RAKHINE: A Rakhine Buddhist leader facing treason charges linked to deadly riots appeared in a Myanmar court on Wednesday, a case that has aggravated ethnic tensions in a region also roiled by the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. Rakhine state has seethed with ethnic hatreds for years, with persecution of the Rohingya minority culminating in a ruthless army campaign against them that started last August and sparked a mass exodus. Yet the Buddhist Rakhine community, some of whom are accused of aiding soldiers in the crackdown, has also frequently clashed with the central government and tensions have soared since riots rocked a Rakhine town in January. Aye Maung, once the chairman of an ethnic Rakhine political party, was arrested after the unrest for allegedly making an inflammatory speech against the central government. State-backed media said he railed against the government for treating Rakhine people as ‘slaves’ and said it was the ‘right time’ for the community to launch an armed struggle. The following day ethnic Rakhine protesters briefly seized a government building in Mrauk U, an ethnic Rakhine town. Police opened fire on the mob and killed seven people, souring already bitter relations between the community and local authorities. Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2018.