In the fire violence, shops owned by both Muslims and Buddhists, a mosque, and a Muslim religious school were gutted by fire. The violence took place in the city of Lashio, located approximately 190 kilometer south of Muse adjacent to China borders.
The renewed religious unrest is continuously posing problems for the newly formed government of Myanmar led by the President Thein Sein. Earlier in the year, in March 2013, at least 44 people got killed in religious violence. Majority of these people were Muslims. The deadly violence took place in the central city of Meikhtila. As of now, no reports of killing in the fire violence are made.
With a view to tackle the situation, the authorities imposed an emergency law called “Section 144” to restore order. The most violent incident caused by religious issues took place in Rakhine state in June and October 2012. Reports suggest that all of these religious unrest have pushed 140,000 Muslims to flee the country.
