Two tragic incidents involving killing of policemen took place in Myanmar, Bangladesh’s second neighbour, in the span of two months. On October 9, 2016, nine policemen were killed when assailants launched attacks on three outposts in Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh. These attacks, according to the Myanmar government, were carried out by the insurgents belonging to Rohingya community, which is one of the worst persecuted in the world. The killing of nine Myanmar policemen hit the international headlines and the Myanmar government, literally led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, responded with mighty force, indiscriminately killing Rohinyas, raping, torturing and burning houses, mosques and holy books. The military operations have so far forced about 66,000 Rohingyas to cross into Bangladesh to join about 3-5 lakhs already living in Bangladesh for a long time. Many of the descriptions of atrocities by the Myanmar military given by the new arrivals go beyond belief.
The second incident happened nearly two months after the October 9 attacks in Shan state bordering China. This incident also involved nine Myanmar policemen. This sad incident, apparently, for whatever reasons could not attract the attention of the international media like the incident in Rakhine.  
State-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on December 8, 2016 that bodies of nine policemen allegedly killed by rebels on December 2 have been recovered. Two civilians were also reportedly killed in that incident.
In total at least 30 soldiers, police, pro-government militia and civilians have died since the fighting began, according to a tally of state media figures.
“The bodies of nine policemen who were lost in the fighting in Mongko, Muse Township, were recovered by security forces”, according to the Information Committee of the State Counsellor’s Office dated December 12.
“Armed men from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) ambushed the Mongko Police Station on 2 December.” stated the website of the State Counsellor, Aung Saan Suu Kyi, the defacto .
Though the killing of nine policemen was carried out by ‘recognised’ rebels, there was apparently no security operation like in Rakhine.
According to diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Yangon, within 48 hours after the incident, a State Minister and Lieutenant General of Myanmar sat with the two representatives of Chinese Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry and calmed the situation.
It is worth mentioning that the majority of the inhabitants of Shan state is Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese while the majority of Rohinyas is Muslim Indo-Aryan people from the Rakhine State.
The official position of the Myanmar government is that Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, a notion Dhaka strongly refutes. According to the diplomatic sources, while the incident was tackled within 48 hours with the involvement of China, Myanmar’s powerful neighbour, the Myanmar government did not even bother to communicate with Bangladesh about four months after the October 9 incident in Rakhine state despite the fact that Bangladesh strongly condemned the attacks, sealed the border to stop the perpetrators crossing into Bangladesh, handed over two Rohingya Muslim suspects and offered further cooperation. Instead of having meetings with Bangladesh to defuse the instability in Rakhine, the Myanmar side cancelled scheduled meeting with Bangladesh, they said. Different attitudes and actions for similar incidents are nothing but double standard on part of the State of Myanmar, said the diplomatic sources.
“The Myanmar authorities describe the attack on policemen in Rakhine as attacks on the country’s sovereignty, therefore security response was necessary. If this is the case then why not any security response for the killing of policemen in Shan state?” questioned a senior diplomat with thorough knowledge about Myanmar.