Page 57 - Beautiful Rohingyas

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) 55

minority for the last decade. Deadly clashes between Buddhists and
Muslims have now become a daily event, not only in Rakhine state
where most of the oppressed Rohingya Muslims live, but in other
parts of the country as well. Before 2012 existing tensions between the
Hindu population and Muslims were primarily restricted to Rakhine

state. Now it has spread to the central heartland, to the largest city,
Yangon, and other important cities like Mandalay and Lashio. Myan-
mar authorities are said to have encouraged these clashes by either
turning a blind eye to them or even by aiding the rioters.

A broader look at the conflict the country is facing today shows
that the inciting force behind it is the rise of radicalism, under the dis-
guise of the protection of Buddhist values and traditions. Buddhist
radicalism and ultra-nationalism poses a risk to the country as it
adopts violence as a method and this madness grows each and every
day with an alarming speed, even as to reach beyond Burma.

The formation of the ultra-national-
ist '969 Movement' in 2012 under the
leadership of the radical Buddhist monk
Ashin Wirathu, also known as the butch-

er of Burmese Muslims, set the stage for
further promoting anti-Muslim senti-
ment in the country. While the move-
ment depicts itself as a peaceful nation-
alist movement founded for promoting
and protecting religion, the underlying
rhetoric of the group is that the Muslim

minority - which totals only 4% of the It is Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist
monk who is behind the vio-
total population - is a threat because it
lence in Myanmar according to
says that they will eventually become TIME Magazine which described
him as "the face of Buddhist ter-
ror" on its cover story.