July 15, 2016

Religious Affairs Minister Says No Monk is Above the Law

Extremist Buddhist monk Wirathu could be charged if someone were to complain to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, said Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs Aung Ko, who also criticized Ma Ba Tha for “making problems with other religions.”

He said that those charging Wirathu or other extremist monks would need to have “evidence” that a law had been violated.

The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, popularly known by the Burmese-language acronym “Ma Ha Na,” is a government-appointed clerical council that oversees Buddhist monastic discipline in Burma.

Wirathu, and the ultra-nationalist monks association Ma Ba Tha that he belongs to, have fronted hate campaigns against Muslims in Burma, and lobbied successfully last year for the passage of four “Protection of Race and Religion” laws—restricting religious conversion, religious intermarriage, polygamy and childbirth—widely interpreted as targeting Muslims. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)

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