M.MAS 1/12/17 Considering the role played by various authority figures, interviewees believed that the myo mi myo pa (a kind of informal yet influential authority) were helpful and their role in the intervention was beneficial. The police were also seen by some to be helpful in asking the Muslim night watch guard to disband, which seemed to calm the situation by assuaging Buddhist fears of a counter-attack. However, the Special Branch (domestic intelligence agency) was apparently less helpful. When local residents shared their growing fears that there would be an attack by Buddhists on Muslims, they were told that such an attack was “impossible.” It was left to community members to resolve the issue themselves, which they did quickly and effectively. Finally, although it may not have been a dynamic that was present during the time of the incident described here, people we spoke to noted a growing suspicion that religious conflict is being politically manipulated and that this has led people to be more sceptical about rumours. One interviewee explained that since 2013, particularly with the widespread student protests against the proposed national education law, it has become more apparent to people that conflicts have an element of political manipulation. 28 Another said something similar in relation to the violence that happened in the lead-up to the 2015 election, that some people who are instigating violence want to cause problems for the election, but local people want the election to go ahead, so they don’t want conflict to happen. 29 A Muslim youth activist explained, “If we compare the current situation and the situation from the past, [peoples’] views have been changing. [People] started to see that [the topic of] Islam had been used to create religious conflict. At the beginning, people didn’t believe that it was rumour, nobody believed, it was very difficult to talk [convince them].” 30 This shift of views is consistent with that described elsewhere and is considered in more detail in the Conclusions. Case study 2 Background This is a case in which a local woman intervened to prevent the family of a Buddhist man killed in a fight with a Muslim man outside a beer station from making a public call for revenge. A monk had come to ask the family if they wanted him to get revenge on the Muslim men and the woman persuaded the family to take up a police case instead, and not to consent to work with the monk, in an effort to avoid worsening inter-religious tensions in the area. This case study was written primarily based on information gathered from an audio-recorded interview and a series of phone conversations with the woman who persuaded the bereaved family not to take up the case. The woman lives in a squatter community and does informal work, including as a motorcycle taxi driver for other local women. She is active in advocating for squatters’ rights, so she is referred to in what follows as a squatters’ advocate. An interview was also conducted with a local civil society leader from whom the squatters’ advocate had sought advice. Additional interviews were also conducted with local residents and civil society activists from the surrounding area; these individuals were not aware of the case, but they were nonetheless helpful in contextualizing feelings in the area at the time. The squatters’ advocate also advised us not to contact the family of the young man who had been killed, because the police case is still ongoing and she thought it might risk disrupting a tenuous calm. The events Two young Buddhist men were stabbed and killed in a fight with some Muslim men outside of a beer station. The men had apparently been involved in an argument inside the beer shop and were asked to 28 Male, 35 years old, Buddhist, local CSO leader. Female, 25 years old, Muslim. 30 Male, 25 years old, Muslim, youth activist. 29 8/24