Myanmar’s top monks parry claims of Buddhist hardliners

AFP, YANGON: The body representing Myanmar’s top monks has distanced itself from a vocal Buddhist nationalist group, in an unprecedented blow to the anti-Muslim network blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country.
The Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which represents the upper echelons of the clergy in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country, issued a statement late Tuesday saying it has never endorsed the ultra-nationalist “Ma Ba Tha”.
The Ma Ba Tha is a noisy monk-led group that has been at the forefront of anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded.
It recently said it was established under Sangha rules, a claim refuted by the country’s top monks, putting clear water between the mainstream Buddhist clergy and the hardline group for the first time.
“The Ma Ba Tha organisation is not included under the basic rules, procedures... and instructions of the Sangha organisation,” the Sangha committee said in its statement.
“Starting from the first Sangha summit in 1980 until the fifth Sangha summit in 2014, no Sangha meeting has acknowledged or formed the Ma Ba Tha—and it has never used the term Ma Ba Tha.”
The statement came hours ahead of a two-day gathering of around 50 of Myanmar’s top monks in a meeting room inside a man-made cave on the outskirts of Yangon.
A Ma Ba Tha spokesman said the group was ready to accept any decision from the clergy, but added that his grassroots network did not need official Sangha approval to exist.
“It was formed with volunteers like other organisations in the country... registration is not needed to form that kind of organisation,” Damapiya, a senior monk in the network, told AFP.
The Ma Ba Tha emerged as potent political force under the former military-backed government, successfully lobbying for a series of laws that rights groups say discriminate against women and religious minorities.
Scores of people have been killed in sectarian riots that have billowed out in step with their protests.
But the organisation lost out in November elections that saw their allies in the incumbent party trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
It has since been trying to claw back ground, in recent weeks reviving its vitriolic rhetoric that portrays Islam as a threat to Buddhism.
Last month two mosques were destroyed by Buddhist mobs in the centre and north of the country.
Much of the anti-Muslim invective in Myanmar has targeted the Rohingya—a minority denied citizenship and relegated to apartheid-like conditions ever since deadly riots tore through western Rakhine state in 2012.
Their very name invokes strong emotions in Myanmar, with the Ma Ba Tha leading protests for the Rohingya to be known only as “Bengalis”—shorthand for illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmars top monks parry claims of Buddhist hardliners

AFP, YANGON: The body representing Myanmars top monks has distanced itself from a vocal Buddhist nationalist group, in an unprecedented blow to the anti-Muslim network blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country. The Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which represents the upper echelons of the clergy in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country, issued a statement late Tuesday saying it has never endorsed the ultra-nationalist Ma Ba Tha. The Ma Ba Tha is a noisy monk-led group that has been at the forefront of anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded. It recently said it was established under Sangha rules, a claim refuted by the countrys top monks, putting clear water between the mainstream Buddhist clergy and the hardline group for the first time. The Ma Ba Tha organisation is not included under the basic rules, procedures... and instructions of the Sangha organisation, the Sangha committee said in its statement. Starting from the first Sangha summit in 1980 until the fifth Sangha summit in 2014, no Sangha meeting has acknowledged or formed the Ma Ba Thaand it has never used the term Ma Ba Tha. The statement came hours ahead of a two-day gathering of around 50 of Myanmars top monks in a meeting room inside a man-made cave on the outskirts of Yangon. A Ma Ba Tha spokesman said the group was ready to accept any decision from the clergy, but added that his grassroots network did not need official Sangha approval to exist. It was formed with volunteers like other organisations in the country... registration is not needed to form that kind of organisation, Damapiya, a senior monk in the network, told AFP. The Ma Ba Tha emerged as potent political force under the former military-backed government, successfully lobbying for a series of laws that rights groups say discriminate against women and religious minorities. Scores of people have been killed in sectarian riots that have billowed out in step with their protests. But the organisation lost out in November elections that saw their allies in the incumbent party trounced by Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD). It has since been trying to claw back ground, in recent weeks reviving its vitriolic rhetoric that portrays Islam as a threat to Buddhism. Last month two mosques were destroyed by Buddhist mobs in the centre and north of the country. Much of the anti-Muslim invective in Myanmar has targeted the Rohingyaa minority denied citizenship and relegated to apartheid-like conditions ever since deadly riots tore through western Rakhine state in 2012. Their very name invokes strong emotions in Myanmar, with the Ma Ba Tha leading protests for the Rohingya to be known only as Bengalisshorthand for illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.