Burmese maze

摘要

In the streets surrounding the Sule Paya pagoda in downtown Yangon, Burmese Muslims ply their trade, selling sweetmeats, calligraphy or spectacles. When the military junta opened fire on protesters led by monks in September, the Muslims had an excellent view of the violence. But for all the expletives they threw at the government, many refrained from joining the protesters. "It's a Burmese problem," says a grizzled old man, lolling outside the mosque opposite the pagoda. "Let them deal with it. They don't think of us as being of their country." The sense of being apart from Myanmar is an example of the reli- gious and ethnic divisions that will persist, even if military rule eventually gives way to democracy.