By THE IRRAWADDY
 |
| Wirathu |
RANGOON — After Burma’s home
affairs minister dismissed suggestions that Buddhist nationalists had played a
role in the killing of the ruling National League for Democracy’s legal adviser
U Ko Ni, infamous ultranationalist monk U Wirathu thanked those suspected of
involvement in the murder.
During the government’s
first press conference since the fatal shooting of U Ko Ni outside Yangon
International Airport last month, Gen Kyaw Swe of the Home Affairs Ministry was
asked whether one of the detained suspects had affiliations with the
nationalist monks of Ma Ba Tha, a Burmese acronym for Association for the
Protection of Race and Religion.
“How can we say the monks
killed him? Our Buddhism never encourages killing. You guys should be
considerate,” the home affairs minister told the media.
“I am ashamed of it as a
Buddhist, and as a military officer,” he added, referring to the fact that all
suspects in the case are Buddhists and three are ex-military officers.
The following day, U
Wirathu, a leading Ma Ba Tha monk from Mandalay, posted on his Facebook to say
that he thanked all of the suspects identified in the case, and expressed his
sympathy for the families of the suspects.
“At this time, I feel relief
for the future of Buddhism in my country. If not, the destruction of Buddhism,
like in Thailand, would have gained a foothold here in five years,” he wrote.
U Wirathu also said that
anyone who wants to do away with the controversial military-drafted 2008
Constitution should consider themselves warned; U Ko Ni had been a strong
advocate for the rewriting a new Constitution rather updating the existing one.
“Anyone who wants to kick
out military representatives should be mindful. Anyone who wants to scrap the
Constitution should be mindful,” he said, adding—but without elaborating—that
Burma still requires military lawmakers in the Parliament.
http://linkis.com/www.irrawaddy.com/ne/CJ9Kp
According Wirathu here, is
the one behind the assassination of NLD legal adviser #UKoNi