Myanmar junta troops raided an Eid celebration in a Muslim ward of Yangon Region on Thursday and seized over 100 animals that were being sacrificed.
The Muslim community in Thingangyun Township collected the livestock ahead of Eid al-Adha or the Holiday of Sacrifice.
About an hour after the sacrifices began on Thursday, more than 10 junta police, troops and administrative staff arrived and stopped the ceremony.
“We had already sacrificed seven cattle. They took away all the meat and seized the remaining livestock,” said a Muslim man who lost a cow.
The community said 22 cattle – including the seven which had been killed – and 100 goats, which were due to be sacrificed, were seized.
The worshippers dispersed to avoid arrest.
The participants said the junta troops and police treated the livestock with great cruelty as they drove them onto trucks, injuring some of the cattle.
The worshipers had long collected money for Eid, with the livestock valued at more than US$100,000.
A Muslim resident said the community received permission and paid charges for the event.
“I was trembling while they beat the cattle to drive them into the trucks. They were armed so we could do nothing,” said a young Muslim man.
The livestock were reportedly taken to the Ywar Thar Gyi abattoir in East Dagon Township.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attends religious ceremonies, including non-Buddhist events, and is often seen with the Catholic archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo.
His appearances are seen as an attempt to show religious tolerance while junta troops terrorize religious minorities and many Buddhist communities.
The civilian National Unity Government’s acting president, Duwa Lashi La, issued a statement wishing good health, pleasure and safety for Eid al-Adha on Thursday.
Myanmar was added this year to the list of countries of particular concern by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The regime’s targeting of religious minorities was reminiscent of the Rohingya Muslim clearances in Rakhine State in 2017, the commission said.
Myanmar’s regime destroyed more than 100 Buddhist and Christian buildings within 14 months of seizing power in February 2021.
