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Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, Contexts
Dr. Iselin Frydenlund – Professor at MF Norwegian School of Theology
In recent years, Muslim minority communities in Buddhist majority states have experienced an increasing number of attacks on their lives and properties, culminating in the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya population in 2017. During the fall of 2017 nearly 800,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh in order to escape atrocities committed during the Burmese military’s ‘clearance operations’ against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a small and ill-equipped militant group. In addition to massive violence against Rohingya civilians, allegations have been made that Rakhine Buddhist civilians (at least in certain villages) were active in the violence (Wa Lone et al. 2018). The atrocities in Rakhine followed repeated waves of violence since 2012, spreading from Rakhine to other parts of Myanmar, mostly affecting Muslim lives and property.
From 2012 onwards, Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka were also victims of intimidation and violence, the gravest being the so-called Aluthgama riots in 2014, resulting in the death of three Muslims, hundreds of displaced persons, and massive destruction of Muslim property. While anti-Muslim attacks do not mean that Muslims living in Buddhist countries are generally at risk of persecution, weak state protection of Muslim communities has left them at risk of violence and intimidation when other groups in society see benefits from starting a conflict.
While there is reason to believe that anti-Muslim sentiments might be shared by a larger section of the Buddhist monastic order (the Sangha) in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, such systematic anti-Muslim discourses have for the most part been articulated by specific monastic groups. These movements are engaged in aggressive—and occasionally militant— anti-Muslim campaigns, based upon the fear of a global Islamic conspiracy to eradicate Buddhism. The concept of Islamophobia is highly contested, due, among other things, to the implication that fear of Islam is rendered pathological. However, the term has established itself as an academic concept, broadly referring to an indiscriminate hatred of Muslims and of Islam, often followed by exclusionary social practices. The three most influential Buddhist groups of anti-Islamic orientation in Asia are the 969 and the MaBaTha in Myanmar, and the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force [bbs]) in Sri Lanka.
The 969 monks have become controversial for their strong anti-Muslim stance, the most famous member being U Wirathu—the 969 spokesperson— who became an international media figure after being on a Time cover, titled “The Buddhist Face of Terror.” He is accused of hate speech against Muslims in social media and during religious sermons. In fact, there is a historical legacy of islamophobia that can be traced back to the early days of the military regime. The regime of General Ne Win (1962– 1988) actively engaged in politics of fear to legitimise the regime. For example, the Immigration Department in the early 1980s produced anti-Muslim material. One prominent discourse found in both 969/MaBaTha and bbs material deals with issues of cultural diversity, citizenship, and human rights, portraying Buddhists as ‘hosts’ and Muslims as ‘guests’, only accredited with limited minority rights.
