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Home News

Mandalay Ma Ba Tha to Defy Govt Ban

Zarni Mann by Zarni Mann
July 11, 2017
in News
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Ultranationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu. / Facebook

Ultranationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu. / Facebook

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MANDALAY — The Mandalay sub-chapter of the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion – known by its Myanmar acronym Ma Ba Tha – announced on Monday that it would continue to use the name and would not remove signboards in defiance of a State Buddhist Sangha authority ban.

“We will not let anyone touch the name Ma Ba Tha,” U Wirathu, a leading nationalist monk and signatory of Monday’s announcement, told The Irrawaddy.

“We will protect [the association] and we can assure that Ma Ba Tha will not be a threat to the stability and security of the country’s sovereignty,” he said.

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If the state Buddhist Sangha authority continued to pressure the group or forcibly removed signboards, the government would have to “face the consequences,” according to the statement.

“If [the government] cracks down on us, it will be breaking the association acts stated in the Constitution,” said U Wirathu.

Last month, the Karen State Ma Ba Tha chapter issued a similar statement, threatening legal action against anyone removing its signboards.

Since its founding in 2014, Ma Ba Tha has become infamous for its hardline anti-Muslim stance and inflaming of religious tensions.

In May, the State Buddhist Sangha authority – also known by its Myanmar acronym Ma Ha Na – announced a ban on the association using its name and ordered all signboards to be removed by July.

Senior abbots of Ma Ba Tha’s central committee signed the ban.

After a two-day meeting with members from across the country in late May, the association released an announcement that it would “no longer use [the name] Ma Ba Tha, but would go by the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation,” rebranding itself as a charity group.

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Tags: Ma Ba ThaMa Ha NaMandalayU Wirathu
Zarni Mann

Zarni Mann

The Irrawaddy

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