• Burmese
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
December 26, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State

Radical monk Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma at his monastery in Moulmein. (Photo – JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

8.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Leading Buddhist monks of the nationalist 969 movement said they have been holding sermons in several townships in northern Arakan State, which has been wracked by bloody violence between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority.

The activities raise concerns that the monks, who have been accused spreading hate speech against Islam, will inflame tensions and cause new outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence in the volatile state.

Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma said he and six monks from the Mon State capital Moulmein arrived in Arakan State in mid-December and have since visited Arakanese Buddhist communities to give Dhamma sermons—talks that are supposed to explain Buddhist teachings.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s regime has a malfunction

Myanmar’s regime has a malfunction

July 9, 2025
17
Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

July 8, 2025
327
Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

July 8, 2025
1.8k

“The main intention of our talks is that we want to share a religious experience with our Buddhist people. We also wanted to show our sympathy to the people who are suffering and we will tell them that the [Burmese] heartland people did not abandon them,” U Thaddhamma told The Irrawaddy in a phone call.

“We recognize that Rakhine [Arakan] people and monks protected their state and religion very well. This is why we went to go and meet people from town to town,” he said. U Thaddhama claimed that Arakan State, on Burma’s border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, was the “Western Gate” that is being “protected” by Arakanese Buddhists.

U Thaddhamma said his monks had visited Thandwe and Myebon townships and were currently holding three days of talks in Sittwe, adding that they also planned to visit Buddhist communities in the mostly Muslim townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw.

The 969 movement, led by the Mandalay-based monk U Wirathu, has become extremely controversial in the past year after it began a nationwide campaign that claims that Burma’s Muslim are threatening the Buddhist majority.

The monks, who are deeply revered in Burma, have called on Buddhists to shun Muslim communities and buy only goods from Buddhist-owned shops. The sermons are considered hate speech and have been linked to outbreaks of Buddhist mob violence against Muslim communities throughout Burma.

Since 2012, such violence has left more than 200 people dead and displaced about 150,000 people, most of them Muslim. Northern Arakan State has been the worst-affected after long-standing tensions between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority exploded and mob attacks led to the death of 192 people in June and October last year.

The most recent outbreak of deadly inter-communal violence occurred in Thandwe Township in October and the Buddist mob attacks there were preceded by sermons organized by the 969 movement.

U Thaddhamma denied the movement’s activities in the region would contribute to rising tensions, adding that local authorities had allowed the monks to travel and spread their message.

“We did not hold talks to create any problem,” he said, before claiming that the Muslims had initiated the inter-communal violence in Burma in the past year. “They were first people who started the violence. Then, when they were suffered, they blamed our 969 monks,” he said.

Arakan State spokesperson Win Myaing said the authorities saw no problem with the 969 events planned in their volatile region. “It is a normal Dhamma talk. The people here do it yearly. There will be no problem because they did not hold talks in the Muslim community,” he said.

Tens of thousands of displaced Rohingyas languish in poorly-run camps and tensions between the communities in Arakan State remain high. The central government and state authorities have been accused of siding with the Buddhist communities in the conflict and are said to have done little to promote inter-communal harmony and dialogue.

The government denies the roughly 800,000 Rohingyas citizenship and claims that the minority in northern Arakan are “Bengalis” who entered the country illegally from neighboring Bangladesh.

Aung Win, a Rohingya human rights activist and community leader in Sittwe, said he did not oppose the holding of Buddhist ceremonies, but expressed concern over the fact that 969 monks were spreading their message throughout the strife-torn state.

“They have the right to hold talks. But, it is better not to insult the other religion when they are speaking,” he said. “These monks speak about how [Buddhists] should not accept Bengali people and that Islam is organizing a migration of Muslims into Arakan State.”

“We mostly need interfaith dialogue here. This is very important. But, I do not see it,” Aung Win said.

Your Thoughts …
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.8k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
47k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Clash

Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Clash

UN Rights Boss Urges Thailand to Drop Charges Against Journalists

UN Rights Boss Urges Thailand to Drop Charges Against Journalists

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

6 days ago
1.2k
Myanmar Junta Blacklists 200 Firms for Dodging Hard Currency Grab

Myanmar Junta Blacklists 200 Firms for Dodging Hard Currency Grab

7 days ago
1.3k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Timor-Leste Hits Back at Myanmar Junta’s Objection to ASEAN Membership

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Defies Myanmar Junta Push to Cede Shan Towns in China Talks  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.