Myanmar’s ultranationalist Buddhist organization Ma Ba Tha issued a statement Thursday asking the chief minister of Yangon region to apologize for criticizing the group and demanding that the national government take action against him within a week.
Yangon chief Phyo Min Thein said the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, is “not necessary” because the country has the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (Mahana), a government-appointed council that oversees and regulates the Buddhist clergy.
He made the comment on July 2 during a meeting with Myanmar nationals living in Singapore and again on Wednesday when a small group of Ma Ba Tha supporters confronted him upon his arrival at the airport in Yangon.
Ashin Wirathu, one of Ma Ba Tha’s outspoken monks, denounced Phyo Min Thein’s comment and said the religious association was formed in accordance with the constitution.
“We mentioned in the statement that the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee is an administrative organization for sanghas [Buddhist monks], and Ma Ba Tha was formed as a nongovernmental organization by monks and others to protect the Buddhist religion,” Wirathu said.
Ma Ba Tha, which has long opposed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD)—now the country’s ruling party—held an emergency meeting on the issue at its headquarters in Yangon. It told the news media afterwards that it will stage nationwide protests and conduct signature campaigns if Phyo Min Thein does not apologize.
Wirathu said his organization will send a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, President Htin Kyaw, and NLD chairman Tin Oo calling on them to address the matter by July 14.
Ma Ba Tha opposed the NLD in the run-up to national elections last November, but Wirathu later congratulated the party on its victory.
Ma Ba Tha has frequently lashed out against Myanmar’s Muslim minority, and last year pushed for the passage of legislation known collectively as the Race and Religion Protection Laws, which restrict religious conversions, polygamy, interfaith marriages, and childbirth.
Rights advocates have criticized the laws, saying they discriminate against women and Muslims in the conservative, predominantly Buddhist country.
Other critics have argued that the legislation does not apply the law equally to all people and flies in the face of domestic and international human rights standards.
Reported by Myo Zaw Ko for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.