A notorious firebrand monk whose hate speech has helped fuel attacks on Myanmar's Muslim community faces a defamation charge, days after the ultranationalist group he belongs to was labeled an unlawful association under monastic law.
An official from Tarmwe Township’s police station confirmed to Anadolu Agency on Thursday that a community-based organization had filed a complaint against Wirathu for a speech in which he insulted a top United Nations official in 2015.
“Win Aung from from the so-called Thet Taw Saung [bodyguard] group asked us to open a defamation case against U Wirathu on Tuesday night,” he told Anadolu Agency by phone. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
July 15, 2016
New Chief Minister sets out to modernise Yangon
The new Chief Minister of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, has defended making hardline decisions such as suspending some construction projects and tightening regulations against drinking establishments.
Phyo Min Thein believes this will in fact help to establish more systematic processes to develop Yangon further.
Under this Yangon administration, Phyo Min Thein has outlined several key priorities to tackle over his five-year term. These include improving electricity supply to residents, rehousing more than 400,000 squatters and reducing floods in Myanmar's largest city. (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
Phyo Min Thein believes this will in fact help to establish more systematic processes to develop Yangon further.
Under this Yangon administration, Phyo Min Thein has outlined several key priorities to tackle over his five-year term. These include improving electricity supply to residents, rehousing more than 400,000 squatters and reducing floods in Myanmar's largest city. (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
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)
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)
The state of ethnic affairs
When Myanmar gained independence in 1948, the promises of the new constitution and the previous year’s Panglong Agreement were still fresh in the minds of ethnic leaders. Famously, Bogyoke Aung San told them during the Panglong Conference in February 1947, “If Burma receives one kyat, you will also get one kyat.”
But these promises were never fulfilled. Politically, power remained centralised in the capital, and in the hands of ethnic Bamar leaders. Ethnic minority areas were – and some still continue to be – ravaged by decades of civil war.
Ethnic minorities were also blocked from sustaining and promoting their culture and language for more than five decades, said Mon National Party vice chairman Nai Ngwe Thein. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
But these promises were never fulfilled. Politically, power remained centralised in the capital, and in the hands of ethnic Bamar leaders. Ethnic minority areas were – and some still continue to be – ravaged by decades of civil war.
Ethnic minorities were also blocked from sustaining and promoting their culture and language for more than five decades, said Mon National Party vice chairman Nai Ngwe Thein. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
July 14, 2016
Suu Kyi and Committee Stakeholders Discuss Challenges in Arakan State
As head of the Central Committee for Arakan State Peace, Stability and Development, Aung San Suu Kyi invited stakeholders to discuss on Thursday in Naypyidaw the challenges they face when implementing local development projects, according to a statement from the State Counselor’s Office.
Arakan State suffers from severe underdevelopment after decades of neglect under former military-led governments, but at the forefront of the talks was the citizenship verification process and National Verification Cards (NVCs), which were handed out to those who would be scrutinized for citizenship eligibility under the 1982 Citizenship Law at a later date. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Arakan State suffers from severe underdevelopment after decades of neglect under former military-led governments, but at the forefront of the talks was the citizenship verification process and National Verification Cards (NVCs), which were handed out to those who would be scrutinized for citizenship eligibility under the 1982 Citizenship Law at a later date. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Wirathu faces possible court case as fortunes turn for Ma Ba Tha
After an extraordinary week in which government, military and religious figures rounded on Myanmar’s most notorious Buddhist nationalist group, one of its members now faces potential legal action over an infamous speech denouncing a United Nations representative.
The leader of a civil society group calling itself “National Bodyguard” lodged a complaint against U Wirathu, one of the most prominent and outspoken members of Ma Ba Tha, at the Tarmwe Township police station on Monday.
Meanwhile, as the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee met this week to consider whether or not to dissolve Ma Ba Tha, Wirathu took to Facebook on Wednesday to allege the government was conspiring to disband Ma Ba Tha and return him to prison. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
The leader of a civil society group calling itself “National Bodyguard” lodged a complaint against U Wirathu, one of the most prominent and outspoken members of Ma Ba Tha, at the Tarmwe Township police station on Monday.
Meanwhile, as the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee met this week to consider whether or not to dissolve Ma Ba Tha, Wirathu took to Facebook on Wednesday to allege the government was conspiring to disband Ma Ba Tha and return him to prison. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
Myanmar's leading hardline monk calls Aung San Suu Kyi a 'woman dictator'
A firebrand monk slammed Aung San Suu Kyi as a "woman dictator" on Wednesday, accusing Myanmar's civilian-led government of trying to destroy an ultra-nationalist Buddhist group blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country.
The attack came after the body representing Myanmar's top monks distanced itself from the hardline Ma Ba Tha movement, a blow to its clerical legitimacy.
The Ma Ba Tha is a noisy, monk-led group at the forefront of virulently anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)
The attack came after the body representing Myanmar's top monks distanced itself from the hardline Ma Ba Tha movement, a blow to its clerical legitimacy.
The Ma Ba Tha is a noisy, monk-led group at the forefront of virulently anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)
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