Hate speech Myanmar monk who compares himself to Trump banned from sermons for a year

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Published: 12:56pm, 12 Mar 2017Updated: 9:34pm, 12 Mar 2017

A Myanmar monk infamous for his bilious anti-Muslim tirades has been banned from giving sermons for a year by the country’s top Buddhist body, an unprecedented slapdown to man whose hate speech has galvanised religious tensions.

Wirathu, a monk once dubbed the “face of Buddhist terror”, has led calls for restrictions on Myanmar’s Muslim population, penning hyperbolic speeches warning of an Islamic takeover of the overwhelmingly Buddhist country. He has compared himself to US President Donald Trump who is “similar to me in prioritising nationalism”.

Myanmar is gripped by deepening religious tensions that have repeatedly spilled into violence.

The unrest has been partially attributed to anti-Muslim rhetoric spread by Wirathu’s radical wing Buddhist monks.

An activist holds a wanted poster of Myanmar hardline Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu during a rally in support of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar in Indonesia. File photo: AFP

Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is under strong international pressure to explain a bloody crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya minority in Rakhine State over recent months.

The February assassination of Ko Ni, a respected and high-profile Muslim lawyer and long-time Suu Kyi ally, also heightened tensions.