bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

An ultra-nationalist Myanmar monk was released from prison on Friday after serving time for inciting unrest in an anti-Rohingya protest in 2016, a rare punishment handed to one of the country’s hardline Buddhist clergymen.
Parmaukkha, who was handed a three-month jail term, has helped peddle a fiery brand of Buddhist nationalism and Islamophobia in Myanmar, a country accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims.

The monk was arrested in November over a rally he held outside the US embassy in Yangon in April 2016 to protest against America’s use of the word “Rohingya”.
The Buddhist-majority nation refuses to recognise Rohingya as citizens, referring to them instead as “Bengalis” and insisting they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
On Friday several dozen supporters cheered and scattered petals in front of Parmaukkha as he walked out of Yangon’s notorious Insein prison at dawn before going to pray at the city’s iconic Shwedagon Pagoda.
“He has work to do … I love everything he does for religion and the nation,” said Aye Lay, a 32-year-old supporter.

Anti-Muslim hate speech has been brewing in Myanmar for several years, often spilling over into bouts of bloodshed.
Religious hatred has surged in the wake of a military crackdown that has forced 700,000 Rohingya to flee the country since August.
The UN says the campaign amounts to ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide.
But many in the mainly Buddhist nation support the crackdown, which the army says was needed to crush a Rohingya militant uprising.
Over the past year, religious authorities have taken some steps to curb the influence of ultra-nationalist monks like Parmaukkha.

His release on Friday coincides with the end of a year-long public speaking ban on Wirathu – another firebrand monk known as the face of Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalist movement.
Wirathu, once dubbed the “Buddhist Bin Laden”, was barred from giving public sermons last year by a council of senior monks who said he had “repeatedly delivered hate speech against religions to cause communal strife”.
The monk was also recently kicked off Facebook, where he had amassed a huge following with incendiary anti-Muslim posts.
The social media giant said it took down his page in January in accordance with a policy that prohibits “people dedicated to promoting hatred and violence against others”.


Malaysia court charges 11 shipwreck survivors of Langkawi boat tragedy with illegal entry

Malaysia boat tragedy reignites concern over rising toll of Rohingya sea exodus

7 dead, hundreds missing after migrant boat from Myanmar sinks off Malaysia-Thailand border

Why China should lead commission for a phased Rohingya repatriation

Rohingya Muslims

Ultra-nationalist Myanmar Buddhist monk freed from prison

Ultra-nationalist monk Pamaukkha talks to the media after being released from Insein prison in Yangon on March 9, 2018. Photo: AFP

Ultra-nationalist monk Pamaukkha (C) walks out with his supporters after being released from Insein prison in Yangon on March 9, 2018. A firebrand ultra-nationalist monk walked free from a Myanmar prison on March 9 after completing his sentence for inciting unrest at an anti-Rohingya protest outside the US Embassy in 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Ye Aung THU

Ultra-nationalist monk Pamaukkha (top C, in white and wearing glasses) leaves following a court appearance in Yangon on November 14, 2017. One of Myanmar's most vocal ultra-nationalist monks was denied bail November 14 over charges of inciting unrest in an anti-Rohingya protest held outside the US Embassy last year. Pamaukkha was detained over the weekend in a rare move against hardline clergymen who have fanned hatred against Myanmar's persecuted Muslim Rohingya -- a group that has been targeted by a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine state. / AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU

Ultra-nationalist monk Pamaukkha (C) prays in Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon on March 9, 2018, after being released from prison. A firebrand ultra-nationalist monk walked free from a Myanmar prison on March 9 after completing his sentence for inciting unrest at an anti-Rohingya protest outside the US Embassy in 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Ye Aung THU

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Myanmar