M.MAS 1/12/17 are wide-ranging and people from CSOs hold a variety of different political views. Ma Ba Tha itself is not necessarily a unitary organization and many people join or support it because of its educational and religious activities, not simply its anti-Muslim activities. We were told that those individuals who were part of the group controlling cow slaughter and also active in CSOs were more open-minded (this was attributed to their civil society background) and so they could convince the other members of the group to give ground in the negotiations. 40 The second important factor was a perceived sense of shared community or mutual respect. Buddhists and Muslims in the area have lived together and shared each other’s festivals. There seem to be good relations between the two groups and an acknowledgement of the importance of their respective religious practices. As one person explained, “The reason they could control this case successfully was because [Muslims] have always celebrated this day [Eid], and it is part of their culture. The people from this side [Buddhists] also were aware that the Muslims have not just started celebrating this day. They have always done so… Muslims always celebrated this Eid Day every year with many people and the beef that they made was sent to all the Burmese’ houses. The Burmese people go and eat in their celebration and also the meat is packaged and sent to their houses as well.”41 Interviewees also highlighted how this relationship of mutual respect came through in the negotiations, when the CSOs brought up an incident in the village that had occurred a few years earlier where Muslims had helped Buddhists. There had been a fire in the village and the monastery risked being burnt. A large number of Muslim youth, who were in the area for religious reasons, helped to put out the fire and saved the monks and items from the monastery. By bringing up this story, interviewees said that people from the CSOs were able to remind the people in the negotiations that there was a tradition of mutual assistance that crossed religious lines. Interviewees also highlighted two aspects that they felt were conditions of possibility for inter-religious tolerance, which will be explored in more detail in the following section. First, there was a sense that tensions were less in the area because there was not a perception that Muslims were moving in from outside; Muslims in the area had lived there long enough to be accepted as part of the local population. As an interviewee said, “This is not a place where Bengalis are coming in. They [the Muslims] are people who have always lived here.”42 There was also a perception that the “non-confrontational” behaviour of Muslims had contributed to a positive outcome. One interviewee gave the example of another moment in time when, after news of a riot in Rakhine State reached the area, Muslim residents informed the ward administrative officers that they would not riot and also closed their houses and shops as a precaution. This person concluded that “They just live peacefully by themselves and they controlled themselves. And, they do not live very proudly.”43 40 However, one interviewee also thought that Ma Ba Tha didn’t really have much popular support in the area. She gave an example of a Ma Ba Tha protest that was organized in a nearby town that had very low levels of participation. Additionally, she said that a key person supporting the protest was the owner of a noodle shop, and the shop lost business after the protest. 41 Female, 31 years old, Christian, local activist. 42 Female, 31 years old, Christian, local activist. 43 Female, 31 years old, Christian, local activist. 14/24