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Yangon Area Social Welfare Minister U Aung Win Thein presents choices to U Wirathu.
By The Irrawaddy 20 February 2023
The Myanmar navy’s Yangon Command on Saturday offered ‘Thiri Pyanchi’ titles conferred by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing to 2 Buddhist monks, together with firebrand nationalist monk U Wirathu.
The ceremony was held in Thiri Mingalar Maha Sasana Beikman, a non secular corridor primarily funded by Min Aung Hlaing in Yangon’s Insein Township.
In attendance was Yangon Command chief Main-Normal Nyunt Win Swe, who oversaw the hangings of 4 democracy activists together with Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw in July final 12 months. Additionally on the ceremony have been junta-appointed Yangon Area ministers, vice chairman of the navy’s proxy Union Solidarity and Growth Celebration former Lieutenant-Normal U Myo Zaw Thein; Yangon Area USDP chairman U Khin Maung Soe, who served as electrical energy minister in U Thein Sein’s administration; members of the ultranationalist Affiliation for Safety of Race and Faith, higher identified by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha; and members of the pro-military Younger Males’s Buddhist Affiliation (YMBA).
Maj-Gen Nyunt Win Swe made choices to the 2 monks whereas Yangon Area Social Welfare Minister U Aung Win Thein offered the Thiri Pyanchi to U Wirathu and U Myo Zaw Thein offered the title to Bhaddantaka Kavidaja, often known as Zwekabin Sayadaw.
Wirathu is infamous for his racial and non secular hate speeches. The monk whom Time journal as soon as dubbed the “Buddhist Bin Laden” spent a 12 months on the run from a sedition cost in 2019 over remarks he made about now-jailed State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He surrendered to authorities in November 2020 and was launched from jail in October 2021.
On the ceremony, the USDP donated three million kyats, and Ma Ba Tha and different nationalist teams donated over 70 million kyats to the 2 Thiri Pyanchi recipients.
The YMBA, of which Min Aung Hlaing is a lifetime honorary patron, additionally conferred the ‘Agga Maha Mingala Dhamma Jotika’ title on the 2 monks. The affiliation has granted the identical title to Min Aung Hlaing.
The next day noticed celebrations for the 84th birthday of former Ma Ba Tha chief Insein Ywama Sayadaw held at his monastery in Insein. In attendence have been Maj-Gen Nyunt Win Swe, U Myo Zaw Thein, U Khin Maung Soe, and Insein USDP chairman U Min Thu Tun.
Maj-Gen Nyunt Win Swe and U Myo Zaw Thein donated three million kyats every to Insein Ywama Sayadaw U Tilawka Bhivamsa, whom the regime final 12 months handed the title of Abhidhajamahāraṭṭhaguru, the best honor conferred to monks for contributing to the research of Buddhism.
Former Brigadier-Normal U Khin Yi, chairman of the navy’s proxy USDP additionally met with U Tilawka Bhivamsa, in December. Khin Yi stated he had sought recommendation from the previous Ma Ba Tha chairman.
Ma Ba Tha was born in 2012 out of the 969 motion, a nationalist marketing campaign that known as for a boycott of Muslim-owned companies. In 2013, members of 969 rebranded because the Affiliation for the Safety of Race and Faith, often called Ma Ba Tha.
Hate speech by the group sparked confrontations with the now-ousted Nationwide League for Democracy authorities. Ma Ba Tha was ultimately declared illegal in Might 2017 and has since rebranded because the Buddha Dhamma Prahita Basis.
Again in 2019, Myanmar navy spokesman Main-Normal Zaw Min Tun stated Ma Ba Tha was vital and should be supported within the title of Buddhism. Ma Ba Tha acted as a platform for the navy to assault Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD authorities. Aside from U Wirathu’s public criticism of the NLD authorities, the affiliation additionally issued publications that includes studies vital of the NLD.
The affiliation has been much less lively over the previous few years however has by no means died out, and with the backing by the Myanmar navy and the USDP, the group is more likely to rise once more. And Min Aung Hlaing and his fellow generals, who’ve all the time accused the NLD of failing to guard Buddhism, might already be hatching plots to abuse faith for his or her pursuits.
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