ဖော်ပြချက်/အကြောင်းအရာ:
"...Buddhism has traditionally been synonymous with Burman nationalism. The idea of ultra-
Burman nationalism has been used by the military regimes to unite Buddhists in solidarity,
and to oppress non-Buddhists. Constant rhetoric, such as the saying Buddha Bata,
Myanmar Lumyo? meaning, To be Myanmar is to be Buddhist? is used by the junta to justify
their actions and this ideology remains at the centre of the SPDC?s political philosophy.
Consequently, the SPDC has maintained efforts to assimilate all ethnic minority groups into
the mainstream Burman society to create a single national identity under the policy of one
race, one language, one religion?. Under this ideology, the SPDC promotes Buddhism over
all other religions. Evidence of this is seen in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which
contains the Department for the Protection and Propagation of Sasana (Buddhist teaching).
Buddhist doctrine features heavily in the state mandated curriculum for all official elementary
schools, where students are required to recite Buddhist prayer daily. Moreover, the SPDC
continues to operate two Sangha universities, in Rangoon and Mandalay, to train Buddhist
monks under the control of the State Monk Coordination Committee. In 2008, there were no
official reports of forced conversion of non-Buddhists, however many students and poor
youth were pressured heavily by local authorities to convert to Buddhism. Job placement in
the public sector and advancement in the military was largely dependent on whether one
was a practicing Buddhist or not. Furthermore, one?s religious affiliation was a requirement
for all identification cards that citizens and permanent residents were required to be in
possession of at all times. In 2008, the military continued to abuse Christians and Muslims and their right to religious
freedom. It was reported that members of these religious minority groups were occasionally
used for forced labour to serve the military regime. In some cases forced labour was used to
destroy mosques, churches or graveyards in order to build Buddhist pagodas.7 Sometimes
these Buddhist pagodas would even be built using forced labour in areas with a low Buddhist
population even though, the Religious Affairs Ministry claims to only allow the construction of
religious monuments in situations that ?depends upon the population of the location.”
However, this rule seemed to be ignored for the building of Buddhist sites in non-Buddhist
areas. Christians and Muslims nonetheless, still experienced trouble when applying for
permission to build or repair their own religious sites. In many cases, Christians and
Muslims were eventually able to obtain the necessary permits to build, but only when the
groups in question had paid bribes to the authorities. There were also occasions when
these groups simply had their applications denied for various reasons, such as that the
church did not have a proper property permit. At other times, church or mosque leaders
were given informal permission to commence construction, only to have SPDC authorities
change their mind and destroy the buildings after they had been completed. This raises the
question of whether or not in these cases the authorities processed the applications solely in
order to collect the bribes required to have the petitions granted.8
In addition to oppressing religious minority groups in 2008, the SPDC increased its control
over Burma?s Buddhist population. Even though there are approximately 400,000 monks in
Burma, there are only nine state-endorsed monastic orders that are permitted to operate
under the SPDC sponsored Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (SMNC). Furthermore,
independent monastic orders are illegal since the establishment of the 1990 Sangha
Organisation Law. These laws have since been used to control the Sangha and limit its
rights to expression and assembly. For example, abbots are not allowed to deliver
instruction on any topics which could be related to politics and monks are restricted from
joining together in opposition to the government. Violations of this law, as witnessed during
the September 2007 Saffron Revolution?, result in grave consequences. Monks who were
accused of participating in the protests were defrocked in jail, where they were not allowed
to shave their heads or eat their meals in accordance with the monastic codes. Monks were
thus treated as laypersons and common criminals; treatment which comprises one of the
gravest offences one can commit within the Buddhist religion..."
ရင်းမြစ်:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of Publication:
2009-11-23
Date of entry:
2009-12-06
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
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English
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