Originally published on the CGS blog on November 2, 2015.
I have written that Burma is still suffering from ethnic and religiously motivated violence, even as it seeks to strengthen its democratic institutions. Democratization has allowed people to express views they did not have the legal rights to under the military regime, especially in advocating for political changes.
Sadly, at the same time, this type of freedom has also allowed hateful elements to boil up to the surface, including ethnic-religious bigotry which the military regime suppressed to maintain a degree of stability.
Many authoritarian regimes both past and present have discouraged or prohibited discussions about ethnic/racial tension and diversity as if it will make such problems disappear. All this does is smolder the coals for years, even generations, and when liberalization does occur, allows the flames of hate to rage out of control.
People like the radical Ashin Wirathu, a hate-preaching monk and one of the main drivers of hateful rhetoric in Burma, were suppressed for inciting hate-inspired violence under the military junta. The military government didn’t want competition when it came to manipulating and controlling tensions in Burmese society, and it obviously didn’t benefit from the outbreaks of Islamophobic chaos influenced by Wirathu’s hate speech.
The pressure and influence of hate movements like those led by Wirathu have forced parties like Aung San Suu Kyi ‘s National League for Democracy (NLD) to discriminate based on ethnicity and religion when choosing candidates to run for office to fill seats in parliament. The hatemongers have been using local and social media to spread their views that have led to acts of violence.
However, people have been standing up to the hate movements in Burma by using local and social media as well, especially Facebook. Several civil society groups have been speaking out against bigoted and divisive rhetoric and continue to do so when the extremist monks attempt to brand the peace seekers as traitors.
Burma needs to increase public discussion about the fact that it truly is a diverse multiethnic, multicultural, and multireligious country. Burma also needs to heal from the wounds it suffered as a colony of the Indian British Empire, when other ethnic groups from India were brought over to Burma for administrative roles and tasks. The modern descendents of the people brought over from India should not be blamed for wrongs of the past, but instead given the rights to succeed socially and economically and appreciated as valued members of Burmese society.
