BY BEATRICE NITA JAY – 19 JANUARY 2017 @ 2:34 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on the Myanmar government to ensure its security forces apply maximum restraint on its civilians and end aggression against its Muslim community. OIC Secretary-General, Dr Yousef A AL-Othaimeen said this is to prevent right wing extremist groups from fanning the flames of religious hatred. “They (Myanmar government) should also put an end to acts of aggression that have no tenable of legitimate justifications against the Muslim community,” said Dr Yousef at the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers on the situation of the Rohingya Muslim Minority of Myanmar, here today. He said the election victory of Aung San Suu Kyi, gave hope that the nation would be entering the dawn of a new era for an inclusive government. He said the Myanmar government was hoped to be responsive to the aspirations of its people without exercising any ethnic of religious segregation or discrimination. “Despite the progress that has been achieved in the democratic process and the transition to a new leadership, there is evidence of a sustained and organised campaign of violence and intimidation perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslims inside Myanmar. “This was clearly indicated in the report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein last year, which documented a wide range of human rights violations and abuses against the minorities in Myanmar, particularly against the Rohingya community,” he said. Dr Yousef said the unfortunate developments as well as the serious human rights problems identified by the United Nations in Myanmar cannot be ignored as an internal matter of Myanmar. “It is a human rights issue and one of global concern.” “I hope that all OIC Member States, particularly those in Asean, will continue their efforts to urge the Myanmar authorities to allow humanitarian aid access to the region and to allow transparent investigations to take place on the incidents of violence against Rohingya,” he said.