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Two people have been killed during clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar's second-largest city of Mandalay, police said.

Police imposed an overnight curfew on Thursday after angry mobs rampaged through Mandalay for a second straight night leaving a Muslim and a Budhist man dead.

"Two men were killed" in attacks late Wednesday and into Thursday, Zaw Min Oo, a senior police officer in Mandalay, told AFP.

The reported deaths came a day after reports of five people being injured during secratarian clashes.

"One policeman, three Buddhists and one Muslim were injured by stones in the incident," Mandalay police said in a statement late on Tuesday.

"Two of the three injured Buddhist men are receiving treatment in Mandalay hospital and the rest got treatment as outpatients." the statement said.

A witness who lives in the mostly Muslim neighbourhood said a Buddhist mob had gathered late on Tuesday after rumours spread that the Muslim owner of a tea shop had raped a Buddhist woman.

No evidence of such an attack was immediately available.

Police stood between the groups and tried to drive the Buddhists away, the witness said.

"The police and the crowd fought each other and the crowd threw stones at the police," he said.

He said the Buddhist mob ransacked shops and burned vehicles before police managed to restore order, but that at 6 am local time Buddhists were still driving through the neighbourhood shouting at residents.

Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the angry crowds that were facing off in the streets.

A local journalist told Al Jazeera that several Muslim shops were destroyed and that some people had been wounded in knife attacks. The main market in town remained closed on Wednesday.

In a radio address on Thursday, President Thein Sein raised the country's need for stability as it transitions to democracy from a half-century of military rule, but did not mention Mandalay specifically.

"For reforms to be successful, I would like to urge all to avoid instigation and behavior that incites hatred in our fellow citizens," Sein said.

Myanmar has been wracked by violence between the two communities since June 2012. More than 200 people have been killed and at least 140,000 displaced. Most of the victims have been Muslim.

Sri Lankan police have questioned controversial Buddhist monk after he was accused of provoking deadlyanti-Muslim riots in the ethnically divided nation, officials have said.

The country's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) grilled the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or Army of Buddhist Forces, Galagoda Atthe Gnanasara, and its National Organiser, Witharandeniye Nanda on Wednesday.

Police believes Gnanasara gave controversial speeches in the coastal town of Aluthgama that led to widespread anti-Muslim riots in which four people were killed, and scores injured.

Police spokesperson, Ajith Rohana, said that duo was summoned to "help with the investigations".

He said 119 people, including 95 Sinhalese and 24 Muslims, have been arrested in connection with the riots. So far, 92 individuals have been produced in court.

After the questioning, Gnanasara denied charges and blamed the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Justice Minister for the violence.

He said that there was reasonable suspicion that Rauff Hakeem was behind the attacks in the resort towns of Aluthgama and Beruwela.

But the General Secretary of SLMC, Hassan Ali, rejected the monk's accusation saying that his party was cooperating in the police investigation that would ensure justice for those affected in the violence.

The monk also accused the police and human rights activists of portraying the BBS as "terrorists" and not paying attention to the "real issues".

Gnanasara said that it was the sole right of the Sinhalese Buddhist to protect Sri Lanka from all other forces.

Senior members of the government have, meanwhile, joined the calls for Gnanasara's arrest.

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Minister of National Languages and Social Integration, said: "He is a clear suspect in the recent riots, the police must arrest him and the other members of the BBS if they wish to curtail the growing religious violence in the country."

He said the police had taken the right step in questioning Gnanasara but it must do more.

Students and civil servants in China's Muslim northwest have been ordered by the state to avoid taking part in traditional fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Statements posted in the past week on websites of schools, government agencies and local party organisations in the Xinjiang region said the ban would protect students' wellbeing and prevent the use of schools and government offices to promote religion, the AP news agency reported on Thursday.

Statements on the websites of local party organisations said members of the officially atheist ruling party should also avoid fasting, although the month of Ramadan, which began at sundown on June 28, is observed by Muslims.

"No teacher can participate in religious activities, instill religious thoughts in students or coerce students into religious activities," said a statement on the website of the "Number 3 Grade School" in Ruoqiang County in Xinjiang.

The news agency reported that cities in Xinjiang had set up news portals saying that fasting was detrimental to the physical wellbeing of young students, and also have called in retired teachers to stand guard at mosques in order to prevent students from entering.

Similar bans have been imposed on fasting in the past. This year's ban was unusually sensitive because Xinjiang is under tight security following a number of attacks that the government blames on Muslim rebels who allegedly have ties with foreign armed groups.

On Tuesday, authorities in some communities in Xinjiang held celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and served food to test whether Muslim guests were fasting, according to Dilxat Raxit, spokesman in Germany for the rights group World Uyghur Congress.

"This will lead to more conflicts if China uses coercive measures to rule and to challenge Uyghur beliefs," Dilxat Raxit told AP.

Violence has escalated in recent years in Xinjiang. The ruling party blames rebels who it says wants independence, while members of the region's Uyghur ethnic group complain that discrimination and restrictions on religion, such as a ban on taking children to mosques, fuels anger at the ethnic Han Chinese majority.

Wary of religious activities

An attack on May 22 in the regional capital of Urumqi by four people who threw bombs in a vegetable market killed 43 people, including the attackers.

On June 22, police in Kashgar in the far west said they killed 13 attackers who drove into a police building and set off explosives, injuring three officers. Authorities have blamed two other attacks at train stations in Urumqi and in China's southwest on Muslim rebels.

The government responded with a crackdown that resulted in more than 380 arrests in one month and public rallies to announce sentences.

According to AP, the ruling party is wary of religious activities which it worries might serve as a rallying point for opposition to one-party rule. Controls on worship are especially sensitive in Xinjiang and in neighbouring Tibet, where religious faith plays a large role in the local cultures.