It’s like one of these eruptions of madness.”
“But, I am very sad to say that this madness has been very deliberately fanned by men wearing the sacred robes of the Buddhist tradition. The profound mistake here is that they are somehow thinking that they are protecting Buddhism. “
“In fact, this is how a faith is destroyed. When people see these things being done, which are the exact opposite of the teachings of Buddha, people lose confidence both in that faith, and in religion altogether,” said Richard, also a former trustee of the Rainforest Foundation founded by English musician Sting (Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner).
On the question of Rohingya repatriation, Richard said, “This is one of the things that the refugees spoke to us. They said there are three things that are necessary for their return. One is safety, another is citizenship and the third is justice.”
