A monk in Burma, going by the name of Wirathu, has been stoking religious violence against Muslims in the region. He has been going about spreading his strong anti-Muslim opinions and teachings with the help of various kinds of social media and through his DVDs. He repeatedly warns the Buddhist people of the violence that Muslims have been waging against the Buddhist majority of Burma.

Muslims make up a total of 5% of the total population of Burma which numbers at around 75 million. Yet, all acts of violence over the past few years are to be attributed to the Muslims according to this monk, even though those acts have left 100 000 Muslims stranded and homeless in Burma last year, and 200 dead. Corresponding figures of how many Buddhists have died or turned out of their homes by Muslims is unavailable; perhaps, because there were none. In his sermons, Wirathu moves back and forth as if in a trance, and chants out his sermons calmly and peacefully. You would almost think he was offering prayers, and unless you translate the Burmese to English, there is almost no way to tell the explosive nature of his words.

He repeatedly calls Muslims savage and wild beasts, accusing them of being crude and untrustworthy, and accusing them of changing political sides, as it suits them. He accuses Muslims of having raped and bullied Buddhists ‘in all towns across Burma,’ but fails to provide any proof or references. Most of what he is spreading is hateful rumors that have no truth in them.

Wirathu was jailed in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim hatred but was released as part of a general amnesty in 2010. He had started this mission of spreading hatred in 2001 and he started with the preaching of anti-Muslim sentiment, and he asked the faithful to express their faith by boycotting all Muslim businesses. After his release in 2010, he has done nothing but spread more hatred. It seems that this man is majorly, if not solely, responsible for the Rakhine riot last June. Afterwards, in favor of a notorious decision by the Thein Sein government to ‘deport all Muslims to a third country,’ Wirathu led a rally of monks down the streets of Mandalay.

In all of his sermons, he is heard accusing Muslims of forcefully converting Burmese women, marrying them and killing them off when they fail to comply with the laws of Islam. There is no such report or data to support this statement.

Had Wirathu not been so popular among other monks in his monastery and a huge number of followers on Facebook and Twitter, it might have been easy to ignore him. However, not all monks across Burma agree with his teachings. Many have called him an extremist who does not follow the Buddha’s true principle which says all humans are equal.

Many have said that it is high time for the government to take strict actions against a man advocating extremism against his own fellow countrymen. As Burma is funded mainly by the EU, it has also been called upon to take sufficient action.

In an alarming sermon given by him last month, he has threatened that once the Muslims problem at home has been ‘eradicated,’ Burma will move on to other Muslim ‘targets.’

Ironically though, Wirathu calls himself “the Burmese Bin Laden.”

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More than 800,000 Muslims live in Burma currently. These Muslims belong to the Arakan state of western Burma, the area being known as the Rohingya. Thereby, these Muslims are referred to as the Rohingyan Muslims. Being a minority, these Muslims have always been mistreated by the ethnic and religious clashes in Burma. These classes include Buddhists. For many decades, more specifically since 1920, violence against Muslims has increased. The Buddhist community has been increasingly violent towards the minority Muslim community. Since June 2012, many Muslims have been killed, raped, and burnt alive and slaughtered. There is no specific reason for the violence. But, since the Arabs have started to settle in Arakan state, the tolerance of the Buddhists for the Muslim community has reduced drastically. Based on these facts, the Buddhists never let go of any opportunity of being violent to the Muslims.

The fact is not related to an increase in violence, but to the silence adopted by the international community on the levels of the tortures and injustice being endured by the Burmese Muslim community. A number of international and well known public figures are turning their backs on the status of these Muslims in the Burmese community. There are a number of public figures who support the violent behaviors of the Buddhists with the Burmese Muslims.

One of the main examples of such personalities includes Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a well-known Nobel Laureate. An important and a disturbing statement as given by Aung San Suu Kyi is that Muslims living in Burma are not to be given the status of citizens. Adding to this, she has never condemned to the killings of Muslims in Burma. The only statement made by her during any important press conference mentions the fact of the existence of ethnic and religious conflicts between Buddhists and Muslims. She has always been found saying that the ethnic and religious conflicts need to be dealt with in a better manner. These kinds of cold statements are a source of shock for the society as Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel peace prize winner.

The second important example is the Dalai Lama who is a well-known undercover CIA agent. He has never uttered a single word of sympathy for the Muslims of Burma. The intolerance of the Buddhists against Muslims is increasing day by day and it needs to be noticed. This is the kind of behavior that results in an increase of violence from the side of the Buddhists, consequently an increase in pains of the suffering Muslims. When there is no one from the international community to answer for the pains of these Muslims, the Muslims will somehow start preparing for their own defense. Many Muslims have started forming resistance groups in order to combat the attacks launched at them by the Buddhist community.

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mdemamhasan

I am a writer. writing is my passion. I like to write blog articles ezine articles and different directory sites.

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