nrupatunga
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'Buddhist bin Laden' or man of peace?
U Wirathu has been accused of inciting violence against Myanmar's Muslim minority with fiery sermons claiming the growth of Islam is putting Buddhism and Burmese culture at risk.
However, the 46-year-old monk insists he does not advocate violence against Muslims, who make up just 5 percent of the country's 60 million people.
"I believe Islam is a threat not just for Buddhism, but for the people and the country and the religion," he said.
According to Wirathu, it doesn't matter that Muslims make up a small proportion of Myanmar's population.
"When someone went into a school in Virginia armed and killed people there, it didn't matter that the teacher and the pupils were the majority," he offers as an illustration.
Folks any idea what exactly 969 signifies in buddhism????Wirathu is behind a pro-Buddhist movement, known as 969. Its badge has been appearing on businesses keen to promote their Buddhist credentials, and encourage other Buddhists to choose theirs over Muslim-run ones. The logo also increasingly appears at rallies and on pamphlets issued by religious and nationalist organizations describing Muslims as a threat.
Wirathu claims he came up with the idea of 969, numbers which represent Buddhist virtues.
For Muslims born in Myanmar, that is a hard view of patriotism to swallow. At a central mosque in Yangon, it's not something people like to discuss publicly, but they feel the discrimination against them is about more than religion.
"I don't believe this is really about religion," one imam said. "It is about certain people trying to gain political power. We Muslims have been here for 1,000 years and are Burmese too."