Sectarian violence spread to Myanmar's northern Shan state May 28. The latest outbreak occurred in the city of Lashio, the largest town in Shan state and a commercial point near the Chinese border, about 193 kilometers (120 miles) from Mandalay. The clashes began in the wake of a rumor that a Muslim man doused a Buddhist woman with fuel and attempted to set her on fire. This sparked the anger of local residents and Buddhists, who surrounded the city's police station and demanded that the suspect be handed over to them. When the police refused, the crowds set fire to an Islamic school, a Myoma mosque near the Lashio market and a dozen shops. A curfew was imposed in the city at approximately 9:30 p.m., bringing at least temporary order to the city.

The riot in Lashio is the latest in a series of anti-Muslim incidents in the country. Large-scale clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims have occurred in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, which has a sizable Muslim population, since the middle of 2012. The violence there reportedly has left 192 people dead. Since early this year, sporadic sectarian clashes have occurred across the country, from the central town of Meiktila in the Mandalay division to cities closer to the commercial center of Yangon.

Sectarian violence has been a recurring threat in the Buddhist-dominated country in previous decades. Anti-Muslim sentiment is closely tied to the prevailing nationalism and dominant Buddhist principles that have facilitated the government's rule. This has left previous leaders little incentive to protect the interests of the Muslim minority. At times, the government has even manipulated anti-Muslim sentiment and conflicts in an attempt to distract the public and highlight the importance of military rule. 

Now, Naypyidaw appears similarly reluctant to respond to the tensions surrounding the latest round of riots and to punish the Buddhist mobs, even though the current government has attempted to embark on a democratic transition ostensibly including greater concern for the interests of the country's various ethnic and religious groups. Other prominent political figures in the country also have been reluctant to speak out on the matter; Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's largest political opposition group, has been largely silent with regard to this issue, and has received widespread criticism for being slow to call for the protection of the Muslim community's human rights.

Moreover, the nationwide surge of Myanmar nationalism has brought prominence to radical Buddhist movements, and several of these movements have gained political clout in the wake of the recent sectarian clashes. A number of high-profile monks have grown increasingly vocal with anti-Muslim rhetoric that resonates with the public. Some Buddhist organizations, such as the nationalist 969 movement, are thought to have inflamed tensions, given their prominent role in the violence in Meiktila and elsewhere as well as in propaganda about the clashes. Moreover, the Rakhine National Development Party — an ethnic Rakhine political party with a nationalist orientation — was established in the wake of anti-Muslim violence in Rakhine state and has gained tolerance, if not support, from the government in Naypyidaw. These developments have raised considerable concern that support could grow for radical Buddhist movements, especially given Buddhist monks' influential roles in Myanmar society.

With the government transformed into a nominally civilian one and the military — which was created to quell internal instability — no longer the dominant player in national politics, Myanmar's political opening has allowed various internal conflicts to proliferate. Historically, Myanmar has shifted between sitting in isolation while quelling domestic tensions and exposing itself to the outside world, making itself more vulnerable to internal volatility. To some degree, the ongoing sectarian violence could serve as an example of the various risks Myanmar faces during its transformation.