Appeal to Our Fellow Citizens: A Call for Empathy Amid Injustice

From Myanmar Muslims News Network (MMNN)

We write to you not with accusation, but with hope — the hope that you will listen with open hearts. For years, Myanmar’s Muslim communities have endured suspicion, marginalization, and violence. When we speak out, we are often dismissed as “too sensitive.” But we ask you to pause and consider: what would you do if this were your reality?

Imagine mobs gathering outside your home, hurling stones. Imagine men holding blades and preparing to burn your house down. Imagine your mother fainting from fear. Imagine your young children sobbing in terror.

Imagine calling the police, and no one answers. Imagine officers nearby chewing betel and watching as your place of worship burns.

Have you ever experienced that fear? That helplessness?

Now imagine someone tells you that you’re “overreacting.”

This is not imagination for us. It is memory. It is lived experience. And it explains why we speak with urgency. Why we grieve aloud. Why we resist silence.

Some of us have lost our homes. Some of us have seen loved ones attacked. Some of us — our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters — have cried out for help while authorities stood by. We do not share these truths to provoke guilt, but to foster understanding.

To our friends of other faiths and backgrounds —

You may never have feared for your family because of your religion. You may have the privilege of seeing political violence only on screens, not on your doorstep. We ask only that you see our suffering, not through suspicion, but through solidarity.

Injustice, left unchallenged, grows bolder. If today it is Muslims who suffer, tomorrow it may be you or those you love. And if no one speaks out, who will protect you when the time comes?

We ask you to stand not for us, but with us.

When you hear hate speech, challenge it. When you see religious violence, denounce it. When you witness injustice, refuse to be silent.

Together, we can build a Myanmar where no one must fear for their faith, their family, or their future.

Let us rise — not as Muslims, Buddhists, Christians or others — but as neighbors, as citizens, as human beings.

MMNN – Myanmar Muslims News Network
www.myanmarmuslim.news