24 Hate Speech Ignited: Understanding Hate Speech in Myanmar and Rohingya Muslims. And soon after, Rakhine Buddhist mobs attacked killing ten Muslim pilgrims, setting off violence that spread across Rakhine State.90 The first wave of violence lasted until August 2012 and was followed by a second series of attacks in October 2012 and a final incident of violence in 2013.91 The violence affected twelve townships and primarily three communities: the Rohingya, the Rakhine, and the Kaman (another Muslim community in Rakhine who, unlike the Rohingya, are considered citizens under the 1982 Citizenship Law).92 The United Nations (“UN”) estimates over 140,000 people were displaced by the violence, 95 percent of whom were Rohingya who were eventually confined to internally displaced person (“IDP”) camps in Rakhine State.93 Violence against Muslims erupted in towns of Rakhine State and in other parts of central and northern Myanmar, resulting in deaths, injuries, destruction of property and strained communal relations. For instance, a jewelry store dispute between a Buddhist and a Muslim and the murder of a Buddhist monk by a group of Muslims in March 2013 led to violence in Meikhtila.94 This was followed attacks in Okkan, in April, after a Muslim woman in Okkan had bumped into a Buddhist monk with her bicycle and knocked over his alms bowl.95 In Lashio, violence occurred in May 2013 after a Muslim man poured gasoline on a Buddhist woman and threatened to set her on fire; Buddhist mobs attacked in retaliation.96 Another incident broke out in Htan Gon in August due to rumors that a Muslim man had attempted to sexually assault a Buddhist woman.97 In 2014, a similar allegation that Muslims had tried to rape a Buddhist woman employee led to violence in Mandalay, resulting in the death of a Muslim man and a Buddhist man.98 The allegation later turned out to be false.99 Myanmar CSOs and international human rights organizations such as Justice Trust have de- tected a pattern associated with the various incidents.100 According to their analysis, an allegation of rape or incident of offence to Buddhism precedes the attacks on Muslims.101 The alleged perpetrator is usually a Muslim and the victim, a Buddhist.102 Ultranationalist groups and monks like U Wirathu highlight such incidents and use them to saturate people’s social media feed, regardless of whether the allegation is true.103 Online posts by these groups are almost always accompanied by a call to Buddhists to take action to defend their race and religion, which is portrayed as being under threat.104 969 and Ma Ba Tha would also hold mass rallies and sermon tours.105 According to local activists, the 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 “Muslims Killed in Attack in Burma’s Rakhine Province,” BBC News, June 4, 2012, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ world-asia-18324614. Human Rights Watch, All You Can Do Is Pray, 21-23. Ibid., 4. United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Area Based Programming: UNDP in Rakhine, http://www.mm.undp. org/content/myanmar/en/home/area-based-programming/rakhine.html. Walton and Hayward, 7. “One Dead After New Anti-Muslim Riots in Myanmar,” Agence France-Presse, 1 May 2013. International Crisis Group, “The Dark Side of Transition: Violence Against Muslims in Myanmar,” Crisis Group Asia Report, no. 251 (October 2013), 14. Ibid., 15. “Myanmar Convicts Five over Fake Rape Claim That Sparked Riots,” Reuters, March 20, 2015, https://uk.reuters. com/article/uk-myanmar-conviction/myanmar-convicts-five-over-fake-rape-claim-that-sparked-riots-idUKKBN0MG11820150320. Ibid. Justice Trust, Hidden Hands Behind the Communal Violence in Myanmar (Bangkok: Justice Trust, 2015). Ibid., 15, 20. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., 16.