Buddhist nationalistic movements in Myanmar : a case study on the 969

Abstract

The religious movement in Myanmar after 2010 has many visible changes when compared with pre-2010 time in Myanmar. The reform brought fresh air to the backwater like Myanmar, while the restricted and tightened social atmospheres have been smoothed by the regime no matter it was caused by the external pressures or from the decisions within., Myanmar suddenly became the ‘darling’ of the international society. The freedom of speech, the freedom of publication and the freedom of demonstration and many other freedoms which cannot be imagined before were granted by the regime at that time. Meanwhile those existing Buddhist nationalism was quickened by the waves of emotions from the civilian society such as the tremendous passions to give different speeches, to write the news and publications, to join the demonstrations. In a word we can notice the Buddhist nationalistic sentiments kept increasing in Myanmar after the 2010 reform. Nevertheless, this movement has deep roots in Myanmar political culture and gradually developed after the 2010 reform. This thesis will study the development of Buddhist nationalism, the 969 Movement and the role of U Wirathu. Those phenomena and factors seems irrelevant with each other but in reality as mentioned above are rather like a twisted knot. The current religious movement in Myanmar intend to use nationalistic Buddhism to repositioning activist Sangha. This phenomenon is not limited to religious conflicts and social conflicts, but also political conflicts after the reform.