Social media is lying to you about Burma’s Muslim ‘cleansing’ July 19, 2012 Don’t you wonder sometimes, that the information we are being fed on daily basis can be untrue entirely or exaggerated to the point where it loses all its truth? PHOTO: REUTERS Social networking sites are abuzz with news about Muslims being killed   in Burma .You can see the sporadic posting of pictures by different people with captions like ‘Muslims killing in Burma’, ‘Muslims slaughtered by Buddhists in Burma’ and so on. Thus, I took on the mission to sort the truth out for myself once and for all and researched some pictures that I felt were dubious. Below are a few pictures and their original copies. You can evidently see the gross difference between them and how they are thrown out of context. This was a picture shared on Facebook. I have  found the original version  which reads differently to the the one posted on the social networking site. This picture was t...

Aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in early May 2008, some volunteers organized by Buddhist monasteries reached out to the cyclone victims almost unreachable villages (at that time) located along the coast of Burma’s delta regions.  Messages came to me that villages lost their drinking water ponds.  The storm surges washed away and flooded the village ponds with salt water.  In some places, water in the ponds was contaminated with debris as well as the dead bodies of animals and human.  Drinking water ponds are vital for every rural Burma because of the shortage of water during the dry months of monsoon season.  In the Arakan (Rakhine) and Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) coastal regions and the delta regions of Lower Burma such as Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) and Rangoon (Yangon) divisions, rain is abundant in the rainy season for four months, and then the dry season sets in as temperature raising higher and higher every day during the summer months, leaving local h...

Narinjara News Nava Thakuria ----------------- Even as the military rulers of Burma (Myanmar) completed a general election in November 2010 and a new so-called democratic regime is installed in the poverty stricken country, millions of Burmese are still living in terrible conditions in the cyclones Nargis and Giri affected areas, with many without pure drinking water and food or proper shelter. The lives of hundred thousand poor Burmese women have not changed though there are some plastic changes like the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and many other from jails, regular sittings of parliamentarians in their new capital Nay Pyi Taw and so on. Burma receives international media headlines with the flawed constitution and electoral laws that finally prevented the pro-democracy icon Suu Kyi to take part in the November 2010 polls. Her party National League for Democracy, which recorded massive victory in the last general election i...

BBC By James Copnall BBC News, Khartoum   Mr Bashir said the move was a response to Gaddafi's support for Sudanese rebels Continue reading the main story Sudan: Coping with divorce Forced to choose between Sudans How to end deadly cattle-rustling Garang's ex-chef savours freedom South Sudan celebrates Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says his country gave military support to the Libyan rebels who overthrew Col Muammar Gaddafi.  In a speech broadcast live on state television, Mr Bashir said the move was in response to Col Gaddafi's support for Sudanese rebels three years ago. Sudan and Libya have had a complicated and frequently antagonistic relationship for many years. Libya was declared liberated on Sunday, two days after Col Gaddafi's death. 'Opportunity to reciprocate'   President Bashir sa...

Prayer ceremonies were held at home and abroad to observe the anniversary of Cyclone Giri that slammed into the coast of western Burma's Arakan State on the 22nd of October 2010. The ceremonies were held in Kyaukpru and Taungok in Arakan State and in Mae Sot and Phukhet in Thailand. U Aung Marm Oo, the director of the Arakan Human Rights Organization, said a prayer ceremony was held in a Buddhist monastery in Maepa Village in Thailand’s Mae Sot in order to make people more aware if what had happened during Cyclone Giri. “We hold this ceremony especially to draw attention from the ethnic Burmese community as well as from the international community, and to make them aware of what really happened during that cyclone in Arakan State”, said Aung Marm Oo. Attendees at the ceremony lit candles and prayed silently for a while according to their various religious faiths, for those who were killed and affected by the cyclone, and then speeches were given. U Khine Oo Maung,...

The exposure of the alleged plot has heightened already fraught tensions between the US and Iran The US has imposed sanctions on an Iranian airline it says flew members of an elite force linked to an alleged plot to kill the Saudi envoy to the US. The US Treasury says Mahan Air ferried operatives from Iran's Quds Force and Hezbollah across the Middle East. Under the sanctions, the airline's US assets will be frozen and US firms barred from doing business with it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile said the alleged plot was a "dangerous escalation" by Iran. The sanctions were unveiled a day after the authorities announced they had foiled a conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir, on US soil using explosives. 'Secretly ferrying operatives'   The US government accused members of the Iranian government - and the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard Corps - of involv...

February 2011, Minbya Township – For casual labourer and father of two, U Maung Soe Tun, the arrival of Cyclone Giri on 22 October appeared to destroy his dream of owning his own house. “Before Cyclone Giri, we lived in a very small hut and life was so hard. As a casual labourer I could only ever earn K1,500 a day, which wasn’t even enough to buy food all of the time and we lived hand-to-mouth,” he said. “But I always dreamed of building my own house.” “On the way, I saw many buildings and trees had been flattened – even the biggest ones. I thought to myself that if those couldn’t resist the storm, then there was no chance that our little hut could possibly have escaped. “When I finally arrived, I found that it had been destroyed and nothing was left, which made me very upset,” he said. A few days later, aid organisations such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme and Artsen Zonder Grenzen (AZG – Médecins Sans Frontières, Holland) came to the...

Mray Bon: A cyclone victim hanged himself last week in the town of Mray Bon, the town hardest hit by the cyclone in Arakan, during a fit of depression, said townspeople. The victim was identified as U Aung Kyaw Sein from Alay Pai Ward in central Mray Bon Town. An elder from Mray Bon said, "He committed suicide by hanging himself in the compound of his house during a fit of depression. He lost much property, including his home, when the cyclone struck the town. He seemed to commit suicide after losing so much."

Adjust font size: Mray Bon: Army officials have forced cyclone victims in Kyunt Thaya Village in Mray Bone Township in Arakan State to work at many renovation sites without payment after Cyclone Giri struck the area, report villagers.

Kyauk Pru: The death toll has risen to at least 50 and thousands of people have been left homeless after Cyclone Giri hit the Arakan coast on 22 October, many sources report. U Ba Shin, a social activist in Kyauk Pru, said, "Eight bodies were recovered on Sunday in Pyin Wan Village alone, and 30 people the village are still missing. Everyone estimates the death toll has risen to 50."

The death toll and destruction in Arakan State following Cyclone Giri increases while the Burmese state-controlled media remains virtually silent on the disaster, while the UN offers relief help and the regime fails to reply. So far, 26 bodies have been found in seven villages in Myebon Township, which was almost entirely flattened by the cyclone which slashed through Burma's western state near Kyaukpyu Township with winds of up to 120 miles per hour on Friday night, according to local residents.

The military rulers have given no official estimate of casualties or damage Thousands of people have been displaced in Burma following a powerful cyclone, residents and aid agencies say. Cyclone Giri hit western Rakhine state on Friday packing winds of up to 110mph (177km/h), with the major town of Kayaukpyu hard hit. There are unconfirmed reports of dozens of villagers and fisherman missing but the military rulers have given no estimate of casualties or damage.

A tropical cyclone has hit Burma's Arakan State and has been upgraded to a “Category II” cyclone, Myanmar Climate Change Watch has said. Cyclone Giri, which formed over the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, has reached a “very destructive stage” with winds of up to 120 km per hour, and is due to hit Kyaukphyu, a major town in Arakan State, by 3 p.m. local time. The water level in the region is expected to increase some five to six feet, according to the latest forecast from the local weather board. According to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the cyclone was located about 220 km southwest of Sittwe in Arakan State at 12:30 a.m. local time and was moving north-northeast at 7.4 kph.

Views of some area of Kyauk Pru after cyclone Giri lashed the Arakan coast on 22 October. At least 3 people are confirmed dead and thousands were made homeless after Cyclone Giri lashed the Arakan coast on Friday afternoon.

                     AFP A cyclone that pounded western Burma, destroying buildings and cutting off contact with some areas, weakened on Saturday as it travelled through the country, with no casualties yet reported. Cyclone Giri raged onto the coast of Rakhine state with winds of up to 193km/h on Friday, but was said to have since slowed to around 80km/h, state media said. An official, who did not want to be named, said communication with the town of Kyaukphyu, in one of the worst-hit parts of Rakhine, was "very difficult". Advertisement: Story continues below <iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="250" id="dcAd-1-4" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://ad-apac.doubleclick.net/adi/onl.wa.news/news/breakingnewsworld;ctype=article;cat1=world;cat=breakingnewsworld;pos=3;sz=300x250;tile...

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A cyclone spinning in the Bay of Bengal early Saturday was headed northeast after making landfall in western Myanmar, and people were advised to move to strong buildings and high ground.The Friday evening news broadcast on state television said Cyclone Giri was gaining strength and had reached land at Kyaukphyu in western Rakhine State.Wind speeds from the storm had reached 100 mph (160 kph), it said, advising people to stay indoors or move to high ground. It also warned of the possibility of landslides.

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Cyclone Giri has carved a swathe of damage across dozens of townships in its path after it crossed the west coast of Burma yesterday, residents said, adding their calls for urgent relief aid and expertise.  The most recent graphic image of Cyclone Giri by British weather analysts Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) at University College London at 9:30 p.m. Burma time (3 p.m. GMT) places the storm about 50 kilometres east of Sittwe, with maximum winds of 92 miles per hour. Photo: TSR The Category Four storm made landfall between the port of Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, at around 5 p.m. yesterday, with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) per hour, the state weather bureau reported last night.

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Cyclone Giri hit the western coast of Burma near Kyaukphyu, Arakan State at 5 p.m. yesterday, with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) per hour, the state weather bureau reported last night. The most recent graphic image of Cyclone Giri’s position at 12:30 a.m. Burma time (6pm GMT), from British analysts Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) at University College London, shows the storm over the west coast of Burma between Kyaukphyu and Sittwe. The image puts already flood-ravaged Mandalay in its path. Photo: TSR At 12:30 a.m. Burma time (6pm GMT), British analysts Tropical Storm Risk, at University College London, placed Giri over the western coast of Burma between Kyaukphyu and Sittwe, and said its winds had increased to a sustained 144 mph. Their storm tracker data puts already flood-ravaged Mandalay Division in its path.

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Winds and driving rain from a strengthening Cyclone Giri are lashing Burma’s western coast as it was expected to make landfall between Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships this afternoon, Arakan State, according to residents and a US weather warning centre today. The most recent satellite/graphic image this afternoon of Cyclone Giri’s position from British analysts Tropical Storm Risk at University College London shows Giri approaching the western coast of Burma to the north of Kyaukphyu. The image puts already flood-hit Mandalay Division in its path. Photo: Tropical Storm Risk Tropical Cyclone Giri had strengthened into a Category 1 storm over the northeast Indian Ocean as it approached, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre told Bloomberg news agency. It was bearing winds of sustained maximum strength to 143 miles per hour (235 km/h) from about 40 miles per hour yesterday, according to an earlier centre warning. The storm had been expected to cross the c...

Around 100 villages on Ramree Island, as well as the island's major town of Kyakpyu, have suffered severe damage after Cyclone Giri hit the Arakan coast on Friday with winds of up to 160 km (100 miles) per hour and waves as high as 3.6 meters (12 feet), according to local sources. There are still no confirmed reports of casualties, although sources in the area said that dozens of  villagers and fisherman are believed to have gone missing since the storm reached its peak at around 3 pm yesterday. Infared satellite close-up of the eye of Cyclone Giri as it hit Burma on Friday. (Source: Colorado State University) Local residents also said that there was an urgent need for food, water and shelter after the storm left hundreds of homes destroyed by flood waters or falling trees.  Power lines and telephone poles have also been badly damaged by the storm, making it difficult for many residents to get outside assistance.