illusion8
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Wrapped in a saffron robe, Buddhist monk Wirathu insists he is a man of peace. Never mind his nine years in prison for inciting deadly violence against Muslims. Never mind the gruesome photos outside his office of Buddhists allegedly massacred by Muslims. Never mind that the man dubbed "Burma's bin Laden" has emerged as the spiritual leader of a pro-Buddhist fringe movement accused of fuelling a campaign of sectarian violence.
Wirathu insists the world has misunderstood him. "If they knew my true ideas, they would call me saviour," he says.
Wirathu has become the figurehead of a virulent strain of religious nationalism being spread by some of the most venerated members of Myanmese society: Buddhist monks. Their core message is that Buddhists must unite against a growing Muslim threat.
While these monks are a minority, some argue they provide an ideological justification for the religious violence that has ripped through Myanmar over the past year, threatening to destabilise its still-fragile democracy.
A short man, with a quick smile and evident charisma, Wirathu is the public face of a fast-spreading but still small campaign called "969". Each digit enumerates virtues of the Lord Buddha, his teachings and the community of monks.
The campaign urges Buddhists to shop only at Buddhist stores and avoid marrying, hiring or selling homes or land to Muslims. Stickers and signs bearing the 969 emblem have been popping up on shops, taxis, and buses, marking them as Buddhist.
To suggest that Wirathu is the main force behind anti-Muslim propaganda is to overstate his influence and underestimate the level to which the ideas he espouses are dispersed. Countless grassroots movements, some branded as 969 and others not, propagate the ideas of Buddhist supremacy. One Muslim shopkeeper in northern Yangon says his sales have fallen by two-thirds since Buddhists stopped coming to his store.
Followers say 969 is a response to 786, a number long used by Muslims in Myanmar to mark halal restaurants and shops. Some erroneously read into 786 as a secret plan for Muslim world domination in the 21st century. The number is actually derived from a short prayer invoking the name of God.
The 969 campaign began to coalesce as a political movement after religious riots in western Rakhine state last June and October. More than 200 were killed, 70 per cent of them Muslim. Over 125,000 remain homeless.
Around four months after the campaign was born, masked men dressed as monks rampaged through the central town of Meikhtila with swords, burning mosques and Muslim shops. Muslims also killed Buddhists.
The attacks left charred bodies in the streets and around 12,000 people, mostly Muslim, without homes. The government declared a state of emergency as the violence spread to 14 more townships. Over 40 people died.
"We also condemn these acts, 969 doesn't accept terrorism," Wirathu says.
Human rights groups, however, have documented a pattern to the anti-Muslim pogroms of the past year: Words precede the bloodshed. The Burma Campaign UK found anti-Muslim leaflets without the 969 logo that were circulated in Meikhtila before the attacks. The riots radiated to the Bago region, where Buddhists marked their homes and shops with 969 so they would not be harmed, said Tun Kyi, a Muslim activist from Yangon.
"The 969 campaign is more than a boycott. It's clearly becoming a rationale for violence," says Jim Della-Giacoma, South East Asia Project Director for the International Crisis Group.
'Burma's bin Laden' spearheads 969 campaign urging boycott of Muslims | South China Morning Post
Wirathu insists the world has misunderstood him. "If they knew my true ideas, they would call me saviour," he says.
Wirathu has become the figurehead of a virulent strain of religious nationalism being spread by some of the most venerated members of Myanmese society: Buddhist monks. Their core message is that Buddhists must unite against a growing Muslim threat.
While these monks are a minority, some argue they provide an ideological justification for the religious violence that has ripped through Myanmar over the past year, threatening to destabilise its still-fragile democracy.
A short man, with a quick smile and evident charisma, Wirathu is the public face of a fast-spreading but still small campaign called "969". Each digit enumerates virtues of the Lord Buddha, his teachings and the community of monks.
The campaign urges Buddhists to shop only at Buddhist stores and avoid marrying, hiring or selling homes or land to Muslims. Stickers and signs bearing the 969 emblem have been popping up on shops, taxis, and buses, marking them as Buddhist.
To suggest that Wirathu is the main force behind anti-Muslim propaganda is to overstate his influence and underestimate the level to which the ideas he espouses are dispersed. Countless grassroots movements, some branded as 969 and others not, propagate the ideas of Buddhist supremacy. One Muslim shopkeeper in northern Yangon says his sales have fallen by two-thirds since Buddhists stopped coming to his store.
Followers say 969 is a response to 786, a number long used by Muslims in Myanmar to mark halal restaurants and shops. Some erroneously read into 786 as a secret plan for Muslim world domination in the 21st century. The number is actually derived from a short prayer invoking the name of God.
The 969 campaign began to coalesce as a political movement after religious riots in western Rakhine state last June and October. More than 200 were killed, 70 per cent of them Muslim. Over 125,000 remain homeless.
Around four months after the campaign was born, masked men dressed as monks rampaged through the central town of Meikhtila with swords, burning mosques and Muslim shops. Muslims also killed Buddhists.
The attacks left charred bodies in the streets and around 12,000 people, mostly Muslim, without homes. The government declared a state of emergency as the violence spread to 14 more townships. Over 40 people died.
"We also condemn these acts, 969 doesn't accept terrorism," Wirathu says.
Human rights groups, however, have documented a pattern to the anti-Muslim pogroms of the past year: Words precede the bloodshed. The Burma Campaign UK found anti-Muslim leaflets without the 969 logo that were circulated in Meikhtila before the attacks. The riots radiated to the Bago region, where Buddhists marked their homes and shops with 969 so they would not be harmed, said Tun Kyi, a Muslim activist from Yangon.
"The 969 campaign is more than a boycott. It's clearly becoming a rationale for violence," says Jim Della-Giacoma, South East Asia Project Director for the International Crisis Group.
'Burma's bin Laden' spearheads 969 campaign urging boycott of Muslims | South China Morning Post
