Anti-Muslim Activities in Burma

By Burmese Muslim Association • May 26, 2015

This report prepared based on the information received from a Burma based monitoring network. The report mainly focused on the activities of anti Muslim Buddhist extremist groups and anti Muslim political parties such as Race and Faith Defence League (RFDL), Myanmar National Network (MNN), Peace and Diversity Party (PDP) and other incidents that effect minority Muslims in Burma.
Race and Faith Defence League is also known as Ma Ba Tha in Burmese acronym. Among these organisations and parties, RFDL is the largest organisation, which has a nation wide network, hierarchically structured, functioned by the monks, and supported by government. This is the organisation that proposed four discriminative laws – marriage law, birth control law, religious conversion law and polygamy law that President Thein Sein and the Parliament approving without hesitation. So far, the organisation has about 30000 members across Burma and a very strong network in grassroots level. Its members are available at every town, village, and streets.
The organisation has been working on various projects and its aims and objectives are clearly to demonise Muslims. It is running Damma School courses across Burma, under the pretext of teaching culture and norms of Buddhism to the children, in contrary, the courses are more focusing on anti Muslim sentiments.
The organisation also encouraging Buddhist communities to form a small business groups to operate a small businesses in order to compete local small Muslim businesses. The organisation also instructed local Buddhist communities not to engage any economic transaction with Muslims such as prohibited from selling or renting properties to Muslim.
In a process of capacity building, the organisation also offering media and law courses to train anti Muslim activists. There are three Buddhist extremist print medias and all of them belong to RFDL, Aung Zayyar Tu, Tharki Thway and Atu Ma Shi journals. These print media reach to every corner of Burma and publishing anti Muslim rhetoric regularly. The organisation also supported to produce an anti Muslim movie aiming to advocate Buddhist women against Muslim men.
A popular rhetoric against Muslim is the money Muslim businesses earned donated to the mosques and the mosques finance individuals whoever successfully convert Buddhist to Islam. This rumour is working very effectively to instigate against Muslims.
U Wirathu has been traveling at least more than 20 different places every month to create RFDL network and gave anti Muslim hate speeches. It is a worrying sign that he is increasingly getting more supporters and receiving more response than before. Noticeably, more people attend his speeches than before.
Myanmar National Network (MNN) is a nationalist political party led by Win Ko Ko Latt, an ex-army. The party has a seat in the parliament. The party has been organising anti Muslim advocacy events in various parts of Burma. During the events displaying vinyl posters to public that published graphic pictures from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The party mostly attracting primary and secondary school children, targeting them to comprehend anti Muslim sentiments.
Peace and Diversity Party (PDP) is a nationalist party, whose leader Nay Myo Wai has radical extremist views and well known for his incitement for violence against Muslims. The party has a seat in Parliament.
There are also few more small local based organisations that targeting on Muslim. Normally, they monitor on Buddhists community whether anyone made any economic deal with Muslim such as selling or renting any property to Muslim.

For more information visit here: http://www.b-m-a.org.uk/eng/situation-update/25-situation-update-april-2015.html

Media contact:
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