By Maung Tha Hla
Myanmar has recently been subjected to media spin and
unprecedented international attention consequent upon the consecutive outbreaks
of inter-communal riots between the indigenous national races and the alien
Muslims brought in by the British colonialist. Critics were tempted to
attribute the crisis to religion and played on stereotype of religious
persecution laying emphasis on the prejudice against the Buddhist religion and
its adherents. Unfortunately whatever happened in Myanmar involving the natives
and pugnacious Muslims it was portrayed as persecution of Muslims and affront
to Islam. It is disgrace that Buddhism
and its followers were vilified in a steam of vituperation notwithstanding what
were the causes that led to the spasms of strife.
BLASPHEMY AGAINST BUDDHISM: Much has been voiced and written
in open contempt of the Buddhist religion and denigration of its adherents
including monks, having accused them of resorting to starling violence against
the Muslims. Anti-Buddhism messages that dominated the media were largely
spread by the Islamic nations and mainstream Western news service with the
sinister object to tarnish Buddhism and to incur hatred of its followers. The
absurdity underlined in the assertion that Buddhism was a religion of animosity
and violence. On the contrary the principles of non-violence and
loving-kindness are more central to Buddhism than Islam and Christianity.
Buddhism, which advocates a gentle Middle Way to its goal, is pragmatic and
peaceful. It is devoid of extremism, but in contrast Islam and Christianity
have a fair share of it and went through dark ages. Violence has been
instrumental in the success of Islam which has geographically expanded from a
tiny place called Medina to the full extent of 57 nations in Asia, Africa and
Europe, with a global population of over one billion.
Judgment was unwarrantedly passed against the conduct of
Buddhists insidiously alluded them to being immoral; on the other hand moral
value is the foundation of Buddhism. The critics are woefully ignorant about
Buddhism which is a religion of self-redemption. Buddhism teaches that a
person, doer, alone is responsible for the consequences of his moral and
physical acts. High standard of morality may not be achieved without personal
striving. Average Buddhist, either a
monk or a layman, is not an Arhahant, a person who has achieved the highest
stage of perfection in Theravada Buddhism. As a sentient being, an ordinary
Buddhist is no exception from any follower of other religions, who is subject
to five senses of what one sees, hears, tastes, smells, touches or thinks. A
Buddhist in Myanmar attaches great importance to traditions, whose loyalty lies
first with his family, then his nation and his religion which he is bound to
protect conscientiously. An imperfect performance of a Buddhist should not be
blamed on the religion.
Rationalistically, the critics must come to terms with the harsh reality
of the life of a Buddhist in Myanmar who had gone through humiliation and rage
over the Western colonization and lived in anxiety and fear of the prospect of
Islamization, which readily prompted him to put himself on the line of defence
whenever his nation and religion came under external threat. A peaceable
society has been influenced by low standards of international morality.
BUDDHISM AND NATIOALISM: Buddhism has been integral to the
national identity of the people of Myanmar, having taken a leading role in the
national movement. Buddhism plays an important role in social and political
life of 90 per cent of the population. By traditions the political and social
development was built on Buddhism under the power of monarchy which developed
it as a state religion. Conceptually each king was defender of the faith and
patron of the clergy that devolved from one monarch to the next. The demise of
monarchy left the faith without defenders and the clergy without patrons. In the absence of monarchy the clergy came
to play a crucial role in the development of national responsibilities to
safeguard the religion.
Regrettably the Islamic and Christian sources made scathing
remarks about Buddhist nationalism. Arguably, every religion has been a force
in shaping the nation's character and has influence on national politics and
identity of the people. Buddhism which was once the bedrock identity of Asia
now flourishes in many Asian countries and influences national politics. The
age-old political and social role of Buddhism in Asia is confined to each
individual country contributing to the development of its own national
interests. However, Islamic nationalism having disposed of the Western
colonialism consolidated into a pan-Islamic movement with a baleful impact on
the international peace and security. The United States is a leading Christian
nation where religion is supposed to be separated from politics, but religion
has always been a major force in the American politics, policy, identity and
culture. Religion shapes the nation's character and influences how it responds
to events across the globe.
THE ROLE OF CLERGY: The clergy who are guardians of the
Buddha's teachings are also regarded as teachers. The village education as well
as social welfare has historically been centered round the monastery. The clergy who strive for the spiritual
truth need the material support of the laity, and laymen depend on the
community of monks for the guidance in their efforts to cultivate the Buddhist
spirituality. One cannot enrich oneself without the other. The lay-monastic
relationship as such involves mutual support and close cooperation. The
interaction has brought the clergy in times of crisis to the aid of laity whose
respect for the authority of senior monks comes before the acceptance of the
law and regulations of the government.
Out of share ignorance the Muslim community, Human Rights
groups and Western critics failed to recognize the political role of the monks
in Myanmar. The British rule formed Buddhism as a political base, and the
clergy were looked upon as the source for nationalist political inspiration,
which stirred politically oriented younger monks who fostered nationalism in
the struggle against colonialism demanding to redress social, economic and
political grievances. The monks took an active part in the resistance against
the British, which initially was sparked by the practice of Europeans wearing
shoes while walking on pagoda grounds.
In 1919 four monks were arrested in Mandalay for the attack on a group
of Europeans who entered a pagoda with their shoes on, and consequently the
leader was sentenced to life imprisonment. The religious issue became the
symbol representing the grievances which had been festering for years.
U Ottama was the first and foremost politically motivated
nationalist monk, who led the political movement to protest the British rule.
He criticized the British for bringing the nation to slavery and debasing the
Buddhist monk's prestige. He was arrested in 1921 for urging non-payment of
taxes and boycotts, and thenceforth served fragmental jail time for his
anti-British activities until his death in 1939. Another prominent monk was U
Wizara who was arrested for agitating against British restraints on Buddhist
practices. He died in jail in 1929 after a hunger strike fighting for the right
to wear his robe while in prison. Monks
joined forces with nationalist Saya San in the uprising against the British in
1930-31 and took part in riots against the British in 1938. In the struggle for
national independence monks were not only involved in the movement against the
British colonialists but against the Japanese occupiers as well. The
nationalist monks U Seinda and U Pyinnya Thiha were the vanguard in the
resistance against the Japanese forces in the Rakhaing front during the Second
World War. After national independence the monks continued political activities
in the advancement of the welfare of people and the best example was The
Saffron Revolution of 2007.
NATIONAL INTERESTS: The 969 Movement which has been gaining
currency among the masses is by all means a significant national development to
neutralize economic and social grievances in the face of growing threats of
alien Muslims to the livelihood, culture and belief of the natives. U Wirathu
who inspired people with awareness of nationalism urged them to patronize the
Buddhist-owned businesses and shops with the view to lessening of economic
dependent on the elements of Muslim community who thrived in urban commerce and
businesses, which in some way projects a comparison with what Mahatama Gandhi
did in British India. He boycotted imported cloth as he wanted his people to
spin their own in an effort to become less dependent on imports. The 969 Movement, which becomes the object
of international criticism, has just been put into operation but the public
attention has squarely missed the Islamic numerical emblem 786 which has been
in convenance for many decades conspicuously in display at the Muslim
businesses, shops and homes so as to distinguish them from those owned by
people of other faiths. Muslims generally boycott the non-Muslim business
establishments. Moreover, the Muslim students who set for the matriculation
examination were knavishly induced to mark the same Islamic symbol at the top
of each answer paper with a view to seeking favour from the fellow Muslim
examiners in virtue of religious affiliation. Thus was the Islamic loyalty
maintained and through which was achieved solidarity among the Muslim
community. Islamic religionism ran in all walks of life.
The proposal for restriction on transaction of the real
estates is no less compatible with the Islamic law whereby the land and
property acquired by the Muslims are not revertible to the infidels. Buying up
the real estates in the traditionally predominant Buddhist neighbourhood has
become a scenario throughout the country. Significantly, more and more Muslims
have moved into previously exclusive Buddhist communities. The establishment of
micro Muslim colonies was none other than the surgical implant of the Islamic
cells into the body of Buddhist society, which evoked grave concern of the
natives over their safety and the future of their way of life.
The proposed restriction on marriage between Buddhist women
and Muslim men is exactly the same as inter-faith marriage policy being
enforced in Malaysia, Singapore and Muslim countries around the world. There is
a double standard of those who criticized the proposed Buddhist-Muslim marriage
rule when they never utter a word about the practice that has all along been
pursued by the Muslims. The critics may be reminded that young Bengali Muslim
males were induced to migrate into Myanmar, the land of abundant food and
pretty damsels; to marry the native maidens; to convert their wives and the
offspring into Muslims; to translate the Koran into Burmese; to spread Islam in
the community; to seek public and government offices; to secure the strategic
positions in the military; and ultimately to overthrow the government. The cynical
conspiracy abroad was complimented with an equally sneering scheme within the
country that the Muslim youth were offered monetary incentives to venture into
winning the hand of daughters of government officials, especially the military
Generals; the higher the status the larger the award. The game plan was to
stretch the boundary of acceptance of Islam along conversion consequent upon
inter-faith marriages, and to assert influence on the elite in power through
their loved ones.
A sharp growth in the Muslim population relative to the
local Buddhists, particularly in Rakhaing state, roused the fears of the
natives that their land would be taken over by the Muslims. The virtual increase of Muslim population
was the sum total of mass immigration, expositional reproduction and
devastating attrition of the natives, which resulted in a ratio of 97 to 3 per
cent over local Rakhaings in the previously Buddhist dominated area of Maungdaw
and Buthidaung townships. Unless the modus operandi of having one to two dozen
children in a Muslim family by polygamy is rescinded the risk of inter-racial
violence will definitely be on the rise making the land a dangerous place.
Myanmar has a legitimate reason to fear that an explosive growth of the Bengali
Muslim population would lead to the endangerment of the national security and
the territorial integrity given the internationally colluded scheme to
establish a free Muslim state in the land of Rakhaing, which the Bengali
secessionists planned to accede to their former homeland, what is now
Bangladesh.
To the Muslims, demography is destiny. The critics of the
West might recall that some prominent Muslim leaders had predicted that Muslims
would conquer Europe by simple demography. Mohammed Ben Brahim Boukharonba,
Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Algeria proudly stated at the United
Nations that "through the wombs of our women" the Muslims of the
South would conquer Europe. Muammar al-Gaddafi, the Libyan President claimed,
"There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without
swords, without guns, without conquest. We don't need terrorists, we don't need
homicide bombs, 50 + million Muslims in Europe will turn it into a Muslim
continent within a few decades." Gravely faced with the growing Muslim
population the fear of demographic threat sounds the tocsin of alarm in the
non-Muslim world.
THE HYPOCRISY: Sardonically the peevish Muslims put
themselves on the moral high ground posturing as being compassionate and
magnanimous despite the ongoing atrocities perpetrated against other religions
and sectarian conflicts that torn the Muslim world. Irony is that the Muslims
who hijacked democracy and human rights found cheap services of a host of
predisposed Western media outlets to vilify Buddhism and its followers. It
comes to no surprise that some liberal news services which having indulged in
unethical reporting on Buddhist religion unwittingly degraded their
publications to the level of super market tabloids for the contents which were
riddled with factual errors and distortion. The atrocious reality, which should
be known to the Western media community and their Muslim clients who immorally
reached the deep pockets to insensately impose Islam on the non-Muslim nations
and peaceful peoples, is that such outrageously vituperative presentation about
Buddhism and development of nationally oriented measures only renders adverse
effect on the inter-faith relationship which has already been on a precarious
onset due to outside manipulation.
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