Myanmar: Govt Asks Buddhist Leaders to Act Against Badly Behaved Monks

The Irrawaddy, 22 February 2018

Yangon, Myanmar -- Religious Affairs and Culture Minister U Aung Ko has urged the nation’s highest religious authority to take action against monks who disgrace Buddhism through their activities or speech.

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Myanmar clamps down on Buddhist nationalism

Asia News Network, December 30, 2017

Yangon, Myanmar -- In a further sign that Myanmar is clamping down on the spread of ultra-nationalist Buddhism, six monks have been sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour for leading an anti-government protest in Mandalay.

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Not all Buddhists agree with Sitagu Sayadaw’s militant message

By Jacob Goldberg, Coconuts, Nov. 2, 2017

Yangon, Myanmar -- Myanmar’s most revered Buddhist leader gave a speech on Monday in which he urged hundreds of military officers to not to fear the sinfulness of taking human life. Despite building a reputation on his interfaith and humanitarian activities, Sitagu Sayadaw has long made excuses for the military’s abuses against Rohingya Muslims. This week, critics said the monk veered into promoting genocide.

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Pope to Meet Top Buddhist Monks in Myanmar, Address Military

Reuters, 11 October 2017

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will meet Myanmar’s top Buddhist monks, its military generals and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in November when he visits that country and Bangladesh, both caught up in a crisis over the self-identifying Rohingya Muslim minority.

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Myanmar Commission Slams UN for “Smear Campaigning”

By Kalinga Seneviratne, IDN-InDepthNews, 10 August 2017

YANGON, Myanmar -- A Myanmar government commission that investigated allegations made by an international human rights organisation and the media about the country’s security forces abusing the human rights of Muslims known as Rohingyas in Rakhine State has found these allegations to be “unproven” and slammed its critics, including the United Nations, for carrying out an international “smear campaign” against the country.

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