Shibani Mahtani/The Wall Street Journal
A sticker, pictured in the center with stripes, proclaiming the “969 movement — Buddhist extremists who advocate the social exclusion of Muslims — is seen on the dashboard of a bus.Some of the buses ferrying the delegates to their hotels at Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, bore stickers proclaiming the “969″ movement, a loose collection of Buddhist extremists who advocate the social exclusion of Muslims and have been accused by rights activists of helping fan the violence that has left hundreds of people dead and more than 100,000 homeless in different parts of the country.
Global Leaders Meet in Shadow of Sectarian Conflict in Myanmar
By Shibani Mahtani
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Though some 900 of the world’s business and political leaders are gathered this week in Myanmar with an outpouring of goodwill, reminders of what is fast becoming one of the country’s biggest problems – sectarian conflict between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims – accompanied them to their hotels at the Asian edition of the World Economic Forum.
- Shibani Mahtani/The Wall Street Journal
- A sticker, pictured in the center with stripes, proclaiming the “969 movement — Buddhist extremists who advocate the social exclusion of Muslims — is seen on the dashboard of a bus.
Some of the buses ferrying the delegates to their hotels at Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, bore stickers proclaiming the “969″ movement, a loose collection of Buddhist extremists who advocate the social exclusion of Muslims and have been accused by rights activists of helping fan the violence that has left hundreds of people dead and more than 100,000 homeless in different parts of the country.
The stickers have become commonplace on taxicabs and shop windows in some Myanmar cities as Buddhists use the stickers to identify themselves to their co-religionists, who have dominated much of the mob violence that has terrified the Muslim population, only 4% of this nation of 60 million people. A bus driver asked about the sticker on his vehicle Wednesday stressed that he was a Buddhist.
“Sectarian violence is the biggest ‘black swan,’ so to speak, in Myanmar,” said Satya Ramamurthy, head of government and infrastructure for Asia-Pacific at professional services firm KPMG and a delegate at the conference, which the government hopes will facilitate much-needed foreign investment. “People don’t know how big it is going to get.”
The 969 movement’s pamphlets, stickers, DVDs and other paraphernalia has become increasingly visible across the country as attacks on Muslim communities have intensified. The violence spread to northeastern Myanmar last week, when groups armed with iron rods and machetes rampaged in the town of Lashio, torching the central mosque, three other religious schools and dozens of homes and Muslim-owned businesses. One Muslim man died, and another four were injured.
Development agencies and other analysts continue to stress that President Thein Sein’s ability to get a handle on sectarian tensions remains one of the biggest risks for the country, even as a myriad of other challenges — including developing its virtually non-existent banking sector — continue to hold some foreign investors back.
Panel discussions at the WEF meetings, which officially starts Thursday, are slated on continuing challenges in the reform process, including how to manage political and social instability. Rather than issues of media freedom or political repression, which dominated the political criticism of the country during decades of military dictatorship, experts say Myanmar’s government should focus its efforts on addressing these brewing tensions.
“A lot of the big things that were needed to change international perceptions have already be done,” said Stephen Groff, vice-president at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank. “The biggest risks now remain the inability to address religious and ethnic issues.”
Tags: Buddhism, Burma, Lashio, Muslim, Myanmar, Naypyidaw, Thein Sein, World Economic Forum
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