Myanmar's "Buddhist Bin Laden" has made a return to public life, appearing at a rally in support of the military generals condemned globally for a brutal crackdown on the Muslim minority Rohingya.

Key points: Buddhism is often depicted as a peaceful religion but is misused for "political purposes"

Buddhism is often depicted as a peaceful religion but is misused for "political purposes" Militant Buddhist nationalism is on the rise in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka

Militant Buddhist nationalism is on the rise in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka Muslims are often targeted as scapegoats — and monks are often pulling the strings



Wirathu, an infamous Buddhist nationalist monk, was sanctioned in March 2017 for religious hate speech that demonised the Rohingya Muslims.

And last weekend, his rhetoric demonstrated that — at least in his mind — little had changed.

As military flag-waving demonstrators carried portraits of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Wirathu lambasted the United Nations, saying the day Myanmar authorities are brought before the International Criminal Court "is the day that Wirathu holds a gun".

The court last month opened a preliminary probe into alleged state-sponsored violence against the Rohingya, including sexual violence, killings, and enforced disappearances.

An estimated 700,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh between September and December last year, leaving behind lives built over generations in their dash for safety.

"Don't lie to the world saying that Bengalis are Rohingya because you want to promote Islamisation in Myanmar," Wirathu said, according to a report by local news magazine Frontier Myanmar.

"Don't destroy our country by creating a fake ethnic group."

Islam, Buddhism, and skewed perceptions of extremism

Rohingya homes were burnt to the ground in a wave of violence last year as this screenshot from a video shows. ( AP )

The plight of the Rohingya has elicited global condemnation, but less attention has been paid to the Islamophobia driving their exodus.

Observers say there is a perception gap when it comes to religious extremism — with Muslims regularly being unfairly cast as terrorists while Buddhists are generally depicted and understood to be pacifists.

"The problem is far too many Westerners fail to understand that Buddhism, like any other religion, can be misused for political purposes," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told the ABC.

About 900,000 Rohingya are now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, most of whom fled last year. ( AP: Manish Swarup )

Buddhist nationalism has become increasingly prominent in Myanmar since the country began opening up in 2011, with growing tensions sparking roiling communal violence in Rakhine State.

"Muslims are the scapegoats about Buddhist anxieties over the political transition," said Melissa Crouch, a senior lecturer in law and religion at the University of New South Wales.

Myanmar's military generals retaliated after Rohingya insurgents attacked border police, killing 12 people, by embarking on what the United Nations has called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" with "genocidal intent".

The military has also been accused of using social media to stoke tensions between Buddhists and Muslims, allegedly orchestrating a sophisticated anti-Muslim Facebook campaign ahead of the violence.

Rohingya children and refugees protest against Government plans to repatriate them to Myanmar, where many fear to return. ( AP: Manish Swarup )

Dr Crouch said the military junta, which has ruled the country for nearly five decades, had reinforced the idea that Burman Buddhists were "superior".

"The military itself is known to be a primarily Burman Buddhist organisation," she said.

"This is one reason among many that different ethnic and religious groups distrust the military."

And the rise of Buddhist extremism at the expense of Muslims is not contained to Myanmar.

'A problem governments need to meet head on'

Sri Lankan soldiers remove debris of a vandalized building in Kandy after Buddhist mobs swept through the town. ( AP: Pradeep Pathiran )

Sri Lanka also experienced an outbreak of communal violence in March this year that saw Sinhalese mobs sweep through Kandy and other towns burning mosques and attacking Muslim businesses.

It followed the death of a Buddhist truck driver days after he was involved in an altercation with four Muslims.

The violence prompted the Government to declare a state of emergency and temporarily block social media sites it blamed for fuelling the clashes.

Both Myanmar and Sri Lanka are home to a Buddhist majority — about 90 per cent and 75 per cent of the population respectively — with a sizeable Muslim minority.

And, as in Myanmar, many Sri Lankan Buddhists feel their status is threatened by adherents of an opposing religion.

Andreas Johansson, director of the Swedish South Asian Studies Network, said the anti-Muslim sentiment mirrored post 9/11 attitudes in the West.

"Some of the discourse against Muslims in Sri Lanka [is] almost identical to the discourse in Europe," he said.

Sri Lanka's president declared a state of emergency amid fears that anti-Muslim attacks in parts of the country could spread. ( AP: Pradeep Pathiran )

Meanwhile, radical monks espousing violence against Muslims have become a huge problem in the two countries that Governments have done little to address, according to Mr Robertson.

"These governments must urgently act with strong measures against Buddhists who espouse and instigate violence, recognising that failure to act means the hatreds will spread and the situation will get worse," he said.

"It's a problem that governments need to meet head on before the situation gets out of hand."

This story was sourced via the 2018 East West Centre's Senior Journalism Seminar.