Muslim minority bears brunt in Burma as radical monk stirs sectarian pot

In an airy hall decorated with Buddhist motifs, the man considered one of Burma's most dangerous sits supervising hundreds of novice monks as they sit an exam.

Dressed in maroon-coloured robes, Ashin Wirathu looks younger than he appears in the numerous portraits hanging in another part of the Masoeyin monastery in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city. Other monks in this, one of the country's most famous monasteries, speak reverently of him and try to claim his virulently anti-Muslim rhetoric has been misunderstood. But Burma's Muslims fear Wirathu, seeing him as the figurehead of a radical Buddhist nationalism that has grown stronger and frequently manifests itself in violence against the country's Muslim minority.

Conspiracy theories

As his students pore over their exam papers, Wirathu speaks in a soft voice about what he believes are Muslim efforts to dominate Burma, despite the fact only some five percent of the country's 55 million people are Muslim. "This is like a fire and it must be stopped," he says, as he repeats conspiracy theories similar to those lapped up by his thousands of followers on Facebook and YouTube.

Many believe Wirathu's words have inspired a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment over the past two years that has resulted in the killing of more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, and the displacing of many more, as religious strife has spread from Rakhine state along Burma's border with Bangladesh to cities and towns across the country.

The eruptions of violence tend to follow a similar pattern: rumours, often disseminated online, of a crime or perceived insult allegedly perpetrated by a Muslim against a Buddhist trigger deadly reprisals against entire Muslim communities.

This summer the unrest reached Mandalay, a city that owes much of its ethnic and religious mix to its history as a trading post between China and India. After unconfirmed reports that a Buddhist woman was raped by her Muslim employers spread on Facebook, hundreds of Buddhist men carrying clubs and swords rampaged through the streets.

The riots ended with two people dead and a curfew imposed across the city. Today some traders, fearful of being attacked in future, have used red paint to write on shop fronts that the premises are Buddhist-owned.

Diversity

"It is so sad to see this happen in a place like Mandalay," says renowned local artist U Sein Myint, whose work hangs in the United Nations headquarters in New York. "Our diversity is what makes us special."

That diversity is shown in one neighbourhood where Buddhist pagodas, a mosque, a Hindu temple, a Protestant church and a Baha'i centre can all be found in one small grid of streets. But Mandalay is also home to Wirathu, who gained international notoriety last year when he appeared on the front cover of Time magazine with the strapline: "The face of Buddhist terror."

Burmese authorities banned distribution of the edition after it caused an outcry among the monk's acolytes. But Wirathu appears to take an odd pride in it – a photograph on the wall of the monastery courtyard shows him reading the issue.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/muslim-minority-bears-brunt-in-burma-as-radical-monk-stirs-sectarian-pot/