Adam Dean for The New York Times
The leadership in Yangon and some Western media describe these clashes as the unfortunate but inevitable byproduct of Myanmar’s transition from army rule to civilian government. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that this violence — which started shortly after the victory of the opposition National League for Democracy in parliamentary by-elections in April of last year — is politically motivated.
This was evident Thursday during a conference of Buddhist monks at a monastery near Yangon. Monks in Myanmar traditionally congregate to discuss only religious affairs; the massive anti-establishment protest they led in 2007 was exceptional. But last week more than 1,500 of them gathered around what an organizer, the virulently anti-Muslim monk Wirathu, called an agenda “to safeguard the race, the language and the religion” of Myanmar, meaning Bamar, Burmese and Buddhism. Ashin Nyanissara, a tremendously influential monk who once boldly defied military rule and has undertaken philanthropic activities, went further, saying, “We must safeguard the territory as well.”
The gathering had the feel of a political rally. At the front door to the meditation hall, members of the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party — their logo (a lion) visible on their shirts — were busy handing out to arriving monks stickers bearing the flag of Buddhism with three Asiatic lions and the number 969, a traditional symbol of Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood. This collage is the new emblem for Wirathu’s boycott against Muslims: He has called on Buddhists to shop and do business only with other Buddhists.
Inside the hall, monks took turns denouncing the cover of Time magazine’s Asia edition last week, which featured a photo of Wirathu with the headline “The Face of Buddhist Terror.” They also agreed to support a bill to prohibit non-Buddhists from marrying Buddhist women — the idea being to protect the women from having to convert to Islam when they marry Muslims. An elderly monk, Wimala Buddhi, announced that any member of Parliament who opposed the bill would face reprisals. “I will wish to know the names of the M.P.’s who object,” he said. “Those M.P.’s will lose their votes in the 2015 elections and go down into the gutters.”
This was a barely veiled threat against the National League for Democracy and its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the commanding symbol of the pro-democracy movement. She has been criticized internationally for not speaking up enough in defense of Muslims, especially the stateless Rohingyas in Rakhine, thousands of whom have been displaced after sectarian clashes. In fact, she recently opposed a government policy to control births among Rohingyas. Thanks to this and Wirathu’s speeches, the perception is growing that she is staunchly pro-Muslim — a position that risks discrediting her in the eyes of Buddhists, who account for the vast majority of Myanmar’s population.
The government, for its part, seems eager to make the most of anti-Muslim sentiment. It did little to contain the sectarian attacks that killed more than 40 people in Meiktila in March. Since then it has continued to allow Wirathu and other radical monks to give anti-Muslim speeches across the country. Last week, the president’s office called them “sons of Buddha” and banned the offending issue of Time. The crudeness of these tactics reveals just how worried the leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Party are that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party may win the next election, in 2015.
The general election of 2010, which the National League for Democracy boycotted and that brought General Thein Sein to power, were seen as fraudulent. Times might have changed enough that the 2015 election is likely to be free and fair, at least formally. But they haven’t changed so much that the ruling party has stopped using ugly maneuvers to gain an edge.
Swe Win is a freelance journalist based in Yangon.
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