Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Burma and Its Influence on Nationalism

Considering the Theravada stream of Buddhism in countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma, the Buddhist monks wield a lot of power.

Due to their influence in Sri Lanka, the government instituted a Sinhala-only policy which led Sinhala nationalists to attack Tamils and Sinhala people who protected Tamils. This led to civil war and only ended when Sri Lankan army killed the leader of the Tamil Tigers. The Sinhala-only policy was the result of early oppression of Buddhists by Christian and Hindu peoples during the colonial era.

Today, the civil war has ended. The last leader Pathmanathan of the Tamil Tigers was captured in 2009, and collaborated with the Sri Lankan government, exposing the Tamil crime network. Afterwards, Pathmanathan created an NGO to rehabilitate his people.



This year on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, Myanmar Buddhists of Rakhine State are in conflict with Rohingya Muslims. After a Rakhine woman was raped in June, a Rakhine mob killed 10 Rohingya men. Since then, the violence has escalated to the point where both Rohingya and Rakhine leaders have condemned it. Buddhist organizations in Myanmar which supported democracy are blocking humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims. In October, another riot occurred. Myanmar classified the Rohingyas as immigrants and thus not eligible for citizenship

Ironically, Bangladesh claims they are too poor to open up refugee camps for the Rohingya. If this is true, then most likely it is because international bankers have ruined Bangladeshi economy.

In both cases though, British colonialism appears to have been the facilitator of oppression against Buddhists which led to later strife in Sri Lanka.

In the case of Myanmar, British colonialism led to Burma being taken over by Indians, mostly Muslim. By the time British authorities realized the danger of ethnic rivalry between Rohingya and Rakhine peoples Japan had invaded Burma.

After WW2, much of the seeds for strife was sown when mujahids were formed for holy war, first to separate Mayu frontier from Arakan province in Burma and annex it with East Pakistan. When that was suppressed, mujahideens then rose up during Bangladesh independence in 1971. In recent years, the mujahideens wish for an independent or autonomous Mayu.


Sadly though, because the British Empire became no more after WW2, its subsequent decolonization and decline means that the UK no longer is obliged to undo what it has done to Sri Lanka and Burma prior to WW2 i.e. allowing free migration of Indians. Nationalism has helped alleviate resentment in both Sri Lanka and Burma, as most Indians returned to the newly formed India.

In both nations, the Theravada Buddhists are biased against non-Buddhists. When Buddhism is combined with nationalism, it sometimes results in sectarian violence against a minority of a different religion (Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka and Rohingya Muslims in Burma.


References:

Sri Lanka Civil War: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war

2012 Rakhine State riots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Rakhine_State_riots

Rohingya history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya#History

Burmese State Oppresses Rohingya

In June 1967, Buddhists in Rangoon participated in an anti-Chinese riot in which hundreds of Burmese Chinese were killed, thousands were injured, & much Chinese-owned property was looted or destroyed – including attacks on the Xinhua News Agency office & the Chinese Embassy.

Today we have been witnessing the oppression by criminals of the Rohingya, who have lived along the #Bangladesh border with #Burma since the 8th century. However, in the 800s CE the Bamar (today's dominant ethnic group) from the borders of China & Tibet arrived in north Burma. In 849 they founded the city of Pagan.

Today, most Buddhists who live along the Burma-Bangladesh border are near-illiterate primitive people that believe the Buddha was Burmese and born there.

If Buddhists in Myanmar cannot even follow the teachings of the Buddha, then what hope have God-worshippers?

Blood on Saffron Robes (poem)

(This poem is dedicated to hundreds of Burmese monks who protested Myanmar's deadly regime of The Generals since the assassination of Aung San, Aung San Kyii's father, in 1947)

there's blood on the streets
whether it be rangoon or lhasa
but it aint just the burmese
or even the tibetans
who are being brutally repressed
by their respective governments,
cos there is blood on saffron robes,
but all we hear from our leaders
is a quiet call to show restraint.
Yet do you think burma or china
will listen to a bunch of people
we elected? I don't think so.
in beating and shooting the monks
burma and china have shown
their disrespect for spirituality,
but this goes especially for
china: times are getting interesting
for you because you have been
oppressing your people, letting
gangsters expropriate their land
for the olympics, and hiding
complainers in black prisons.
and now that Beijing has shed
blood on saffron robes in Lhasa,
all the world can do in response
is call for restraint -- gimme a break.
meanwhile coca cola is still going
to support the olympics,
because it stands to make
a profit from marketing
in China and around the world.
it seems to me that all those athletes
are but means of marketing product,
nothing more, nothing less.
but this time, there is
blood on saffron robes,
and any athelete in Beijing
is condoning such violence.
most of the developed nations
want Chinese products, but
the best product from Beijing
is mass marketing of
the Olympic athlete,
all for blood on saffron robes,
it's such a disgrace.
boycott the Olympics.
boycott Coca Cola.
cos of blood on saffron robes.

Saffron Shuffle / 8888 Remix - poem

Almost 20 years of cruel oppression
culminated in a rise in gas prices.
Those gas prices in Rangoon led to
20,000 monks protesting in Burma.
Those protests led to 200 dead, today.
Yet various countries, including Canada,
allow companies to deal with the generals.
This is why the UN is slow to act.

Welcome to the Saffron Revolution,
where monks shuffle under the noses
of the Generals who rule Myanmar.
This Saffron shuffle will go on
until the world is distracted
by an even bigger spectacle.
Do not ever forget this: 8888 Lives!
Free Burma from poverty and corruption!

At the root of all this trouble is
the karma of British rule, and of
the original monarchy in Burma.
Although the Generals are Marxists,
their military dictatorship is
not unlike the Soviet Union's.
They learned well from the British
and the Japanese, but not from their people.

Welcome to the Saffron Revolution,
where monks shuffle under the noses
of the Generals who rule Myanmar.
This Saffron shuffle goes on now
while the world is distracted
by an even bigger spectacle.
Never ever forget this: 8888 Lives!
Free Burma from poverty and corruption!

Never ever forget this: 8888 Lives!
Free Burma from poverty and corruption!
Free Burma from poverty and corruption!
Free Burma from poverty and corruption!

Free Burma!