Consider the following, excerpted from an article that appeared on the editorial page of the Sah?fat (Delhi), dated August 10, 2012. The author is someone named Maulana Ali Haidar Ghazi Qummi, which implies that he is a Shi’ah scholar educated at Qumm—a real heavyweight as Maulanas go. The article bears the title: "World Community's Silence on the Massacre in Burma." The translation is almost verbatim, but badly fails to produce the rhythmic rhetorical force of the original:

I am stunned. The massacre of Burmese Muslims has become so common, and so shamelessly bold, that it is hard to find a parallel to it in human history, even after much searching. This game of hatred is not being played for the first time. Repeatedly the Muslims in that country have been made the target of the tyranny and oppression of the Buddhists. The news appears in the papers, then disappears. But this time the Muslims have been slaughtered on such a scale, so ruthlessly, and in such an organized manner that we can only say: God save us.

It seems that the Buddhists are not human; they are like wild animals, and their nature contains nothing but barbarism and a thirst for blood. Why are the Buddhists so wrathful toward the Muslims? Did the Muslims take away their properties? Did the Muslims extinguish the lamps in their homes? Did they destroy the watering channels to their fields? Did they cast lustful eyes on their women? Did they beat them up for no cause, or harmed them in any other way? Did they inflict tyranny of any sort on them?

The answer to all the above is only one: No. No, absolutely not. Then for what uncommitted crime were the Muslims punished? Why were they burnt alive? Why was their blood used to colour the robes of mankind? Is there a jungle Raj in Burma even today? Is it still ruled by kings? Is there nothing called Liberty there? Has Democracy not come their way? Why is it that England and America, who are the thekedars of human rights across the world, have not heard of the killing of more than two thousand Muslims? Has England shown any concern about it?

You, the organizations concerned with human rights across the world, do you not recognize Burmese Muslims as human beings? In your list of countries does not Burma find a place as a human habitat? Why have you not taken any concrete steps in response to this obscene crime?

It is said that this province of Burma—where men and women, young and old were only recently cruelly tortured and then killed—was once a part of Bangladesh. A king who ruled Burma attacked and took control of it. That is why it today borders Bangladesh. When the Buddhists made life impossible for the Muslims the latter were compelled to save their lives by performing hijrat to Bangladesh. In the beginning they found shelter there. But then Bangladesh put a closure to it, fearful of an endless immigration. When the refugees did not stop coming, the army of Bangladesh stopped them with bullets. Now where can they go? They have no place on earth nor any in the sky. We feel they have become a burden on earth … [and bring to mind] the words of the last Mughal Emperor when he was imprisoned in Rangoon. "Where should I live? Where should I go? No one is happy with me. I am a burden on the earth, and an object of the heavens' wrath."

Today the Muslims in Burma face the same situation. The Buddhists have made life impossible for them in Burma, and in Bangladesh the state refuses to give them shelter. Where can these oppressed people go? To whom can they appeal? Of the two thousand slaughtered Burmese Muslims not all were young men, whom one might imagine to have instigated a fight with the Buddhists. What fight did the children start? What guns did the women fire? What sticks did the old and the decrepit use to strike? But look at the sheer wilfulness of the Buddhists. They first herded together all the people of the locality—male and female, old and young—then threatened and abused them. Cast aspersions on Islam. Created an air of terror. And then, after slashing their victims’ bodies threw them alive into fire to burn to ashes.

They felt no shame or regret for their inhuman action; on the contrary, they took pride in it. And the proof for it is the video made available on the Internet….

Whether a Muslim understands or not, a crusade is now on, and everywhere its strategy is different. One place it is won by pitting the Shi'ahs against the Sunnis; another place it is waged by raising the banners of Barelvi, Deobandi, and Wahhabi; and at a third place it is started by encouraging, for no reason, the difference [among the Shi'ahs] between the Akhbari and the Nasiri. And on every front it is winning.…

Listen Muslim, when will you come awake from this sleep of neglect? When will you take an account of your own deeds? When will you get ready to safeguard your honour and your family? Is it not incumbent upon you to protect from harm your life and your property, your name and your honour? How long will you continue to live this life of infamy? Will you always only shed tears of blood? Have you taken a vow to stay away from knowledge and action? If you have really closed your eyes to all that surrounds you then it does not matter. I have no complaint. But if there is even an iota of left in you, if your conscience is alive even a tiny bit, and if you have even the most ordinary understanding of things, then you should stand up. Stand up and look at the events that are happening around you. Understand the times, examine the ways of the world, then put into action your resolution and shake the foundations of every house of tyranny. Otherwise you will be erased from the face of the earth; not even a story about you will remain.