Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan
An ultranationalist subset of Myanmar’s community of Buddhist monks have become active supporters of the military junta, offering the regime legitimacy and support in the ongoing civil war.
This alliance reflects a broader pattern of authoritarian regimes weaponizing religious authorities to suppress dissent and target minorities. Myanmar’s case highlights the need to include non-Muslim religious extremism within global counterterrorism frameworks.
Myanmar’s ongoing sectarian conflict has seen a dangerous convergence between the military junta and ultranationalist Buddhist monks. Myanmar’s current military government, frequently referred to as the Sit-Tat (referred to by its supporters as the Tatmadaw), led by Min Aung Hlaing, is aligned with the country’s community of monks (called the Sangha) in important ways. While the Sangha is divided politically—and has an apolitical mandate—portions have decided to collaborate with the regime as a result of shared interests. Pro-junta monks, exemplified by the MaBaTha (Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion) organization, serve as a powerful actor in the service of the current regime, engaging in both civil and military activity against anti-junta forces (The Irrawaddy, September 9, 2021).
A number of developments underscore how the Sit-Tat has co-opted segments of the Sangha into a political instrument, weaponizing religion to suppress internal resistance, court international allies, and incite violence against ethno-religious enemies of the state. The alliance of MaBaTha and the Sit-tat have affected Myanmar’s international posture. Following Myanmar’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake on March 28, Sri Lanka extended support, specifically citing that it and Myanmar are “two Buddhist states,” a gesture underpinned by ties between Sri Lanka’s Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and Myanmar’s MaBaTha (Tamil Guardian, April 2). A few months earlier, the arrest of Saffron Revolution veteran and dual U.S.–Myanmar citizen Venerable Pinnya Jawta on terrorism charges highlighted the regime’s crackdown on dissenting monks (Radio Free Asia, December 6, 2024). Jawta was an activist opposed to military rule, and his arrest showcases the Sit-tat’s disdain for monks who fail to hold the party line.
No comments:
Post a Comment