The Buddhist monk many people hold responsible for the Myanmar riots that have killed hundreds of Muslims and displaced thousands more is sitting in front of me, calmly sipping a fruit shake. His name is Ashin Wirathu, and he’s telling VICE News that he is entirely dedicated to peaceful coexistence with the Muslim minority he has so often preached against. “I’m educating people not to launch counterattacks [against the Muslims],” he begins, “and preaching to them to live peacefully with people of different faiths.” He takes another sip of shake.
Wirathu has just finished a sermon at the sprawling Masoeyein monastery – home to more than 2,500 monks – he heads in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. Hundreds of men clad in orange and maroon robes walk the grounds, their occasional chanting reverberating around the small, wood-paneled room that serves as Wirathu's office. Just outside the door, several monks gather to read a large collection of newspapers. Apparently, Ashin Wirathu understands the power of the press.
In fact, when I meet him in late August, he is already well-versed in dealing with the international media. Though supposedly a tough interview to get, nearly every journalist I know who has tried to speak to Wirathu has succeeded. A local fixer, hesitant to promise he could arrange an interview, was able to secure one for VICE News in a single day. As I leave Wirathu’s office and walk past the mass of monks reading the papers, another journalist makes her way inside.
Though Wirathu often claims that his message is misrepresented in the press, he seems quite pleased both with the attention he has received from the international media, and with the fact that he has become a symbol for Buddhist chauvinism. He even makes frequent jokes about Hannah Beech, the journalist who wrote a June 2013 cover story for Time in which she called Wirathu the “face of Buddhist terror”. He later posted an admonishment that reads kind of like a love letter from a jilted lover. Full story...
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Wirathu has just finished a sermon at the sprawling Masoeyein monastery – home to more than 2,500 monks – he heads in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. Hundreds of men clad in orange and maroon robes walk the grounds, their occasional chanting reverberating around the small, wood-paneled room that serves as Wirathu's office. Just outside the door, several monks gather to read a large collection of newspapers. Apparently, Ashin Wirathu understands the power of the press.
In fact, when I meet him in late August, he is already well-versed in dealing with the international media. Though supposedly a tough interview to get, nearly every journalist I know who has tried to speak to Wirathu has succeeded. A local fixer, hesitant to promise he could arrange an interview, was able to secure one for VICE News in a single day. As I leave Wirathu’s office and walk past the mass of monks reading the papers, another journalist makes her way inside.
Though Wirathu often claims that his message is misrepresented in the press, he seems quite pleased both with the attention he has received from the international media, and with the fact that he has become a symbol for Buddhist chauvinism. He even makes frequent jokes about Hannah Beech, the journalist who wrote a June 2013 cover story for Time in which she called Wirathu the “face of Buddhist terror”. He later posted an admonishment that reads kind of like a love letter from a jilted lover. Full story...
Related posts:
- U Wirathu, Burma’s 'bin Laden of Buddhism’
- U Wirathu, Burma’s 'bin Laden of Buddhism’
- No justice for Muslims massacred by Myanmar Buddhists...
- Massacre in Myanmar ignored by everyone...
- Burma's Buddhist mobs sow fear amid widening unrest...
- Video shows Burmese police standing by as Buddhists attack Muslims...
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