The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Govt Vows End to USDP Forerunner’s Branding of Villages
• As Buddha Bar Trial Drags On, Mother Says Charges ‘Difficult to Understand’
• Political Parties Pilot Gender Quotas
• After Govt Postpones Education Talks, Students Continue March to Rangoon
• Jade Mines Grind to a Halt in Hpakant
• Government Chastises UN Rights Envoy for Burma Criticism
• At Least 10 Dead After Army, TNLA Clash in Mongmit
• “Aung San Is Still More Popular Than Us! Maybe We Need More Cavalry Divisions?”
• Sri Lanka Slow to Release Prisoners, Return Land: Tamil Leaders
• Hardline Indian Hindus Become Modi’s Enemies From Within
• In the Shadow of Shwedagon, a Bahan Bazaar

Govt Vows End to USDP Forerunner’s Branding of Villages Posted: 04 Feb 2015 06:01 AM PST A 'Pyi Khaing Phyo village' on the way to Bagan in Mandalay Division. (Photo: Kyaw Zwa Moe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The government will act to ensure countless towns and villages that have for years been branded by the predecessor to the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are stripped of partisanship once more, the Ministry of Home Affairs says. Putting party names on signposts designating administrative jurisdictions was unsanctioned and violators would be subject to legal action under existing law, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint told Parliament's Lower House this week. His ministry would send instructions to state and division authorities to adhere strictly to the officially approved list of names for Burma's administrative jurisdictions, he said, adding that this would apply to the 73 districts, 330 townships, 417 cities and thousands of villages that officially make up administrative Burma. "We will order [relevant local authorities] to stick to the name list approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs. If not, we will take action in accordance with existing laws," Kyaw Zan Myint said on Monday. The deputy minister was responding to a question submitted by National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarian Khin San Hlaing on whether city and village signposts implying a kind of ownership or sponsorship by the Union Solidarity and Development Association—a quasi-civic organization that was later absorbed by the USDP—were legal. Villages and cities in Upper Burma are commonly labeled on signage as a "Pyi Khaing Phyo village," or include the words "Pyi Khaing Phyo" above the official name of a given administrative designation. In Burmese, Pyi Khaing Phyo translates to "State Solidarity Development" and has long been affiliated with the USDA. Tha Win, secretary of the USDP's Rangoon Division branch, told The Irrawaddy that all signposts bearing the Pyi Khaing Phyo tag were erected prior to the USDP's creation in 2010. He said most of the signposts were done in Upper Burma, where entire villages had joined the USDA and where the association had carried out development work. "We will be taking them down if it's not allowed," Tha Win said, while adding that the USDP's central office had not yet issued any instruction to do so. The effective branding of cities and villages draws notable parallels to a separate USDP campaign: Rangoon residents told The Irrawaddy last year that a flurry of road repairs were carried out in the lead up to the 2010 election, with signs claiming USDP credit for the public works improvements. Official names for all of the country's districts, townships, cities and villages are the product of the 1989 Adaptation of Expressions Law, which also saw the country's name officially changed from Burma to Myanmar. Speaking before Parliament, Khin San Hlaing suggested that the partisan branding was disadvantageous to her opposition NLD. "Why have the authorities not taken action yet? We would like to know whether it's allowed because [if it is legal], other parties also would like to do similar signposts," she said. Hla Maung Cho from the Union Election Commission (UEC) said the matter was "administrative" and not the concern of the election body. The post Govt Vows End to USDP Forerunner's Branding of Villages appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

As Buddha Bar Trial Drags On, Mother Says Charges ‘Difficult to Understand’ Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:49 AM PST Aye Than Than Htoo, the mother of defendant Htut Ko Ko Lwin, outside the Bahan Courthouse on Wednesday in Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The three defendants charged with religious defamation for posting an online image of the Buddha wearing headphones appeared in court on Wednesday for the seventh time since being detained in December. The court heard arguments on a charge relating to a licensing breach, brought after the three men—including a New Zealand national—were initially arraigned on two charges of causing religious offense in connection with the image, which was part of a promotional Facebook posting by V-Gastro Bar, where the trio worked as senior management. The image went viral online and caused a backlash from hardline Buddhists in Burma, who gathered in protest outside V-Gastro Bar in Rangoon's Bahan Township on Dec. 10. Aye Than Than Htoo, mother of the youngest of the three defendants Htut Ko Ko Lwin, spoke to The Irrawaddy outside the Bahan Courthouse on Wednesday about conditions she witnessed while visiting her son at Rangoon's Insein Prison. Aye Than Than Htoo, who traveled from her home in Japan to support her 26-year-old son, said she was deeply concerned about his health while in detention, saying he recently fell ill with a fever and had lost considerable weight. "The conditions are very dirty," she said. "I don't know if he has seen a doctor or not, or whether he needs a doctor—I'm not sure, but I will be asking him." Calling her son's trial "difficult to understand," Aye Than Than Htoo maintained that the defendants were innocent. "This is a picture," she said. "A picture is not criminal, they didn't commit a criminal act." Aye Than Than Htoo said she has visited her son weekly since his detention, though prison authorities only allow them 10-15 minutes to talk in an environment that she described as crowded and noisy. "At any one time, about 30 people meet and it is very noisy. Sometimes I cannot catch my son's voice because everybody sits very close together to talk." She described Htut Ko Ko Lwin as a devout Buddhist, saying that since childhood he was always mindful to avoid killing even small animals, and had returned to Burma in April 2014 with his Japanese father to perform his second stint as a monk, as is Burmese tradition. He was just beginning to settle into his new job as bar manager at V-Gastro, having put in only one week's work before being arrested. At Wednesday's hearing the judge questioned two of the defendants, Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin, and also Thein Win, the head of the Bahan Township police station, regarding Section 188 of the Penal Code, which pertains to failure to follow a government official's directive. The trio's next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17, when the New Zealand national Philip Blackwood's lawyer Mya Thwe said he expects all three defendants to be called again to give statements to the court. The post As Buddha Bar Trial Drags On, Mother Says Charges 'Difficult to Understand' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Political Parties Pilot Gender Quotas Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:40 AM PST Aung San Suu Kyi and Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann in Naypyidaw in March 2014. Suu Kyi is one of only 28 women elected to Burma's Union Parliament. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma is far from reaching gender parity in governance, but some political parties have begun adopting voluntary policies to empower women in Parliament. Electoral quotas typically take one of three forms: reserved parliamentary seats, legal candidate quotas and political party quotas. The first two are enshrined either in a constitution or in legislation at the state or national level, while the latter is voluntary. In Burma, affirmative action on gender inequality is not enshrined in state or national law, but some parties have independently adopted policies to begin to address the problem. At least two parties—the National Union Party (NUP) and the National Democratic Force (NDF)—are trying out some form of gender quotas while determining who will contest parliamentary seats in the upcoming 2015 general election. Burma's bicameral union legislature has the lowest proportion of female representation of any country in Southeast Asia. According to figures published by the Union Election Commission (UEC), only 28 of 479 elected seat-holders are women, less than 6 percent. That number accounts for 2.4 percent and 7 percent of the upper and lower houses, respectively. On the sub-national level, of 652 elected members of state and divisional parliaments, only 25 are women—less than 4 percent. This means that less than 5 percent of all elected representatives nationwide are women, though these figures do not factor in appointed seat holders, who make up 25 percent of the Union Parliament and about 33 percent of state and regional legislatures, and are predominantly male. During Burma's most recent general election, held in 2010 and largely viewed as fraudulent, the NUP put forth 30 women of more than 800 candidates for state, division and Union Parliament seats, while the NDF ran 30 female candidates out of 163. Three of those women won seats. The NLD did not participate in the 2010 polls, but by-elections in 2012 landed 43 of its members in Parliament. Twelve of them were women, making the NLD Burma's most gender-balanced political party by leaps and bounds. The USDP did not provide the number of women who contested in 2010, but data from the UEC indicates that only 2 percent of the party's current union-level parliamentarians are women. The Rangoon divisional secretary for the USDP, Tha Win, told The Irrawaddy that the party is prioritizing gender equity. "We estimate that one third of [USDP] candidates in Rangoon will be women," he said, an optimistic forecast given the party's record and the global tendency of gradual progress on closing gender gaps. Women currently occupy only about 21.9 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide, according to the Intra-Parliamentary Union, an international legislative forum. That number—still far lower than the 30 percent benchmark set by many women's rights advocates—was reached after a slow climb from 19.2 percent in early 2012, according to data from the United Nations. Women's empowerment is a high priority for the United Nations, seeded third on its eight-point list of millennium development goals with discrete targets set for 2015. A 2013 fact sheet marking progress toward those goals identifies women's education and ascension into democratically elected governments as an imperative concern for development, stating that "affirmative action continues to be the key driver of progress for women." The fact sheet further said that in parliaments worldwide, "[w]here quotas have been legislated, women took 24 per cent of parliamentary seats… Where no quotas were used, women took just 12 per cent of seats, well below the global average." The report differentiated between those countries where mechanisms were mandated by law and those that used voluntary quota systems, as some of Burma's parties have begun to do, concluding that voluntary quotas increased female leadership dramatically but still yielded 2 percent fewer winning candidates than legislated quotas. The systems outlined by the NUP and the NDF are still nebulous, and unlikely to result in a dramatic shift in gender ratios. So far, the NUP has committed to "focus more on seeking women candidates," according to spokesman Tun Yi. He said that the party aims to have at least one woman in consideration for candidacy in every constituency, which doesn't guarantee that they will actually be nominated and eligible to contest a seat. Nonetheless, Tun Yi told The Irrawaddy that, "nowadays, women's capabilities are more acknowledged, but without increasing the number of women candidates we can't get more [female] representation in Parliament." The NDF has set a goal of nominating at least 40 female candidates, 20 percent of its expected pool of 200 members seeking election, according to party Chairman Khin Maung Swe. Women's rights groups welcomed the initiative party leaders have taken toward increasing women's candidacy, but argued that even if a goal of 20 percent were reached, it couldn't possibly achieve markedly more representation because most of those candidates won't win. Moreover, the country's dominant party, the USDP, has made a prediction of inclusive elections but hasn't backed it up with a party policy. May Sabae Phyu, director of the Rangoon-based Gender Equality Network, has been an active advocate for measures by both political parties and lawmakers to increase the number of women who actually sit in seats of power, because, she said, women face "barriers" that would best be overcome by legislation designed by other women. "Women's participation at the decision-making level is still very low in this country," she said. "We urge the government and political parties to implement a quota system… Twenty percent is less than what we want." The post Political Parties Pilot Gender Quotas appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

After Govt Postpones Education Talks, Students Continue March to Rangoon Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:26 AM PST Student demonstrators in Magwe Division on Tuesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Students from across Burma, indignant at the government's decision to postpone quadripartite talks over reform of the National Education Law, are preparing to join demonstrators on the march to Rangoon. The government postponed discussions with students, lawmakers and education advocates in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, the day they were due to commence, stating that it was preoccupied with Union Day events and questioning whether a student delegation summoned to the capital was representative of wider sentiment among the demonstrators. "The government tricked us by postponing the meeting, so our protest from Irrawaddy Division has been restarted," Aung Kyaw, a member of Action Committee for Democratic Education (ACDE), told The Irrawaddy. More than 80 students from Irrawaddy Division resumed marching on Tuesday and have settled in for the evening near Kyaunggon after being welcomed by residents. Demonstrators from Mandalay, who have marched continuously since January, were temporarily joined by 800 residents on the march to Magwe Division's Taungdwingyi town after leaders gave a speech at a local university. "We went to Magwe Computer University and requested that the principal allow our presence," ACDE member Min Thwe Thit told The Irrawaddy. "We gave a speech at the university and we still have yet to be prevented from demonstrating." Four other groups intend to lead demonstrations into Rangoon in the coming days. ACDE member Pyae Phyo Kyaw said that students will assemble in Pakokku, Magwe Division on Friday and hold a protest rally in town for three days before traveling to Rangoon. A group of students in Dawei will begin a protest march on Thursday, while demonstrators in Arakan and Mon States have announced plans to begin protests within a week, pledging to travel to Rangoon and join other protesters if their support is necessary. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the Coordination Committee for Civil Society Organizations Forum, a body representing over 260 civil society groups, issued a statement urging quadripartite discussions to be held as soon as possible and for authorities to refrain from threatening or attacking student demonstrators. The post After Govt Postpones Education Talks, Students Continue March to Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Jade Mines Grind to a Halt in Hpakant Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:34 AM PST A mining region in Hpakant Township. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Jade mining operations in northern Burma's Kachin State have ground to a halt after more fighting between the military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) during the week, locals have told The Irrawaddy. While the Ministry of Mines said on Jan. 23 that operations will not be halted despite ongoing conflict in Hpakant Township, local reports suggest that almost all jade mines in the area have ceased production. "I heard that the jade mines near Lone Khin village have stopped all their operations," said Hpakant resident Hla San. "Jade mines have been burnt in recent days, that is why most of them do not dare to keep operating." More than 2,000 Hpakant residents were displaced in January after clashes between the KIA and the Burma Army, including bomb attacks at a police station and outside the well-known Jade City Hotel, leading to onerous travel restrictions in the township. Fighting has continued into the first week of February near Hpakant town. Locals have said they continue to fear for their safety. Conflicts have also arisen between mineworkers and locals prospecting by hand. During the Burmese government's suspension of jade mining, local prospectors entered mines to collect small-scale jade yields, and after operations resumed last September, prospectors were ejected from mine sites. Earlier this year, facilities at a mine belonging to Kyaing International, believed to be owned by the son of former Snr-Gen Than Shwe, was burned down by local prospectors in Hpakant. On Wednesday, state-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported that about 30 prospectors set fire to the Kyauk Sein Taung mining company's office in a separate incident on Jan. 31, injuring two staff members. Other mines have been forced to cease production because of conflict between the KIA and Burma Army. The Aung Hein Min mine in Mhawwangyi village was ordered to cease production by the KIA, according to local villager U Cho, and a staff member from the Thiraw Mani jade mine said continued fighting had made continued operations untenable. Min Thu, the assistant director of the Ministry of Mines, said that no company had announced plans to halt all their operations in Hpakant, despite a looming deadline for mining license renewal falling on Feb. 11. "It might be that some companies have temporarily stopped because of the recent situation. I don't know about the security situation in the area," he said. The KIA is one of the only major ethnic armed groups in Burma that has not reached a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the government, even as negotiators last month announced a push to sign a nationwide ceasefire accord by Union Day on Feb. 12. Kachin State is among the world's last remaining sources of jade. Resource extraction has long been a both a cause and a revenue stream for conflict between ethnic armed groups and the government in the area. Jade mining in the area was suspended for two years in 2012 following the breakdown of a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIA. The post Jade Mines Grind to a Halt in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Government Chastises UN Rights Envoy for Burma Criticism Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:06 AM PST Yanghee Lee speaks to reporters in Rangoon at the end of her 10-day visit to Burma on July 26, 2014. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday condemned the UN human rights envoy to Burma, saying many of her concerns "don't reflect the overall positive aspects of the current situation" and "interfere in state sovereignty and domestic jurisdiction," according to a press release from the ministry. The statement, published in Wednesday's state-run media, comes more than two weeks after Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, held a press conference on her observations at the end of a 10-day visit to the country. The ministry said it was responding to her remarks on "the term Rohingya, the package of controversial race and religion protection bills, land issues, political prisoners and media freedom." Like her predecessor Tomas Ojea Quintana, Lee did not shy away from criticizing Burma's government in her wrap-up assessment on Jan. 16, citing concerns with all of the abovementioned issues. On the word Rohingya, which the rapporteur used in her statement instead of the government's preferred "Bengali," the ministry said insistence on using the controversial terminology would only serve as a barrier to resolving ethnic tensions in Arakan State, where the Muslim minority's rights have been severely restricted since Muslim-Buddhist violence displaced more than 140,000 people, most of them Rohingya. "Use of such a term by the United Nations would certainly draw the strong resentment of the people of Myanmar, making the government's efforts to address the issue more difficult," the statement said. In response to Lee's criticism of four controversial bills purporting to protect Burma's majority-Buddhist character and opposed by human rights and women's advocates, the ministry said the legislation was being drafted pursuant to the will of the people. "Speculating and criticizing the products of the local legislating process is an attempt to influence public opinion as well as to instigate people," it added. Lee in her Jan. 16 statement called the bills "discriminatory" and "an illegitimate interference by the state into the rights of a woman." Due to her criticism of the bills, Lee was called a "whore" and "bitch" by the nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu at a public rally in Rangoon held to denounce her. Lee also pointed to shortcomings in the government's handling of the issues of land rights and political prisoners, to which the ministry said: "Given the large number of the areas of farmland in the country, land disputes can't be solved overnight," and that "reviewing political prisoners will be carried out in accordance with the existing laws," respectively. Another accusation made by the rapporteur—that the jailing of several journalists in Burma indicated backtracking on press freedoms—was also refuted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry claimed that no journalists had been apprehended for exercising their due rights but rather were facing charges for legitimate offenses they had committed, such as breaking into a restricted area. "No country will tolerate a breach of national security by any person. The state of Myanmar's media freedom can be compared not only to that of countries in the region but also the rest of the world," it said. Wednesday's statement was not the first time Lee has elicited an official government rebuke: President's Office director Zaw Htay also criticized the rapporteur for using the word Rohingya during her first trip to Burma in July 2014, just months after she succeeded Quintana. Her predecessor's relationship with the government was also acrimonious at times, a tradition that looks set to continue. "The special rapporteur should fulfill her mandate in a professional and prudent manner," the ministry's statement said. "Her visit should not leave the country and people of Myanmar with discord, distrust and incitement." Aung Myo Min of Equality Myanmar told The Irrawaddy that unlike its past mentality, the government appeared to be more sensitive to international perceptions—and was trying to counter a negative narrative. "But rather than saying Ms. Yanghee Lee is unprofessional, they should ask themselves why these things have been said," he added. The post Government Chastises UN Rights Envoy for Burma Criticism appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least 10 Dead After Army, TNLA Clash in Mongmit Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:00 AM PST TNLA troops at an Independence Day celebration in January. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Three days of fighting between the Burmese military and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has seen casualties on both sides of the conflict, with reports that the Burma Air Force is conducting sorties over the ethnic army's troops in Mongmit Township, Shan State. TNLA officers say that nine Burma Army soldiers have been killed in the conflict, which flared up on Monday while its patrol was attempting to clear poppy farms in Pan Htee Lar village, on the border of Mandalay Division. The TNLA said that the attack was prompted by an army retaliation against the patrol's detention of two poppy farmers, and that one of its soldiers has been killed in the fighting on Monday. State-run newspaper The Mirror reported today that 10 members from the TNLA and five Burma Army soldiers were killed during fighting on Monday and Tuesday. Disputing the TNLA account, The Mirror said the clash broke out in nearby Shwe Nyaung Pin village, after troops pursued TNLA forces who had detained the two villagers for refusing to pay taxes to the armed group. Mai Aike Kyaw, the TNLA communications officer, denied the accusation. "Since we formed our army, we never demanded money from our people," he said. "We only seek to recruit soldiers from our people, and only from those who are 18 years old and over." The TNLA says the Burma Air Force was deployed from Lashio on Tuesday as fighting intensified, but reports of the latest casualties have yet to emerge from the frontline. "They used helicopters and a jet to attack our troops. They also attacked some of the villagers near to the fighting," said Mai Aike Kyaw. Residents have fled from five villages immediately west of Shwe Nauyng Pin, around the road between Mogoke and Mongmit, have fled their homes in the aftermath of airstrikes on Tuesday between 4pm and 7pm, according to an ethnic Palaung resident of Lel Thae village. He said there had been civilian casualties after an attack on the hilltop village of Pan See Lar. "We heard the air force shot at their homes. We heard that seven people were wounded and a pregnant woman died," he said. About 200 people are staying at a nearby Buddhist monastery after leaving their homes, according to the villager. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the villager's report of civilian casualties. Presidential spokesman Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy that the President's Office had yet to receive confirmation of any Burma Air Force sorties in Mongmit. The military has yet to provide a press liaison officer for the media. The Burmese government has been pushing for a nationwide ceasefire agreement to coincide with Union Day on Feb. 12, a prospect rapidly receding into the background with an escalation of violence around northern Shan State. Two Kachin schoolteachers were found raped and murdered in Kutkai Township on Jan. 20, and the badly burnt bodies of four Kachin civilians, who locals said had earlier been arrested by Burma Army troops, were recovered near Muse on Feb. 1. Tar Aik Bong, the chairman of the TNLA, told The Irrawaddy last month that the TNLA was not in a position to conclude a ceasefire agreement with the government. "We could not conclude a ceasefire agreement after only meeting [with government peace negotiators] one time," he said. "We could only sign a ceasefire agreement when we are given the right to more talks." The TNLA and the Kachin Independence Army are the only two major ethnic armed groups that have yet to sign bilateral ceasefires with the central government. The post At Least 10 Dead After Army, TNLA Clash in Mongmit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

“Aung San Is Still More Popular Than Us! Maybe We Need More Cavalry Divisions?” Posted: 03 Feb 2015 11:16 PM PST “Aung San is still more popular than us! Maybe we need more cavalry divisions?” The post “Aung San Is Still More Popular Than Us! Maybe We Need More Cavalry Divisions?” appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Slow to Release Prisoners, Return Land: Tamil Leaders Posted: 03 Feb 2015 09:33 PM PST Members of the Sri Lankan army walk along a road in the Tamil district of Mullaitivu (Photo: Nita Bhalla / Reuters) COLOMBO — Ethnic Tamil leaders told a visiting US diplomat on Tuesday that Sri Lanka’s new government is not moving fast enough to free prisoners detained without trial and return private land seized by the military during a decades-long civil war. US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal met with Tamil National Alliance leaders as part of her two-day visit to Sri Lanka. Lawmaker MA Sumanthiran said the party had hoped the government would release some prisoners before the country’s independence day on Wednesday and would quickly hand back land to its owners. The surprise election victory of President Maithripala Sirisena last month and his government’s early steps to end repression have stirred hopes in Washington that Sri Lanka and the US can revive strained ties. After meeting with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Monday, Biswal said Sri Lanka could count on the US "to be a partner and a friend in the way forward." Samaraweera is scheduled to visit Washington next week. Sirisena’s government has promised to take steps to achieve reconciliation between minority Tamils and majority Sinhalese. "We see some lethargy, some delay," Sumanthiran said. "We told the US to encourage the government to [move] fairly quickly." Sumanthiran also said his party discussed power sharing as a political solution to the long ethnic conflict on the island. Tamil leaders have accused the government of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa of reneging on its promise to offer a degree of self-rule after the civil war. There was no immediate comment from the US side. The US Embassy said it would release a statement on Wednesday. US-Sri Lanka relations were strained over Rajapaksa’s reluctance to investigate thousands of reported civilian deaths in the final months of the conflict in 2009, when government forces crushed Tamil rebels who had been fighting for an ethnic homeland. A United Nations report said earlier up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the last months. Accurate estimates of the number of deaths in the 26-year war are not available. The US sponsored a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council last year calling for an investigation into war crimes allegations, and a report from the probe is scheduled to be released in March. The post Sri Lanka Slow to Release Prisoners, Return Land: Tamil Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hardline Indian Hindus Become Modi’s Enemies From Within Posted: 03 Feb 2015 09:28 PM PST Indian priest-turned-lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj poses at his residence in New Delhi on Jan. 30, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) RISHIKESH, India — In an ashram near the Ganges River in the Himalayan foothills, Indian priest-turned-politician Sakshi Maharaj mimes rowing a boat to illustrate what will happen if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ignores Hindu nationalist demands. "Modi will have to be a boatman: one oar must focus on the economy and the other must concentrate on the Hindu agenda," says Maharaj, clad in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on a bed. He twirls his bejeweled fingers in the air, explaining that otherwise the boat will spin in circles. The Hindu priest, who has been charged with rioting and inciting communal violence, is the embodiment of hardline religious elements in Modi's party whose strident behavior is dragging on the government's economic reform agenda. In recent months, Maharaj has created uproar by describing Mahatma Gandhi's Hindu nationalist assassin as a patriot, saying Hindu women should give birth to four children to ensure the religion survives and by calling for Hindus who convert to Islam and Christianity to be given the death penalty. For the first time since the election last year, some lawmakers in Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are rebelling against his focus on mending the economy and governance at the expense of promoting Hinduism. This is testing the authority of a leader who captured power to a degree not seen since Indira Gandhi ruled India more than three decades ago. Hardline Hindu politicians impatient with Modi's refusal to champion their cause are beginning to advance their own agendas. Maharaj, for example, wants to make it illegal for Hindus to change religions and seeks the death penalty for slaughtering cows, an animal revered by Hindus. Protests erupted at the most recent parliamentary session over a campaign by hardliners to convert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, torpedoing key foreign investment legislation that the opposition had earlier agreed to pass. Modi had to use executive orders to drive policy, but they are seen as a stopgap measure that cannot replace reforms needed to address India's slowing economic growth. "Modi has a major problem with these extremist elements," said S. Chandrasekharan, director of the South Asia Analysis Group in New Delhi. "If he can't bring them under control they are going to … sap the energy needed to carry out reforms." In a sign the world is watching, US President Barack Obama warned on a recent visit that India's success depended on it not splintering along religious lines. 'I Am a Powerful Man' At the spiritual retreat, or ashram, elderly disciples with long grey beards bend to kiss the feet of Maharaj, who wears light brown socks with sandals, an orange turban, gold-framed Dolce and Gabbana glasses and a chunky gold-colored watch. With a self-proclaimed following of 10 million people, Maharaj, a four-time member of parliament, draws support through a network of dozens of ashrams and colleges. "I am aware that I am a powerful man," Maharaj says. "I can make or break the government." Maharaj is charged by police with rioting and inciting a mob after helping tear down a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya in 1992, an event sparking riots in which around 2,000 people died. He admits being present at the demolition but says he could not stop the crowds. In India, trials can take decades because of a shortage of judges. Modi will have a clearer idea of whether radical elements are alienating voters when the BJP fights elections in New Delhi. Also this month, the government must present the budget and try to enact three emergency decrees in parliament. In December, Modi told lawmakers their behavior was hurting the party and warned them not to cross the Lakshman Rekha, a forbidden line in Hindu mythology, according to party officials briefed on the meeting. "The message is loud and clear: there is no room for any diversion from the economy," said G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a spokesman for the BJP. The battle for the government's direction is particularly acute for Modi, because he and his party are ideologically rooted in Hindutva, or Hinduness, a concept sometimes defined in strident opposition to Muslims and Christians. Modi himself has consistently denied accusations that, as chief minister of Gujarat, he did not do enough to prevent riots in which more than 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims. A Supreme Court inquiry found no evidence to prosecute him. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the powerful ideological wing of the BJP, supports lawmakers like Maharaj who are working to make India a Hindu nation, said a senior RSS official who asked not to be named. "We will support them because it is all for a Hindu cause," he said. There was no evidence to suggest that the RSS was actively involved in pushing the hardliners' agenda, however. Modi's ties with radical Hindus "can be best described as a game of chess," said Ramchandra Guha, one of India's leading historians. "Both sides are on board when it comes to establishing the Hindu supremacist agenda, but they want to follow a different strategy to achieve it." Maharaj says most Indians, including Modi, privately share his views, and he will continue promoting Hindu supremacy. "The only difference is he is refined and maybe we are crass," Maharaj says of Modi. "We may have to fine-tune the message but the message will remain the same." The post Hardline Indian Hindus Become Modi's Enemies From Within appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In the Shadow of Shwedagon, a Bahan Bazaar Posted: 03 Feb 2015 04:00 PM PST Bahan Market in Rangoon hosts hundreds of vendors and customers each day. (Photo: Timo Jaworr / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Just around the corner from the heavily trafficked eastern entrance of glittering Shwedagon Pagoda is another vibrant place: Bahan Market, a traditional street bazaar in Rangoon that is open seven days a week. Around the old building that houses the market are dozens of vendors tending shops that sell pocket-size to towering Buddha statues, ropes, candles, umbrellas, sweets, wooden handicrafts and more. But the real visual feast is playing out inside, where fresh seafood, meat, herbs and innumerable vegetables and fruits are traded. Customers stroll through the small alleys that crisscross the market, carrying bags laden with purchases. Those who are not in a hurry stop for a short while to drink a cup of sweet tea or slurp up a bowl of hot noodle soup in one of the small food stalls that are interspersed among the bustling hub of commerce. The post In the Shadow of Shwedagon, a Bahan Bazaar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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