AFP, YANGON: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hit out Monday at “extreme elements” in Myanmar who are sowing hate speech and bigotry towards religious minorities, days before the country votes in landmark elections.
Myanmar heads to the polls next Sunday in what observers are hoping will be the fairest election for decades as the nation slowly shakes off almost a half-century of brutal military rule.
But the vote is taking place against a rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment, spear-headed by a small but increasingly influential movement of hardline Buddhist nationalist monks.
In a statement put out by his office, Ban Ki-moon said he had “deep concern” about “the continuous resort to hate speech, the incitement of communal animosities and the abuse of religion for political purposes resorted to by extreme elements among the majority community in Myanmar”. Ban also called on voters to reject politicians who espoused discriminatory policies when they went to the ballot box.
“He urges all concerned in Myanmar to eschew any kind of pressure, intimidation, dissemination of hatred or violence against individuals or organizations based on their ethnic identity, gender, religious persuasion or political views,” the statement said.
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AFP, BEIJING: China and France agreed Monday that an international deal to tackle climate change to be negotiated in Paris should include checks on compliance, in what visiting French President Francois… 
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
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