Extremism Rises Among Myanmar Buddhists

Buddhist monasteries associated with the fundamentalist movement, which calls itself 969, have opened community centers and a
Sunday school program for children nationwide. More Photos
By THOMAS FULLER-une !", !"#$
TAUNGGYI, Myanmar After a ritual prayer atoning for past sins, Ashin Wirathu, a
Buddhist monk ith a ro!k"star folloing in Myanmar, sat #efore an o$erfloing !rod of
thousands of de$otees and laun!hed into a rant against hat he !alled %the enemy& the
!ountry's Muslim minority(
%You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog, Ashin
irathu said, referring to Muslims!
%" call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers, Ashin irathu told a
reporter after his t#o$hour sermon! %" am proud to be called a radical Buddhist!
&he #orld has gro#n accustomed to a gentle image of Buddhism defined by the self$
effacing #ords of the 'alai (ama, the global popularity of Buddhist$inspired
meditation and postcard$perfect scenes from )outheast Asia and beyond of crimson$
robed, barefoot monks receiving alms from villagers at da#n!
But over the past year, images of rampaging Burmese Buddhists carrying s#ords and
the vituperative sermons of monks like Ashin irathu have underlined the rise of
extreme Buddhism in Myanmar * and revealed a darker side of the country+s greater
freedoms after decades of military rule! Buddhist lynch mobs have killed more than
,-- Muslims and forced more than ./-,--- people, mostly Muslims, from their
homes!
Ashin irathu denies any role in the riots! But his critics say that at the very least his
anti$Muslim preaching is helping to inspire the violence!
hat began last year on the fringes of Burmese society has gro#n into a nation#ide
movement #hose agenda no# includes boycotts of Muslim$made goods! "ts message is
spreading through regular sermons across the country that dra# thousands of people
and through #idely distributed '0's of those talks! Buddhist monasteries associated
#ith the movement are also opening community centers and a )unday school program
for 1-,--- Buddhist children nation#ide!
&he hate$filled speeches and violence have endangered Myanmar+s path to democracy,
raising 2uestions about the government+s ability to keep the country+s to#ns and cities
safe and its #illingness to crack do#n or prosecute Buddhists in a Buddhist$ma3ority
country! &he killings have also reverberated in Muslim countries across the region,
tarnishing #hat #as almost universally seen abroad as a remarkable and rare peaceful
transition from military rule to democracy! "n May, the "ndonesian authorities foiled
#hat they said #as a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy in 4akarta in retaliation for
the assaults on Muslims!
Ashin irathu, the spiritual leader of the radical movement, skates a thin line bet#een
free speech and incitement, taking advantage of loosened restrictions on expression
during a fragile time of transition! 5e #as himself 3ailed for eight years by the no#$
defunct military 3unta for inciting hatred! (ast year, as part of a release of hundreds of
political prisoners, he #as freed!
"n his recent sermon, he described the reported massacre of schoolchildren and other
Muslim inhabitants in the central city of Meiktila in March, documented by a human
rights group, as a sho# of strength!
%"f #e are #eak, he said, %our land #ill become Muslim!
Buddhism #ould seem to have a secure place in Myanmar! 6ine in .- people are
Buddhist, as are nearly all the top leaders in the business #orld, the government, the
military and the police! Estimates of the Muslim minority range from 7 percent to 8
percent of Myanmar+s roughly // million people #hile the rest are mostly 9hristian or
5indu!
But Ashin irathu, #ho describes himself as a nationalist, says Buddhism is under
siege by Muslims #ho are having more children than Buddhists and buying up
Buddhist$o#ned land! "n part, he is tapping into historical grievances that date from
British colonial days #hen "ndians, many of them Muslims, #ere brought into the
country as civil servants and soldiers!
&he muscular and nationalist messages he has spread have alarmed Buddhists in other
countries!
&he 'alai (ama, after the riots in March, said killing in the name of religion #as
%unthinkable and urged Myanmar+s Buddhists to contemplate the face of the Buddha
for guidance!
:hra :aisal 0isalo, a Buddhist scholar and prominent monk in neighboring &hailand,
says the notion of %us and them promoted by Myanmar+s radical monks is anathema
to Buddhism! But he lamented that his criticism and that of other leading Buddhists
outside the country have had %very little impact!
%Myanmar monks are 2uite isolated and have a thin relationship #ith Buddhists in
other parts of the #orld, :hra :aisal said! ;ne exception is )ri (anka, another country
historically bedeviled by ethnic strife! Burmese monks have been inspired by the
assertive political role played by monks from )ri (anka+s )inhalese ma3ority!
As Myanmar has gro#n more polari<ed, there have been nascent signs of a backlash
against the anti$Muslim preaching!
Among the most disappointed #ith the outbreaks of violence and hateful rhetoric are
some of the leaders of the ,--= )affron Revolution, a peaceful uprising led by
Buddhist monks against military rule!
%e #ere not expecting this violence #hen #e chanted for peace and reconciliation in
,--=, said the abbot of :auk 4adi monastery, Ashin 6yana 6ika, //, #ho attended a
meeting earlier this month sponsored by Muslim groups to discuss the issue! >Ashin is
the honorific for Burmese monks!? Ashin )anda ara, the head of a monastic school in
Yangon, says the monks in the country are divided nearly e2ually bet#een moderates
and extremists!
5e considers himself in the moderate camp! But as a measure of the deeply ingrained
suspicions to#ard Muslims in the society, he said he #as %afraid of Muslims because
their population is increasing so rapidly!
Ashin irathu has tapped into that anxiety, #hich some describe as the %demographic
pressures coming from neighboring Bangladesh! &here is #ide disdain in Myanmar
for a group of about one million stateless Muslims, #ho call themselves Rohingya,
some of #hom migrated from Bangladesh! 9lashes bet#een the Rohingya and
Buddhists last year in #estern Myanmar roiled the Buddhist community and appear to
have played a role in later outbreaks of violence throughout the country! Ashin
irathu said they served as his inspiration to spread his teachings!
&he theme song to Ashin irathu+s movement speaks of people #ho %live in our land,
drink our #ater, and are ungrateful to us!
%e #ill build a fence #ith our bones if necessary, runs the song+s refrain! Muslims
are not explicitly mentioned in the song but Ashin irathu said the lyrics refer to
them! :amphlets handed out at his sermon demoni<ing Muslims said that %Myanmar
is currently facing a most dangerous and fearful poison that is severe enough to
eradicate all civili<ation!
Many in Myanmar speculate, #ithout offering proof, that Ashin irathu is allied #ith
hard$line Buddhist elements in the country #ho #ant to harness the nationalism of his
movement to rally support ahead of elections in ,-./! Ashin irathu denies any such
links!
But the government has done little to rein him in! 'uring Ashin irathu+s visit here in
&aunggyi, traffic policemen cleared intersections for his motorcade!
;nce inside the monastery, as part of a highly choreographed visit, his follo#ers led a
procession through cro#ds of follo#ers #ho prostrated themselves as he passed!
Ashin irathu+s movement calls itself @1@, three digits that monks say symboli<e the
virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community!
)tickers #ith the movement+s logo are no# ubi2uitous nation#ide on cars, motorcycles
and shops! &he movement has also begun a signature campaign calling for a ban on
interfaith marriages, and pamphlets are distributed at sermons listing Muslim brands
and shops to be avoided!
"n Ma#lamyine, a multicultural city southeast of Yangon, a monastery linked to the
@1@ movement has established the courses of Buddhist instruction for children, #hich
it calls %)unday dhamma schools! (eaders of the monasteries there seek to portray
their campaign as a sort of Buddhist revivalist movement!
%&he main thing is that our religion and our nationality don+t disappear, said Ashin
Aadila, a senior monk at the Mya<edi 6anoo monastery outside the city!
Yet despite efforts at describing the movement as nonthreatening, many Muslims are
#orried!
&#o hours before Ashin irathu rolled into &aunggyi in a motorcade that included 1-
honking motorcycles, &un &un 6aing, a Muslim vendor in the city+s central market,
spoke of the visit in a #hisper!
%"+m really frightened, he said, stopping in midsentence #hen customers entered his
shop! %e tell the children not to go outside unless absolutely necessary!
Wai Moe contributed reporting from Mandalay and Yangon, Myanmar, and Poypiti
Amatatham from Bangkok.
:osted by &havam