With one of my Pseudonyms in Burma Digest 

During my schooling days, my one English teacher was a Jew and another was a Christian. My Mathematics teacher was an Indian Hindu; Chemistry teacher was a Muslim. Our football coach and PT teacher was also a Muslim. He was like “COACH CARTER” to us. (Coach Carter was a real story of a very famous basketball coach.) Because of his discipline and intelligent handling of our team, our school team was the best in the whole district and all our team members got good marks and enter the professional universities. I, a Burmese Buddhist, was the team captain playing at midfield. My partner was a Muslim and because of the two of us’ team work and support three Burmese and one Rakhine shooters could score a lot. Our goal keeper was a Brahman and if he was in front of the goal posts we felt secured as if the goal post was sealed with cement.  One tough Chin and another stout Karin backer also saved us from many goals. Our two best Chinese friends never played football but never missed a match to encourage us and they successfully forced their rich fathers to support our team with more than enough financial supports. Although now we were all married and most of us migrated to different countries, we all are still in touch and we missed each other. I even dream about them not less than once a month.  

Please don’t angry with me before finished reading this whole paragraph. I am a born Buddhist just for name only. Never practice whole heartedly. Later I married a Chinese Christian Lady from a well to do family in this new country and I had to just follow the Church with her. But later this unfortunate incident made me a popular “Free Thinker” or a modern virtual religious-less person. I have the good luck of having a lot of close friends from various faiths, Hindis, Punjabis, Taos, Muslims and of course many Buddhists and even some Rohingyas. The real actual fact that, all of them are so good on me and among each other made me to become curious why there are a lot of religious based problems around the world and back home in Burma. I started reading about all the religions and am surprised to find out the common good virtues that all the religions taught. Later I realized that the biggest difference is in the form and external practice only. Maybe we are looking at the same GOD from different perspectives. But may be blessing in disguised, larger portion of my heart is filled with Buddha’s teachings. Never mind I am not here to discuss about the religions but the clashes or wars or fights based on religious differences.  

The world is so wide and there are a lot of twist and turns. It would be much better if we look at the facts that trigger the Inter-religious conflicts and riots to stop them or prevent them from happening again. For me no excuse is right, conflicts should be avoided at all costs from both sides. I am not going to search who is right or wrong, but the basic causes or events that trigger the conflicts only. I believe that if anyone fight or try to use force, both sides are wrong. I am searching the ways to avoid the repeat of those conflicts.  

We all must unite, if not we will fall. I will now try to search the triggering sparks of racial and religious riots in Burma/Myanmar. 

So back to my personal experiences. If not for my best teachers; those Christians, Jew, Muslim, Hindus and of course many fellow Burmese teachers and lecturers I would not be in this position. If not for my Ethnic Minority footballers, other race co-players and my football coach “Carter” we could not win any tournaments. 

Lord Buddha taught us to detach from “ATTA”, I, my, me, mine. I realized that it could extend to my family, my relatives, my race, my religion, my home, my town, my country. And Buddha even advised to love and pity all humans and animals including our enemies. 

Our common enemy Myanmar Military Junta would definitely create another racial riot in a near future to divert the discontented people and smoke shield the world opinion.  

We all are like the married couple. In Burmese, married couple is compared with the tongue and the teeth. We could unintentionally bite the tongue. If we could understand that the teeth are helping the tongue by chewing the food into smaller pieces to get better taste and forgive all will be OK. 

In Burmese there is a saying. If we are near, we always frequently fight amongst each other. Once we are away only, we missed each other too much as if going to die if we cannot see each other. 

Now I missed all my friends of different races and religion. We must unite against our common enemy whether we are in Burma proper or abroad.