The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• World Bank Offers Funds for Burma’s National Power Plan
• Yay Pu Abbot Seeks New Trial Venue, Citing Police ‘Disrespect’
• Two Shot During Bus Robbery in Mon State
• With a Rocket’s Red Glare? N. Korea Gears Up for Major Fete
• Malaysian Police Fire Water Cannons at Malay Protesters
• Popular Philippine Senator Announces Bid for Presidency
• Protecting Cows: A Buddhist Tradition Revived?
• With Official Help, Radical Buddhists Target Muslim Businesses

World Bank Offers Funds for Burma’s National Power Plan Posted: 17 Sep 2015 05:35 AM PDT Power lines in Mon State. The World Bank approved an interest-free loan to Burma of US$400 million on Wednesday to aid the country's National Electrification Plan and its ambitious goal of ensuring nationwide access to electricity by 2030.  (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The World Bank approved an interest-free loan to Burma of US$400 million on Wednesday to aid the country's ambitious National Electrification Plan and its goal of ensuring nationwide access to electricity by 2030. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Bank said the loan would assist expansion of Burma's national electricity grid and facilitate the building of "off-grid power solutions in rural areas." "This $400 million project will help connect towns to the grid and turn on lights in schools, clinics and remote villages. We welcome and support Myanmar's goal to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030," said the World Bank's Southeast Asia Country Director Ulrich Zachau in the press release. Over 70 percent of people in Burma currently have no access to electricity, the World Bank said. Yan Lin, chief engineer at the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC), told The Irrawaddy that the country's electrification plan would proceed in two phases, with priority given to expanding electricity access to towns and villages within two miles of the existing national grid. In the second phase, power distribution networks would be expanded to areas within five miles of grid access, with the final aim of nationwide coverage. The World Bank forecasts the six-year project will benefit over 6 million people, bringing electricity to more than 1.2 million households throughout the country. "Rangoon will get full electricity coverage early," said Yan Lin, adding that 74 percent of the commercial capital was covered by the national grid. "We expect it will get [full access] as early as 2019," he said. In January, YESC pledged to provide 24-hour electricity to residential areas in Rangoon during the city's sweltering summer. That promise proved optimistic, however, with residents complaining of ongoing blackouts which the city's electricity authorities blamed on high rates of consumption. The country's biggest city accounts for more than half of the average daily power consumption nationwide—over 2,000 megawatts. In Burma's 2014 census, only 32.4 percent of respondents cited electricity as their main source of energy for lighting. Almost 70 percent of respondents said firewood was their primary source of energy for cooking, well ahead of electricity, at 16.4 percent.   The post World Bank Offers Funds for Burma's National Power Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yay Pu Abbot Seeks New Trial Venue, Citing Police ‘Disrespect’ Posted: 17 Sep 2015 05:21 AM PDT   Yay Pu Monastery in Mogok. (Photo: Ko Soe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Lawyers acting for the abbot of Yay Pu Monastery in Mogok, who has been charged with illegal gem mining by the government, say they will seek to change the trial venue after police officers brought weapons into a district courtroom. U Eindaka was arrested by Mogok police on June 9 after the Ministry of Mines filed a complaint under Section 41 of the Gems Law. The monk, who was demolishing old stupas in his monastery for the construction of a new pagoda, was accused of sifting through the earth in search of gems. At a trial session in the Pyin Oo Lwin District Court, police officers brought guns into the courtroom during U Eindaka's hearing, said lawyer Thein Than Oo. "We feel that the Pyin Oo Lwin Dsitrict Court treated the Sayadaw rudely," he told The Irrawaddy. "The monk says he does not trust the judge and we'll therefore apply for trial at another court in Mandalay District." According to Burmese court procedures, police are not allowed to carry guns within 50 yards of a courtroom. U Eindaka, an influential monk in the Mandalay area, first came to prominence as a leader of demonstrations during the 2007 Saffron Revolution in the Mogok area. He is also facing charges of defaming religion and breaching the Forestry Law, and is currently on remand at Obo Prison in Mandalay. Soe Htay of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society said that a support rally for U Eindaka will be staged in the near future.   The post Yay Pu Abbot Seeks New Trial Venue, Citing Police 'Disrespect' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Two Shot During Bus Robbery in Mon State Posted: 17 Sep 2015 05:08 AM PDT   One of passenger buses attacked by an armed group on the Ye-Moulmein Road in Mon State. (Photo: Nandar Kyaw / Facebook) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — A group of armed men dressed in camouflage shot at and robbed a convoy of passenger buses in Mon State on Tuesday, injuring two and robbing travelers, according to the Ye Township Police Force. The group fired warning shots into the air at around 1am on Tuesday, in an attempt to force eight buses off the Ye-Moulmein Road near Hnin Sone village. When none of the vehicles stopped, the group turned their weapons on the vehicles, said police Cpl. Zaw Min. "They shot in the air to stop cars in order to extort money," he told The Irrawaddy. "As they did not stop, the group shot at the vehicles. Two people were injured by the gunfire." Min Min, a driver for the Lucky Star bus line was grazed by a bullet on the left side of his face. The seriousness of the injury is not yet clear. A bus conductor of the Shwe Pale Thi bus line was also wounded in the thigh. Both men were rushed to the Ye People's Hospital and are receiving medical treatment. Two passengers were also robbed of 180,000 kyats (US138) and a Huawei smartphone, according to reports in the state-run Myanmar Ahlin daily on Thursday. The Ye Township police station is investigating Tuesday's incident. In a similar incident in Mon State's Thaton Township in 2013, a driver and a passenger were shot dead after a group of five assailants stopped and robbed a passenger bus bound for Rangoon.   The post Two Shot During Bus Robbery in Mon State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

With a Rocket’s Red Glare? N. Korea Gears Up for Major Fete Posted: 16 Sep 2015 09:52 PM PDT   North Korean leader Kim Jong-un receives applause as he guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on April 24, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PYONGYANG, North Korea — China just put on a big military parade, a few months after Russia did the same. But there's no country more adept at putting on elaborate, massive displays of state power than North Korea, the undisputed goose-stepping capital of the world, and next month, Pyongyang will stage what is likely to be its biggest celebration in years. Question is: Will it come with a rocket launch? A nuclear test? Or both? North Korea is already in high gear as it prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling party. Students and workers are being mobilized by the thousands to practice their parts in the grand show—some carrying wooden torches, others bouquets of red plastic flowers. Shock brigades of soldier-builders are toiling around the clock to paint bridges, build stages and finish high-rise apartments. To pretty up the capital, Pyongyang now even has bicycle lanes. What exactly is in store for the Oct. 10 anniversary remains a mystery. The government has been typically mum on its plans, though a military parade and appearance by leader Kim Jong-Un would seem to be pretty safe bets. Adding to the buzz, senior officials speaking in interviews with the North's state-run media over the past few days have dropped hints that the real fireworks might not happen in Pyongyang at all. On Monday, the head of North Korea's space agency said the country has the right to launch rockets any time it sees fit and suggested Pyongyang is preparing to put its second satellite into orbit. He didn't explicitly state a launch was in the works, and open-source satellite imagery doesn't show a rocket is being readied. But a new space mission would have great domestic propaganda value, and many North Korea watchers have been expecting one around the time of the anniversary. The North claims its rockets are meant for scientific purposes. Washington, Seoul and their allies believe they are used as a pretext for testing long-range missile technology, which it is banned from doing under UN sanctions. The rocket remarks were followed Tuesday by a senior nuclear official's claim that the North has "rearranged, changed or readjusted" the plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities at its main Nyongbyon nuclear complex. He said it has started normal operations and scientists have improved the capabilities of the country's nuclear weapons "in quality and quantity." Both avenues of research are essential to North Korea's military strategy of perfecting a nuclear weapon small enough to be mounted on a reliable, long-range missile that could hit targets in the United States. Every long-range rocket launch and nuclear test gets Pyongyang closer to that goal. "If [North Korea] launches a missile or tests nuclear weapons, it is a grave provocation. And it is a military threat," South Korea Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters in Seoul on Wednesday. "We will properly and sternly deal with the matter in cooperation with the international community." That might be jumping the gun a bit. South Korean officials have said they are confident they could detect preparations for a nuclear test a month in advance, and one week for a rocket launch. Last week, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told the National Assembly no such indications have been observed. In a report published Tuesday by the US-based 38 North website, analysts Jack Liu and Joseph Bermudez, using satellite imagery, also reported no signs of an imminent launch from the North's Sohae facility. Keeping North Korea-watchers guessing about whether it will launch or test helps Pyongyang ensure that its October spectacle gets attention. The event will be something to see in any case. After North Korea held its last big blowout, for the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War in 2013, military analysts were busy for months trying to understand the capabilities of all the missiles it rolled out. There was also an ominous-looking unit bearing the international symbol for radioactivity—probably troops who specialize in nuclear, biological or chemical attacks. Analysts determined that one missile was at best a mock-up and possibly a flat-out fake. The truck it was paraded on turned out to have likely come from China, which sparked a debate in the United Nations over whether international sanctions had been violated. Kim Jong-un watched the parade from a special reviewing stand in one of his first public appearances before a big international audience after assuming power in December 2011. The North invited hordes of foreign journalists, and Kim gave them a huge surprise by making himself available for photos at a newly opened war museum. Photographers found themselves suddenly within arm's length of the world's youngest and most mysterious leader. Some journalists shouted questions but were ignored. For the upcoming event, flights to Pyongyang are already fully booked. Hotels normally used for foreigners are filling up so fast that some visitors have been warned they may have to double or triple up. The guest list of foreign VIPs remains a matter of speculation, but may be less than stellar. Kim, who has yet to make a state visit abroad, chose not to travel to Beijing or Moscow to attend their recent parades, both of which marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. So it is unlikely that China or Russia, North Korea's primary allies, will send their leaders to Pyongyang.   The post With a Rocket's Red Glare? N. Korea Gears Up for Major Fete appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysian Police Fire Water Cannons at Malay Protesters Posted: 16 Sep 2015 09:43 PM PDT A "Red Shirt" demonstrator walks past the Malaysian flag at a rally to celebrate Malaysia Day and to counter a massive protest held recently that called for Prime Minister Najib Razak's resignation over a graft scandal, Kuala Lumpur, September 16, 2015. (Photo: Olivia Harris / Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Police fired water cannons at ethnic Malays who turned unruly Wednesday at a pro-government rally that many fear has the potential to provoke racial trouble in this multiethnic nation with large Chinese and Indian minorities. The rally—a collection of several marches that converged on a central field near Parliament—was ostensibly called to emphasize the dominance of Malays in Malaysia, as well as to support the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is under pressure to resign over a US$700 million financial scandal. But the rally is also being seen as a challenge to the country's Chinese and Indian origin residents, who participated in large numbers in an anti-Najib rally on Aug. 29 and 30. Unlike that rally, which police banned, the Malay parade was allowed to go ahead by authorities, albeit with a warning that the demonstrators not carry banners or posters with racial overtones. "I am here to defend Malay dignity and dominance," said Rahamah Abdul Majid, one of the protesters. "We must not let others take over our country." Police estimated the crowd at 35,000 people. Red-shirted demonstrators blew horns and chanted "Long live the Malays." Some carried banners that read, "People unite to defend the government of the people's choice." Most of the thousands of protesters demonstrated peacefully, but several hundred tried to push through barricades into Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, with some throwing rocks and plastic bottles at police and shouting "This is Malay land." Riot police retaliated by firing chemical-laced water from a fire truck. City police said two police officers suffered light injuries during the melee and two protesters were arrested. The rally included Cabinet members and leaders from Najib's ruling United Malays National Organization, or UMNO party, the dominant group in the ruling coalition that has held power since independence in 1957. It draws its support from Malay Muslims, who are about 60 percent of the country's 30 million people. Many see themselves as the rightful owners of Malaysia's history, heritage and governmental power. The other name for the Malays, Bumiputras, means sons of the soil. Some Malays see the Chinese, who represent 25 percent of Malaysia's population, and the Indians, who comprise 10 percent, as outsiders because they are not the original inhabitants and came as traders, laborers, plantation workers and civil servants during the British colonial period and in earlier waves of migration. Although some Malays also oppose Najib, most of the Chinese and Indians have moved away from supporting his government in recent years. Deputy Trade Minister Ahmad Maslan, who is also information chief of the UMNO, told local media that he joined the rally Wednesday as a "show of support for the government" amid challenges including the local currency's sharp plunge. The Malaysian ringgit is down 26 percent from a year earlier, breaching 4 ringgit to the dollar last month, its weakest level in 17 years. Najib, who came to power in 2009, did not openly endorse the rally, but has said he would not stop UMNO members from joining. The prime minister has been fighting for political survival after documents leaked in July showed he received some $700 million in his private accounts from entities linked to indebted state fund 1MDB. He later said the money was a donation from the Middle East and fired a deputy who was critical of him, four other Cabinet members and the attorney general investigating him. He is also saddled with allegations of mismanagement at 1MDB. Najib has vowed he won't quit and said Malaysia is not a failed state. James Chin, who heads the Asia Institute at Australia's University of Tasmania, said the rally showed that the UMNO, which heads a multiethnic coalition, was using the racial card to muster support for the party. "It's a distraction from Najib and the 1MDB issue," he said. Support for Najib's National Front has eroded in the last two general elections. It won in 2013, but lost the popular vote for the first time to an opposition alliance. The post Malaysian Police Fire Water Cannons at Malay Protesters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Popular Philippine Senator Announces Bid for Presidency Posted: 16 Sep 2015 09:37 PM PDT Philippine Senator Grace Poe, daughter of late local movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., waves to her supporters during her proclamation rally inside the University of the Philippines in Quezon city, metro Manila September 16, 2015. (Photo: Romeo Ranoco / Reuters) MANILA — A popular Philippine senator and daughter of one of the country's most famous movie couples announced Wednesday her candidacy in next year's presidential election, promising to defend disputed territories in the South China Sea and speed up Internet connections. Grace Poe has topped recent popularity surveys and is likely to be among at least three main contenders to succeed President Benigno Aquino III, whose six-year term ends in June in one of Asia's most rambunctious democracies. Former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who has been endorsed by Aquino, and current Vice President Jejomar Binay have made public their presidential ambitions. Binay, however, has not formally declared his candidacy. Aquino and Roxas had tried to convince Poe to run as Roxas' vice presidential candidate. Roxas wished her good luck Wednesday following her announcement. Standing on a stage at the state-run University of the Philippines, Poe, 47, promised to continue Aquino's battle against corruption and address many concerns of ordinary Filipinos: poverty, crime, huge traffic jams, high power and income tax rates, the plight of overseas workers and even slow Internet speeds. "We will hold accountable the crooked, whether friend or foe," Poe said. "It is only right to continue the fight against corruption." She said she would open peace negotiations with all insurgent groups and pledged to strengthen the country's ill-equipped coast guard and military to be able to defend territories in the South China Sea. "The West Philippine Sea is ours," Poe said, using the name the government employs for the disputed region. "We must protect it and not let it slip from our grasp by exhausting all peaceful and legal means." The US-educated former preschool teacher, who lived and worked for years in America, has faced questions about her citizenship and whether she meets residency requirements for presidential candidates. She insists she is qualified to run and is ready to provide evidence. Poe entered politics in 2013 and won her Senate seat by a wide margin. She is running as an independent without the backing of a formidable political party's machinery. She, however, has something to compensate: a famous family name. She is the adopted daughter of Susan Roces and the late Fernando Poe Jr., who were immensely popular in the local movie industry in the past and remain widely known. Her father ran for president in 2004 but lost to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid allegations of widespread cheating, which Arroyo has denied. Poe's life story—her mother says she was found abandoned in a Catholic church shortly after birth, her umbilical cord still attached, and was later adopted by the Poes—can be an advantage in a country where many voters are swayed more by personality than issues. The legacy of her father, who often portrayed champions of the poor and the oppressed, featured prominently in Poe's speech. She also touched on her beginnings and twist of fate. "Who would've thought that a foundling would ever lay foot in the Senate?" Poe asked. "I thank you for giving me that opportunity." The post Popular Philippine Senator Announces Bid for Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Protecting Cows: A Buddhist Tradition Revived? Posted: 16 Sep 2015 08:04 PM PDT A Muslim man walks on a busy street in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Khun Lat / Myanmar Now) A campaign by members of the nationalist group Ma Ba Tha to shut down cattle slaughterhouses, which has hit many of these Muslim-owned businesses in Irrawaddy Division, is not the first Buddhist monk-led campaign that has tried to save cows from slaughter in Burma. At the turn of the 20th century, influential abbot Ledi Sayardaw espoused the idea that Burmese Buddhists should stop killing cattle because farmers depended on them as beasts of burden to maintain their livelihoods. British colonial administrators posed a threat to Burma's cattle, according to Ledi Sayardaw, as they had no qualms about eating beef. The beef boycott movement became very successful, was promoted by other monks, and took on particular significance for Burmese nationalists seeking independence from Britain. "The idea was that Nwas (cows), they work in the fields, they sustain [farmers] with milk and they are the capital for the Burmese," said Dutch anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, adding that India's Hindu and Brahman practice of venerating bovines also influenced Buddhist traditions of respecting cows. "The two things combined, that’s what makes it an issue for Ledi Sayadaw. The idea was that the British would come in and set up abattoirs, and they would kill all the buffaloes in the fields [to eat them]," said Houtman, who has studied Burma for decades. "He didn't target Muslims. On the contrary, because it was the British that they were worried about…They might kill all the working capital of the people," he said. In 1961 under Prime Minister U Nu, who was a devout Buddhist, the government enacted a law that largely banned the slaughter of cattle. The law, which was later abolished when the military staged a coup in 1962, required Muslims to apply for exemption licenses to slaughter cattle on religious holidays. Than Than Nu, U Nu's daughter, told Myanmar Now that her father never intended to discriminate against Muslims but banned killing cattle out of his convictions about bovines, which echoed those of Ledi Sayadaw. "Our family never eats beef simply because we all have to depend so much on cattle. There is no other reason. We owe them a lot. Personally, I do not eat the meat of any four-footed animals, and now I have become a vegetarian," she said. Despite this history of caring for bovines out of Buddhist compassion, many restaurants in Burma serve beef and many people, including monks, have no problem with eating it. Opinions are divided among the clergy over the importance of abstaining from beef or meat in general, with some monks citing the Buddhist canon that states that one can eat anything available as long as it is done "with an awareness" and "without attachment to the taste". Even among prominent figures in the Ma Ba Tha there appeared to be diverging opinions when the issue of cattle slaughter and beef eating was debated during a nationalist monks convention in Rangoon in June. Firebrand monk U Wirathu tried to raise the issue of whether mass slaughter of animals for religious purposes should be banned, in what appeared to be an attempt to provoke a negative reaction from the audience about the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, which entails ritual cattle slaughter. A nun in the audience responded by saying that she was a strict vegetarian in accordance with Buddhist principles and stated that no animals should be killed, nor should meat be served during religious meetings such as the convention. The remarks raised eyebrows among the hundreds of Ma Ba Tha monks and abbots, who had just enjoyed the pork curries served to them. U Wirathu, visibly irked, said the nun had misunderstood his argument and had digressed from the issue he was raising. Soon after, he lost control of the discussion again as some monks began to argue that banning a ritual of a different faith would be a violation of a Burmese citizen's fundamental human rights. This article originally appeared on Myanmar Now. The post Protecting Cows: A Buddhist Tradition Revived? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

With Official Help, Radical Buddhists Target Muslim Businesses Posted: 16 Sep 2015 07:45 PM PDT A Muslim man walks on a busy street in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Khun Lat / Myanmar Now) ATHOKE, Irrawaddy Division — Last year a Muslim businessman called Lwin Tun set up a factory in Labutta, a town in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta. He spent $330,000 on buildings and cooling systems, but couldn’t buy the product his factory was meant to process: meat. That’s because Labutta’s seven cattle slaughterhouses, also Muslim-owned, had suddenly gone out of business. In January 2014 they had tried to renew their licenses, but local authorities had already sold them to an association led by members of the radical Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha. The Muslim slaughterhouses went bust—and so, after just three months, did Lwin Tun’s meat-processing factory. Burma's Muslim minority make up about 5 percent of the country’s predominantly Buddhist population and Muslims living in the delta rely heavily on the slaughterhouse business and the beef trade. Religious tensions simmered in Burma for almost half a century of military rule, boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power. Now Muslim businesses have become the target of anti-Islamic sentiment propagated by radical Buddhists who have found a powerful voice in Burma's more open political landscape. Since late 2013, a campaign supported by Ma Ba Tha has forced dozens of Muslim-owned slaughterhouses and beef-processing facilities across the Irrawaddy Division to shut down, with thousands of cows seized from their Muslim owners, a Myanmar Now investigation has found. Other Muslims whose businesses have survived have watched their incomes plummet. Government documents obtained by Myanmar Now and interviews with officials show that Irrawaddy Division's top officials supported the campaign against Muslim slaughterhouses. Radical Buddhist activists also received government permission to transport hundreds of seized cows to Arakan State in western Burma, the scene of violence between Arakanese Buddhists and mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims. There, they donated the animals to Buddhists who have resettled from eastern Bangladesh. Lwin Tun, 49, also has interests in construction, real estate and hotels in the delta and in the commercial capital Rangoon. But thanks to Ma Ba Tha, he said, his business prospects in Labutta look bleak. “Campaign activities calling for a boycott of Muslim-owned businesses have been going on in the town,” he said. “Pamphlets are being handed out. Police know about it, but they don’t take action.” Religious Freedom The campaign against the slaughterhouses and beef trade threatens both livelihoods and religious freedoms, Muslims told Myanmar Now. The shortage of cattle and tightening of government restrictions prevented Muslim communities in the delta from celebrating last year’s Eid al-Adha festival, where cows are slaughtered in accordance with Islamic tradition. “This activity constitutes a direct violation of our fundamental religious rights,” said Al Haji Aye Lwin, chief convener of Rangoon's Islamic Centre. “I estimate (Muslim) businesses in general are losing about 30 percent of their profits.” Kyaw Sein Win, a spokesman for Ma Ba Tha at its Rangoon headquarters, said saving lives was central to Buddhist philosophy. "We are not deliberately targeting (Muslim) businesses. They would kill animals as they believe this is how they gain merit. That's the main difference between us and them," he told Myanmar Now in a phone interview. Burma has seen a rise in sectarian tension and anti-Muslim rhetoricled by nationalist Buddhist movements since 2011, when the military handed power to a nominally civilian government made up of former generals. The country’s faltering democratic transition will take its next step with elections on Nov. 8, the first in decades to be contested by all main opposition parties. Ma Ba Tha, also known as the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, has gained prominence in Burma's nascent democracy. It was founded in June 2013, following outbreaks of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. The group says Burma and Buddhism are under threat from Islam and has managed to get four so-called “Race and Religion” bills—seemingly designed to discriminate against Muslims—supported by Union Parliament. On September 14, the group began a series of celebrations in Rangoon and a number of towns to mark the success of their campaign. At the closing of its second convention in June, which the group said was attended by 6,800 monks and laymen, Ma Ba Tha released a statement saying it would call on the government to ban Muslims from slaughtering animals during religious events. Critics of Ma Ba Tha say their activities are not representative of all Buddhist clergy in Burma, which is 250,000 strong according to government data. Within the monks’ order, known as the Sangha, concern has been raised that Ma Ba Tha’s policies do not reflect the essence of Buddhism. 'Practising to Cut Our Throats' Supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi say the nationalist campaign is being used by the military-linked elite to attack her and her National League for Democracy party during a crucial election year. Monks associated with Ma Ba Tha have publicly accused the NLD of failing to protect Buddhism. While calls for a boycott of Muslim-owned businesses have been less effective in big cities, the anti-slaughtering campaign, drawing on a traditional Buddhist abhorrence of killing cows, has resonated with Buddhists in the Irrawaddy Delta. Here, among an expanse of paddies and waterways where most of Burma's rice is grown, tens of thousands of Muslims, mostly town-based traders, live among some six million rice farmers—most of them Buddhists. Burmese farmers traditionally keep cows and bullocks as draft animals and only sell them to slaughterhouses to raise quick cash to pay for a wedding or medical treatment. The Ma Ba Tha-backed campaign has not called on farmers to stop selling their cattle, but instead has taken over slaughterhouse licenses. In 2014, Ma Ba Tha monks in the Irrawaddy delta formed Jivitadana Thetkal (“Save and Rescue Lives”), appealing to monasteries in Irrawaddy Division to each raise about $100 from their congregation and donate it to buying up licenses. Ma Ba Tha's spokesman Kyaw Sein Win said: "We support this campaign by Jivitadana Thetkal… Most of the monks in the Jivitadana Thetkal campaign are members of Ma Ba Tha but we don't give any direct instructions from the headquarters." Radical Buddhist monks have delivered fiery sermons in delta villages to spread the idea that cattle-slaughtering was an affront to Buddhism and part of an Islamic plot to exterminate cattle. “It’s time to be alert,” warn the lyrics of a song played at such events. “Buddhist monks and lay people, be no longer passive. If you are, our race and religion will cease to exist.” Pyinyeinda, 65, is one of dozens of abbots in Irrawaddy Division who has come out in support of the campaign. “Our region is faced with the risk of losing all its cattle. The kalars have killed thousands of them,” said Pyinyeinda, a monk in Athoke, using a derogatory term for people of Indian heritage. “Do you know why? They are practising how to cut our throats.” Government Cooperation Ma Ba Tha representatives said they have raised enough funds to buy up licenses across all 26 townships in Irrawaddy Division, and they sometimes received government support for their plan. Sitting at a desk piled with books for teaching children about Ma Ba Tha, Irrawaddy Division Chief Minister Thein Aung told Myanmar Now he had approved a 50 percent discount on licenses sold to the group, and supported their raids. “As a Buddhist, I don’t approve of cattle slaughtering. Therefore, I complied with the requests of the monks leading this campaign. I have favoured them to get the slaughter licenses,” said the former general who was appointed as chief minister by President Thein Sein in 2011. He said his office sends “special teams” to make arrests if campaigners provide tip-offs about supposed violations of slaughterhouse licenses by business owners. In several delta townships, such as in Labutta, Ma Ba Tha members said they managed to buy up all licenses and put local Muslim-owned slaughterhouses out of business. In Pantanaw Township, campaigners raised about $15,000 in donations to obtain all four slaughter licenses in 2013 at a 50 percent discount, according to Kumara, a high-profile nationalist monk from Pantanaw who is a Ma Ba Tha central committee member. Kumara said some 80 cows were saved as a result. He said his group continued to receive discounts—this time 30 percent—for their successful bids on licenses in 2014 and 2015. A government document obtained by Myanmar Now, marked “secret” and signed by Irrawaddy Division Secretary Aye Kyaw on behalf of Thein Aung in November 2014, mentions that Ma Ba Tha successfully “bid on slaughter licenses in 15 townships.” In other areas, Ma Ba Tha members began to monitor and raid Muslim-owned slaughterhouses and cattle transport, claiming violations of license terms that limit how many animals can be killed. The 2014 government document instructs administrative officials in all 26 townships to cooperate with Ma Ba Tha members who monitor slaughterhouses. The letter urges monks to refrain from getting directly involved in these activities. Night Raids In small towns and villages dotted around the Irrawaddy delta, few people venture out when darkness falls over the vast expanse of paddy fields and zigzagging waterways. But in Kyonpyaw Township, some 150 kilometers west of Rangoon, Win Shwe, a local Ma Ba Tha secretary, and a group of monks and laymen have been active at night. In 2014, the group raised about $25,000 through public donations to buy up six slaughter licenses, but the most expensive license in the town remained out of their reach. So they decided to establish that the slaughterhouse was violating its license conditions. “That slaughter house was allowed to butcher only a single cow a day. If we saw some suspicious signs such as more cows being dragged inside, then we would run into the building from our hiding place and check what was going on,” he said during an interview at a local cafe. “In our first two raids we found that more cows than legally permitted were being killed. So we pressured the municipal department to blacklist the Muslim owner. He was finally blacklisted and ordered to close down his slaughterhouse," Win Shwe said proudly. Campaigners such as Win Shwe appeared motivated by a mix of Buddhist beliefs, traditional veneration of cows, prejudice against Muslims, and a desire to fight government corruption. The vigilante raids highlight the complex relationship between Burmese authorities and Buddhist nationalist groups, which sometimes appear to have support from the government, while at other times are at odds with it. Protecting the 'Western Gate' Win Shwe and his colleagues claimed that more than 4,000 live cattle had been seized in the delta since early 2014. Many were subsequently donated as draft animals to poor Irrawaddy Division farmers on condition they would not be killed or sold. But in mid-2014, according to documents obtained by Myanmar Now, campaigners received government approval for a new plan that involved sending cattle seized in the delta to Buddhist communities in Maungdaw Township, around 500km away. Impoverished Maungdaw, the westernmost town of Burma, is situated on the Burma-Bangladesh border in northern Arakan State, where Muslims outnumber Buddhist Arakanese. The border, which Ma Ba Tha likes to call the country’s ‘Western Gate’, has been under strict government control. In the past couple of years, hundreds of ethnic Arakanese who were living in eastern Bangladesh have resettled on the Burmese side of the border, according to media reports. Meanwhile, the authorities use the term Bengali to refer to the Rohingya, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Authorities have sent these Buddhists to live in “model villages” in Maungdaw, in what appears to be an attempt to increase the Buddhist population. In a letter dated Aug. 26, 2014, Irrawaddy Division authorities notified various townships that they had approved a request by the Young Men’s Buddhist Association in Rangoon to gather 100 bovines and ship them from the delta’s Maubin port to Maungdaw. Win Shwe said this was “to protect the Western Gate against the influx of Muslims”. He provided Myanmar Now with photos and a video recording of a Sept. 4 ceremony where monks, Arakan State officials and senior military officers attended an event to donate the cattle to Buddhist villagers in Maungdaw. Sein Aung, who said he is a Buddhist Arakanese and a former military intelligence officer, heads the Shwepyithar Township branch office of the Young Men’s Buddhist Association in Rangoon. He said he helped to ship cattle seized by Win Shwe’s Ma Ba Tha branch to Maungdaw using Thuriya Sandar Win shipping company in Rangoon, adding that he had coordinated the plan with Arakan State authorities and Zaw Aye Maung, the Rangoon Division Minister for Arakanese ethnic affairs. In a phone interview, Zaw Aye Maung confirmed this. “If we don’t have the Western Gate the mainland will be flooded with Bengalis [Muslims from Bangladesh],” said Sein Aung, sitting in an office lavishly decorated with nationalist materials, including flags bearing Buddhist swastikas. Reputation Sean Turnell, an economics professor at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said the Ma Ba Tha boycott affecting Muslim businesses harmed Burma's international image among potential investors who are concerned about political instability. “On a smaller scale, it seems all sorts of businesses are being impacted, from small shops, transport operators, to moneylenders,” he said. A Muslim restaurant owner in the delta town of Kyaunggon said his income had dropped from about $100 to $20 per day following the boycott, and a Muslim neighbour had closed his restaurant and left. The man, who asked not to be named, said he could no longer supply halal beef to his customers. “You can’t buy beef in the whole Irrawaddy Division. If you want to eat halal beef you have to ask someone to bring it down from Rangoon,” he said in a whisper. In front of his restaurant hung ahuge poster with an image of a cow and a verse glorifying the animal’s mythical role as “mother” to mankind, presumably put there by Ma Ba Tha sympathisers. Most Muslims living in the Irrawaddy delta dare not speak out against the campaign for fear of provoking Ma Ba Tha’s ire. Some said the Muslim community can only lie low, hoping the current wave of fervent Buddhist nationalism subsides. “We have no other country to flee to,” said Khin Maung, the leader of a mosque in Kyaunggon. “We are all born and raised here.” This story originally appeared on Myanmar Now. The post With Official Help, Radical Buddhists Target Muslim Businesses appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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