Myanmar junta honors anti-Muslim monk dubbed ‘face of Buddhist terror’
The military junta in Myanmar has honored an ultranationalist anti-Muslim Buddhist monk dubbed the 'Face of Buddhist terror" with a prestigious national award, and also announced the decision to free thousands of prisoners under amnesty.
In a statement on Tuesday, the military’s information team announced that junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing had given Wirathu the honorific ‘Thiri Pyanchi’ title for his “outstanding work for the good of the Union of Myanmar.”
Wirathu has long been known for his ultra-nationalist, anti-Muslim rhetoric, particularly against Myanmar’s Rohingya. He was once dubbed the ‘face of Buddhist terror’ over his role in promoting religious hatred against Rohingya Muslims.
Wirathu has called for boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses and restrictions on marriages between Buddhists and Muslims. He is accused by human rights groups of encouraging animosity toward the Rohingya. Wirathu was later jailed by Aung San Suu Kyi's government on sedition charges.
Back in September 2021, the junta announced it had released Wirathu after all charges against him had been dropped. Suu Kyi, 77, has been detained by the junta, which staged a military coup almost two years ago.
Last week, a junta court handed down its verdicts in the final charges against Suu Kyi, with a total of 33 years in prison.
The monk is also believed to have laid the foundations for a horrific military-led crackdown against the Rohingya community in 2017. The internationally-condemned operation forced 750,000 Rohingya from their homes into Bangladesh.
Thousands were killed, raped, tortured, or arrested in the crackdown, perpetrated with “genocidal intent,” according to the United Nations, which has described the community as the most persecuted minority in the world. At least 920,000 Rohingya refugees, half of them under 18, currently remain stuck in crowded conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern border district of Cox’s Bazar.
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