By TIN HTET PAING
The Irrawaddy
24 May 2017
RANGOON— Burma’s
infamous firebrand Buddhist monk U Wirathu urged his followers to find a
solution to the struggles of the nationalist movement in a video published on
his Facebook Tuesday night.
His move came hours
after the State Buddhist Sangha authority ordered Burma’s biggest religious
ultra-nationalist group the Association for Protection of Race and
Religion—better known as Ma Ba Tha, of which U Wirathu is a figurehead—to cease
its activities.
Ma Ba Tha was
preparing for celebrations in Rangoon to mark the fourth anniversary of the
organization’s founding but released a statement after Tuesday’s announcement
that it would no longer hold the event on May 27 and 28 as planned.
The organization
instead urged members to attend Rangoon headquarters to be briefed on Ma Ha
Na’s decision. In his Tuesday video, U Wirathu called on all Ma Ba Tha members
across the country to congregate in Rangoon to plan the association’s future.
“In either politics
or warfare, there is no such thing as an impasse,” he said. “There’s always a
solution.”
The State Sangha
Maha Nayaka, known as Ma Ha Na, also ordered Ma Ba Tha on Tuesday to remove its
banners and signage across the country by mid-July. Two leading Ma Ba Tha monks
signed the notice by Ma Ha Na, agreeing to comply with the order.
It was the second
action taken by the state Buddhist authority after its announcement last year
that Ma Ba Tha was not a “lawful monks’ association” as “it was not formed in
accordance with the country’s monastic rules.”
Founded in 2014—two
years after Burma experienced religiously motivated riots largely targeting the
Muslim minority—and now with sub-chapters across the country, Ma Ba Tha has
become virtually synonymous with Buddhist ultra-nationalism.
Some of its
well-known figures, including U Wirathu, have preached anti-Muslim sermons to
claim the country’s Buddhist foundations are under threat, that the Muslim
population is outpacing the Buddhists, and that Burma needs to be vigilant
against the influence.
Muslims make up
about 4.3 percent of Burma’s population according to the 2014 census.
Ma Ba Tha has been
criticized at home and abroad for lobbying for the country’s controversial race
and religion laws enacted in 2015. Despite their public anti-Muslim preaching,
Ma Ba Tha outlived the previous Thein Sein government, which was criticized for
turning a blind eye to the association’s actions.
Regarding Ma Ha Na’s
move, U Aung Ko, the minister of religious affairs and culture, told media on
Wednesday it was a “sufficient” move for the current situation.
“Various extremist
[nationalist] groups under the label of religion have been involved in a number
of activities which threaten stability and law enforcement in the community,” U
Aung Ko said.
However, Ma Ba Tha
denied any involvement in a midnight confrontation between Buddhist
nationalists and Muslim residents near downtown Rangoon earlier this month.
Leading monks of Ma
Ba Tha are relatively reasonable while the association’s monks and laypersons
on the ground, in many subchapters with many different names, often practice
religious extremism, he added.
He mentioned
nationalist groups including the Dhamma Wunthanu Rakhita, which was recently
formed by Ma Ba Tha members in late April, as well as the Nationalist Buddhist
Monks Organization and the Patriotic Buddhist Monks Union.
U Aung Ko also
alleged that “a group of people” or “organization” that wants to reverse the
political process back towards dictatorship is supporting and masterminding
these nationalist groups, though he acknowledged this was speculation he could
not confirm independently.
Wirathu posted a video clip in his facebook page is here: https://lnkd.in/fz6diYR