Radical Myanmar monk joins hands with Sri Lankan Buddhists

[DarkPrince]

only religious Buddhist country in the world is sri Lanka at the moment. south Asians tend to be very religious no matter what religion they believe.

 

[Gibbs]

only religious Buddhist country in the world is sri Lanka at the moment. south Asians tend to be very religious no matter what religion they believe.

Sadly in Lanka.. Buddhism is intertwined with Sinhala nationalism.. Thats the difference.. With only 12 million odd Sinhalese people in the world unique to the small island in culture, language and a civilization. Often so called Sinhala Buddhism is fed on the fear of annihilation of the Sinhala race by other cultures and races

 

[Chronos]

Sadly in Lanka.. Buddhism is intertwined with Sinhala nationalism.. Thats the difference.. With only 12 million odd Sinhalese people in the world unique to the small island in culture, language and a civilization. Often so called Sinhala Buddhism is fed on the fear of annihilation of the Sinhala race by other cultures and races

Just as I thought. There is also an ethnic dimension in Myanmar's case as well

 

[Jaggu]

Sadly in Lanka.. Buddhism is intertwined with Sinhala nationalism.. Thats the difference.. With only 12 million odd Sinhalese people in the world unique to the small island in culture, language and a civilization. Often so called Sinhala Buddhism is fed on the fear of annihilation of the Sinhala race by other cultures and races

Are there Sinhalese Muslims or are all Sinhalese people followers of Buddhism? what ethnic group do the Muslims of Sri Lanka belong to?

 

[Gibbs]

Are there Sinhalese Muslims or are all Sinhalese people followers of Buddhism? what ethnic group do the Muslims of Sri Lanka belong to?

Well some do consider themselves Sinhalese Muslims but a very small minority

There are 3 distinct groups of Muslims in Lanka and most of then are trilingual with majority speaking Tamil as the first language but they do not consider them selves Tamil

They are

Moor - Oldest Muslim inhabitants in the island tracing their origins to North Africa and the Arabian peninsular

Eastern Muslims - Indentured labor from South India (Malabar and Corommendal coast) brought by the Dutch to work in tobacco plantations in the 15th century now concentrated mainly in the Eastern province and Colombo, The largest in population

Malays - People originating from the South East Asia mainly Malay and Javanese

Sinhalese people are mainly Buddhist but about 7% follow Christianity of all forms

 

[Saradiel]

Sadly in Lanka.. Buddhism is intertwined with Sinhala nationalism.. Thats the difference.. With only 12 million odd Sinhalese people in the world unique to the small island in culture, language and a civilization. Often so called Sinhala Buddhism is fed on the fear of annihilation of the Sinhala race by other cultures and races

Not a good analysis at all. there is nothing called sinhala buddhism only sinhala buddhist identity largely formulated during the colonial period. What you witness in SL is the current global islamophobic wave hitting SL and that is not more than what is witnessed in Aus or europe, india.

There is an islamophobic wave for real or imagined reasons. It does not have anything to do with a so called sinhala buddhism..

what is ignored by many is some christians and even tamils treat BBS as a necessary evil.

 

[Biplab Bijay]

Misleading headline



Radical Myanmar monk joins hands with Sri Lankan Buddhists - Yahoo News

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A radical monk who heads a movement accused of stirring violence against Muslims in Myanmar has announced a partnership with a hardline Buddhist group in Sri Lanka to defend their religion.

The declaration by Ashin Wirathu, who once called himself "the Burmese bin Laden", was the clearest signal to date of a push to spread the ideology of his controversial 969 movement beyond Myanmar to build a front against Islamist militancy.

"Today, Buddhism is in danger. We need hands to be firmly held together if we hear alarm bells ringing," he told a convention that was held at an indoor stadium in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, on Sunday.

"I'd like to announce that 969 and I will join hands with Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena to protect Buddhists all round the world," he said, referring to a group that has been accused of tyrannizing the minority Muslim community in Sri Lanka.

There was a sectarian clash in June in two Muslim-majority towns on Sri Lanka's Sinhalese-dominated southern coast during a protest march led by the BBS.

In his eight-minute speech, Wirathu thanked Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for granting him a visa, despite protests by some Muslim groups in the island nation. Critics fault the president for failing to rein in the BBS' activities.

Wirathu, escorted by black-clad special security personnel, was welcomed at the Buddhist convention by traditional drummers and sat in the front row amid thousands of local monks.

He told the gathering that Buddhism was under siege, mainly from Muslim extremists, and said both his group and BBS use non-violent means to safeguard their religion.

"It's the responsibility of the monks as Buddha's sons to teach bad and uncivilized people to become good and civilized," he said. "If there is danger in one place, other countries need to help and protect them."

He did not spell out how he would work with BBS.

The BBS convention was held amid mounting speculation that there will be an early presidential election in Sri Lanka, possibly as soon as January, in which Rajapaksa is expected to run for a third term.

BBS Secretary-General Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara said in a speech his group would dictate the outcome of the election and future of the country thanks to its grassroot support.

Each of the 5,000 monks at the convention should create a vote bank of 1,000 at village temples to secure 5 million Buddhist votes, he said.

The predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese account for 70 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million.

The BBS also proposed a policy framework on Sunday under which Sri Lanka would be declared a Buddhist Sinhala nation rather than a multi-ethnic nation.

I told you before. The world is going to be polarized.

only 9 % muslim and buddhism is in danger.

yep. If 2 billion muslims feel that Islam is in Danger, then why not.

 

[Gibbs]

Not a good analysis at all. there is nothing called sinhala buddhism only sinhala buddhist identity largely formulated during the colonial period. What you witness in SL is the current global islamophobic wave hitting SL and that is not more than what is witnessed in Aus or europe, india.

There is an islamophobic wave for real or imagined reasons. It does not have anything to do with a so called sinhala buddhism..

what is ignored by many is some christians and even tamils treat BBS as a necessary evil.

Definitely the radical nationalists like the BBS first targeted Christians. I presume your perspective on this is from a internal angle of a Buddhist.. Mine is from an outsiders point of view of whats been happening to the society at large especially post war and the Sinhala triumphalism..

For us non Buddhist or Sinhalese to believe. This wave of ultra nationalist hate mongering construe to a ingrain belief of insecurity among the Sinhalese population at large, A global minority

 

[Saradiel]

Definitely the radical nationalists like the BBS first targeted Christians. I presume your perspective on this is from a internal angle of a Buddhist.. Mine is from an outsiders point of view of whats been happening to the society at large especially post war and the Sinhala triumphalism..

For us non Buddhist or Sinhalese to believe. This wave of ultra nationalist hate mongering construe to a ingrain belief of insecurity among the Sinhalese population at large, A global minority

not only sinhalese, racism every where spring out from insecurity...racism is not a hatred of another. It is insecurity..It is the same insecurity that nourishes islamophobia not only in 3rd world but in liberal democracy like in US, Canada, Denmark, France and Aus..

read this article..This is the best analysis of islamophobia and BBS i ve read.
Bodu Bala Sena and the global context of Islamophobia | Thuppahi's Blog

 

[abjktu]

Moor - Oldest Muslim inhabitants in the island tracing their origins to North Africa and the Arabian peninsular

Moor means the aristocratic muslim sects living around Colombo and kandy??
But their mother tongue is predominantly Tamil and some Sinhala??How comes that??..I have heard they are mix of Arab traders and local Tamil/Sinhalese population...

 

[Saradiel]

Moor means the aristocratic muslim sects living around Colombo and kandy??
But their mother tongue is predominantly Tamil and some Sinhala??How comes that??..I have heard they are mix of Arab traders and local Tamil/Sinhalese population...

Moor is the ethnicity of majority of muslims not only some aristrocratic. I wonder whether there are any muslim aristrocrats in SL..majority of Moors are in east, central parts of SL and western parts and scattered around the island.
Moors are normally considered as decendants of arabs..but in reality most muslims are labour brought into SL by colonials, merchants who came to SL during colonial times from south india. Hence they speak tamil.

 

[Gibbs]

Moor is the ethnicity of majority of muslims not only some aristrocratic. I wonder whether there are any muslim aristrocrats in SL..majority of Moors are in east, central parts of SL and western parts and scattered around the island.
Moors are normally considered as decendants of arabs..but in reality most muslims are labour brought into SL by colonials, merchants who came to SL during colonial times from south india. Hence they speak tamil.

Moor means the aristocratic muslim sects living around Colombo and kandy??
But their mother tongue is predominantly Tamil and some Sinhala??How comes that??..I have heard they are mix of Arab traders and local Tamil/Sinhalese population...

Eastern Muslims do not consider themselves Moor.. They are more attuned to their South Indian heritage.. Although Moor is the generic term used for all Muslims who are not Malay, bohra etc..

Those non Eastern Moorish people reside in the South Western coast.. From Kalutara, Beruwala up to Matara and In the Central Hills mainly Kandy and Matale districts, And those Central province Moors are the ones that is considered as aristocratic. They were given special privileges, Land and titles by the Sinhalese Kings for their loyalty to the throne over the colonists.. Most of those Moors have Royal titles bestowed to them by the Kings or "Ge" names as people call in local vocabulary and is very prevalent in the Sinhala community

http://www.sailanmuslim.com/news/wp-content/themes/newspress/images/Sinhalese-Muslim Relations.pdf

Moors of the central province and those from places like Beruwala and Galle for example are quite distinct in appearance from other Muslims especially those from Colombo and the East.. They still have those clear Arabic features such as lighter complexion and lighter eye's.. Probably due to marrying within the community

 

[Gibbs]

not only sinhalese, racism every where spring out from insecurity...racism is not a hatred of another. It is insecurity..It is the same insecurity that nourishes islamophobia not only in 3rd world but in liberal democracy like in US, Canada, Denmark, France and Aus..

read this article..This is the best analysis of islamophobia and BBS i ve read.
Bodu Bala Sena and the global context of Islamophobia | Thuppahi's Blog

TBF.. Sinhala Buddhist nationalism evolved pre independence as a national movement for independence and then manifested itself in to a movement of fear mongering in the 1950's and Sinhala supremacy.. Way before any of these BBS or Islamaphobia came in to the pic..

What fuels this thought process is the fear of the destruction of the Sinhala race, Which is a global minority as oppose to Muslims and Tamils who are although minorities in the island are massive in global terms.. So that eventuality of the Sinhalese becoming a minority in their own land feeds in to that fear

It is now from the likes of the BBS and the JHU as it was then by the nationalist monks like Dharmapala and those who assassinated SWRD

 

[abjktu]

Moor is the ethnicity of majority of muslims not only some aristrocratic. I wonder whether there are any muslim aristrocrats in SL..majority of Moors are in east, central parts of SL and western parts and scattered around the island.
Moors are normally considered as decendants of arabs..but in reality most muslims are labour brought into SL by colonials, merchants who came to SL during colonial times from south india. Hence they speak tamil.

Chances for recent South Indian ancestry are probably higher among Srilankan muslims...
for eg-Srilankan Muslim Tamil dialect is entirely different and sounds akin to Tamilnadu dialect than eezham dialects...

Eastern Muslims do not consider themselves Moor.. They are more attuned to their South Indian heritage.. Although Moor is the generic term used for all Muslims who are not Malay, bohra etc..

Those non Eastern Moorish people reside in the South Western coast.. From Kalutara, Beruwala up to Matara and In the Central Hills mainly Kandy and Matale districts, And those Central province Moors are the ones that is considered as aristocratic. They were given special privileges, Land and titles by the Sinhalese Kings for their loyalty to the throne over the colonists.. Most of those Moors have Royal titles bestowed to them by the Kings or "Ge" names as people call in local vocabulary and is very prevalent in the Sinhala community

http://www.sailanmuslim.com/news/wp-content/themes/newspress/images/Sinhalese-Muslim Relations.pdf

Moors of the central province and those from places like Beruwala and Galle for example are quite distinct in appearance from other Muslims especially those from Colombo and the East.. They still have those clear Arabic features such as lighter complexion and lighter eye's.. Probably due to marrying within the community

well,
Any Sinhalese Muslims among them???..I mean the converts from local Sinhalese population,just like Sinhalese Christians....

 

[Contrarian]

only religious Buddhist country in the world is sri Lanka at the moment. south Asians tend to be very religious no matter what religion they believe.

Bhutan and Myanmar are equally religious Budhist countries.