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Myanmar's Official Embrace of Extreme Buddhism

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Myanmar's Official Embrace of Extreme Buddhism MYANMAR BUDDHISTS EXTREME NUMBERS: Wimala Biwuntha, standing next to the 969 symbol, is a prominent preacher in Myanmar’s radical Buddhist movement. REUTERS/SOE ZEYA TUN Over the past year, radical monks have preached an anti- Muslim creed. The minister of religion, among others, approves. Myanmar’s official embrace of extreme Buddhism BY ANDREW R.C. MARSHALL YANGON, JUNE 27, 2013 he Buddhist extremist movement in Myanmar, known as 969, portrays itself as a grassroots creed. T Its chief proponent, a monk named Wirathu, was once jailed by the former military junta for anti-Muslim violence and once called himself the “Burmese bin Laden.” But a Reuters examination traces 969’s origins to an official in the dictatorship that once ran Myanmar, and which is the direct predecessor SPECIAL REPORT 1 MYANMAR BUDDHISTS THE 969 MOVEMENT DEVOTION TO CAUSE: The 969 movement is growing rapidly across Myanmar as monks are more free to travel and preach now than they were under junta rule. REUTERS/SOE ZEYA TUN of today’s reformist government. The 969 as Burma. Anti-Muslim unrest simmered moral justification for a wave of anti-Mus- movement now enjoys support from se- under the junta that ran the country for lim bloodshed that could scuttle Myanmar’s nior government officials, establishment nearly half a century. But the worst fighting nascent reform program. Another promi- monks and even some members of the op- has occurred since the quasi-civilian gov- nent 969 monk, Wimala Biwuntha, likens position National League for Democracy, ernment took power in March 2011. Muslims to a tiger who enters an ill-de- the political party of Nobel peace laureate Two outbursts in Rakhine State last year fended house to snatch away its occupants. Aung San Suu Kyi. killed at least 192 people and left 140,000 “Without discipline, we’ll lose our reli- Wirathu urges Buddhists to boycott homeless, mostly stateless Rohingya gion and our race,” he said in a recent ser- Muslim shops and shun interfaith mar- Muslims. A Reuters investigation found mon. “We might even lose our country.” riages. He calls mosques “enemy bases.” that organized attacks on Muslims last Officially, Myanmar has no state reli- Among his admirers: Myanmar’s minis- October were led by Rakhine nationalists gion, but its rulers have long put Buddhism ter of religious affairs. incited by Buddhist monks and sometimes first. Muslims make up an estimated 4 per- “Wirathu’s sermons are about promot- abetted by local security forces. cent of the populace. Buddhism is followed ing love and understanding between reli- In March this year, at least 44 people died by 90 percent of the country’s 60 million gions,” Sann Sint, minister of religious af- and 13,000 were displaced — again, mostly people and is promoted by a special depart- fairs, told Reuters in his first interview with Muslims — during riots in Meikhtila, a ment within the ministry of religion cre- the international media. “It is impossible he city in central Myanmar. Reuters docu- ated during the junta. is inciting religious violence.” mented in April that the killings happened Sann Sint, a former lieutenant general in after monks led Buddhist mobs on a ram- EASY SCAPEGOATS Myanmar’s army, also sees nothing wrong page. In May, Buddhists mobs burned and with the boycott of Muslim businesses being terrorized Muslim neighborhoods in the Monks play a complex part in Burmese led by the 969 monks. “We are now prac- northern city of Lashio. Reports of unrest politics. They took a central role in pro- ticing market economics,” he said. “Nobody have since spread nationwide. democracy “Saffron Revolution” uprisings can stop that. It is up to the consumers.” The numbers 969, innocuous in them- against military rule in 2007. The generals President Thein Sein is signaling a be- selves, refer to attributes of the Buddha, – who included current President Thein Sein nign view of 969, too. His office declined his teachings and the monkhood. But and most senior members of his government to comment for this story. But in response 969 monks have been providing the - suppressed them. Now, Thein Sein’s ambi- to growing controversy over the movement, tious program of reforms has ushered in new it issued a statement Sunday, saying 969 “is freedoms of speech and assembly, liberating just a symbol of peace” and Wirathu is “a It is impossible he is inciting the country’s roughly 500,000 monks. They son of Lord Buddha.” religious violence. can travel at will to spread Buddhist teach- Wirathu and other monks have been ings, including 969 doctrine. closely linked to the sectarian violence Sann Sint In Burma’s nascent democracy, the spreading across Myanmar, formerly known Myanmar Minister of Religious Affairs monks have emerged as a political force in SPECIAL REPORT 2 MYANMAR BUDDHISTS THE 969 MOVEMENT the run-up to a general election scheduled the government isn’t stopping it,” said Myo section of Burma’s colonial-era Penal Code, for 2015. Their new potency has given rise Win, a Muslim teacher. Myo Win likened which outlaws “deliberate and malicious to a conspiracy theory here: The 969 move- 969 to the Ku Klux Klan. acts intended to outrage religious feelings”. ment is controlled by disgruntled hardliners The religion minister, Sann Sint, said the QUASI-OFFICIAL ORIGINS from the previous junta, who are fomenting movement doesn’t have official state back- unrest to derail the reforms and foil an elec- ing. But he defended Wirathu and other The 969 movement’s ties to the state tion landslide by Suu Kyi’s. monks espousing the creed. date back to the creed’s origins. Wimala, No evidence has emerged to support “I don’t think they are preaching to make Wirathu and other 969 preachers credit this belief. But some in the government say problems,” he said. its creation to the late Kyaw Lwin, an ex- there is possibly truth to it. Local authorities, too, have lent the monk, government official and prolific “Some people are very eager to reform, movement some backing. writer, now largely forgotten outside reli- some people don’t want to reform,” Soe Its logo - now one of Myanmar’s most gious circles. Thein, one of President Thein Sein’s two recognizable - bears the Burmese numerals Myanmar’s former dictators hand- closest advisors, told Reuters. “So, regard- 969, a chakra wheel and four Asiatic lions picked Kyaw Lwin to promote Buddhism ing the sectarian violence, some people may representing the ancient Buddhist emperor after the brutal suppression of the 1988 be that side - the anti-reform side.” Ashoka. Stickers with the logo are hand- democracy uprising. Thousands were killed Even if 969 isn’t controlled by power- ed out free at speeches. They adorn shops, or injured after soldiers opened fire on un- ful hardliners, it has broad support, both in homes, taxis and souvenir stalls at the na- armed protesters, including monks. Later, high places and at the grass roots, where it tion’s most revered Buddhist pagoda, the to signal their disgust, monks refused to is a genuine and growing movement. Shwedagon. They are a common sight in accept alms from military families for Officials offer tacit backing, said areas plagued by unrest. three months, a potent gesture in devoutly Wimala, the 969 monk. “By letting us give Some authorities treat the symbol with Buddhist Myanmar. speeches to protect our religion and race, I reverence. A court in Bago, a region near Afterwards, the military set about co- assume they are supporting us,” he said. Yangon hit by anti-Muslim violence this opting Buddhism in an effort to tame re- The Yangon representative of the year, jailed a Muslim man for two years in bellious monks and repair its image. Monks Burmese Muslim Association agreed. “The April after he removed a 969 sticker from a were registered and their movements re- anti-Muslim movement is growing and betel-nut shop. He was sentenced under a stricted. State-run media ran almost daily reports of generals overseeing temple reno- vations or donating alms to abbots. In 1991, the junta created a Department for the Promotion and Propagation of the Sasana (DPPS), a unit within the Religion Ministry, and appointed Kyaw Lwin as its head. Sasana means “religion” in Pali, the li- turgical language of Theravada Buddhism; in Burma, the word is synonymous with Buddhism itself. The following year, the DPPS published “How To Live As A Good Buddhist,” a dis- tillation of Kyaw Lwin’s writings. It was re- published in 2000 as “The Best Buddhist,” its cover bearing an early version of the 969 logo. Kyaw Lwin stepped down in 1992. The current head is Khine Aung, a former mili- tary officer. Kyaw Lwin’s widow and son still live MERCHANDISING THE MOVEMENT: T-shirts with the 969 symbol are popular items at street stalls, in his modest home in central Yangon. Its alongside ones depicting Aung San Suu Kyi. REUTERS/ SOE ZEYA TUN living room walls are lined with shelves of SPECIAL REPORT 3 MYANMAR BUDDHISTS THE 969 MOVEMENT SPIRITUAL LEADER: Wirathu, an abbot in a prominent Mandalay monastery and a leader of the 969 movement, calls mosques “enemy bases”. REUTERS/SOE ZEYA TUN Kyaw Lwin’s books and framed photos of Aung Lwin Tun plans to republish it. “Many Kyaukse, near the northern cultural capital of him as a monk and meditation master. people are asking for it now,” he said. He Mandalay. Better known as Wirathu, he is to- Another photo shows Kyaw Lwin shar- supports today’s 969 movement, including day one of the 969’s most incendiary leaders.
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