Can Theravada Buddhist Fundamentalism Be Ignored as A Fringe Occurrence?
- In Current Affairs
- 12:26 AM, Jan 20, 2017
- Kishor Narayan
Theravada fundamentalism is making headlines in Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. A Far-Right Buddhist monk has already made it to the cover of the Time magazine as the "Face of Buddhist Terror". Is it for real or are we reading too much into it?
The Western world has lapped up Dalai Lama and his teachings affectionately in the past half a century, ever since he had to forcefully live in exile outside Tibet. Through him, the world has now known the basic tenets of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism (on which the Tibetan Buddhism is based) like Vipassana, mantras and chanting. In short, Mahayana Buddhism is extremely well illustrated in the Western popular culture and liberalistic order. However, there is another branch of Buddhism called the Theravada Buddhism that is considered to be more conservative about matters of doctrine and monastic discipline. Theravada Buddhism, being very prevalent in Sri Lanka and South East Asian nations, plays a very dominant role in their societies.
In the past decade, there have been occasional reports of Buddhist monks and far-right wing Buddhist groups advocating violence against the non-Buddhist minorities, especially the Muslims. There have been concerted efforts to build organizations that try to set the narrative that the Buddhists are being wronged or are being made vulnerable in their own lands. A few outbreaks of violence against Muslims have been attributed to these organizations but have remained unproven in the courts of law. Is Theravada Buddhism becoming hostage to a selective interpretation of far right-wingers who see themselves as the custodians of the Buddhist culture and heritage? Or are we reading too much into a few fringe occurrences? Does Theravada really consist of a pre-defined dogma asking all its followers to establish superiority of Buddhism over other religions especially against Islam? This warrants an understanding of Theravada and a detailed look at all the countries in question.
Theravada means “doctrine (or teaching) of the elders”. Multiple versions of the origins of Theravada exist today. One of the most popular says that the monk Mahinda, thought to be the son of the emperor Ashoka, brought Theravada Buddhism to Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka, over time, Theravada spread to the rest of South East Asia. Despite the European colonialism that began in the early 19th century, Theravada continued in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, in some areas becoming identified with nascent nationalist movements. In Sri Lanka, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Theravada split into factions, mostly over questions regarding the caste of worshippers. Thailand began reform of its Theravada tradition in the 19th century as part of the general national reform initiated in response to European colonialism, and the country has remained a fertile source of Theravada reform movements. In the 1980s and 1990s, Theravada became an important factor in civil strife between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority of Sri Lanka, with some militant Buddhists promoting a vigorous Sinhalese nationalism. In Myanmar, Theravada has become one element of the rigidly conservative political and social policies of the country's military rulers. Theravada in Laos and Cambodia suffered a setback during the Vietnam War (1959-1975) and the subsequent Communist domination but appears to be reviving since the 1990s.
Sri Lanka
While Buddhism has been the oldest religion on the island, the other religions arrived through waves of immigrations spread over centuries. By and large the minorities have co-existed peacefully with the Sinhala majority population. When the Portuguese began persecuting the Muslims in the early 17th century, they found refuge in the Kingdom of Kandy inland ruled by Senarat Adahasin. However the trigger for distrust between the Muslims and the majority Sinhalese was the 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots which later paved the way for the independence movement. The Hindu Tamils too had sided with the Sinhalese although the Muslims and the Hindus both spoke the same language. This mistrust was never eliminated completely even after independence. From the 1980s, Sri Lanka was witness to a horrific civil war between the Sinhala majority army and the Tamil minority. To state that the atrocities carried out by either side were inhuman would be a gross understatement. During the civil war, the rebel group Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam was responsible for ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka where they intended to create a monolithic Tamil state. Much later, LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran had indicated in an interview that he had apologized to the Muslim community for the atrocities committed on them by his group. Since the end of the civil war, the Muslims are now slowly returning to these affected areas in an attempt to set up their livelihood.
In the post civil-war era, the Sinhala nationalist sentiments are on the rise again. Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is an ultra-nationalist Buddhist organization formed in 2012. One of the reasons attributed to the formation of BBS is the alleged ill treatment of Sri Lankan Buddhists in the Middle East for practicing idol worship. BBS accuses large scale international funding by radical Christian and Muslim groups in Sri Lanka and wants Buddhist groups and the general population to isolate themselves from these foreign influences. BBS has been accused of masterminding many anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka, which they continue to deny. However, BBS has not been able to sustain its reach and popularity among the Buddhists. Majority of the Sinhalese reject the ideology of BBS and want it to be banned. Politically too, most national parties criticize the Sena for its ideology and actions. BBS now remains a spent force with no major support base. As a testimony to the fact that people of various ethnicities in Sri Lanka have lived amicably all along with rare flare-ups in between, there was just 1 Sri Lankan Muslim who enrolled himself in ISIS in 2015 and died subsequently the same year as per the ISIS mouthpiece Dabiq.
Thailand
Throughout its history, Thailand has seen a peaceful change in demographics from being a Hindu majority to a Mahayana majority to eventually a Theravada majority nation. However, the southern parts of Thailand were a part of a Sunni Islamic kingdom called the Pattani kingdom. This region has an ethnic Malay Muslim population and was incorporated into Thailand in 1909. Imposition of Thai values, culture and language has made the local population resent the national government. Since the 1990s, this region has seen a secessionist movement against Bangkok. It is interesting to note that the conflict started out as an ethnic struggle. However, both the rebels and the Thai state (and the Buddhists in the south) are using religion to not only sanction violence but also to widen the chasm between the two communities.
The rebel groups have frequently resorted to jihadi style violent attacks. The common gripe of the Theravada Buddhists found across the region that there is a forced change in demographics is seen here too. The Muslim Malays are accused of resorting to ethnic cleansing in the remote parts of the region driving the Buddhists out to cities and even out of the region. Such actions by the rebels have prompted stern action from the government. Thai military has complete immunity on their actions in controlling the secessionist activities. Thai Buddhists who at first ignored the conflict assuming it to be political now see it as a struggle for identity. Thereby, the monks do not condemn any military excesses. There have also been reports of local Buddhist monks encouraging religious vigilantism.
The fact that the military is extremely powerful in Thailand and that it has time and again successfully carried out coups against democratically elected governments, makes the issue of Buddhist fundamentalism in Thailand an extremely tricky issue to handle. The clergy is attempting to provide a moralistic stamp of approval to the actions of the military. This not only emboldens the military even further, but there is also a possibility that the opinion of the local Buddhist population might be swayed in favor of a wider conflict.
Myanmar
Similar to Sri Lanka, the Buddhist monks took active role in the independence movement. Post independence, Myanmar has largely seen military junta rule which was seen to be averse to guaranteeing basic human rights for the minorities.
Since the 1980s, hate crimes based on religion have been recorded only against the Rohingya Muslims and a couple of Christian tribes. However the other Muslim tribe Kamein (also called Kaman) has lived peacefully in Myanmar without any threat (they are one of the 135 ethnic tribes that make up the Myanmarese population). Unfortunately, they have become collateral damage in the fight against Rohingya Muslims and have been forced to quit their homes and live in camps or move to other parts of the country in search of medical aid and jobs. On their part, Rohingyas have been waging a low-intensity insurgency movement since 1947 when Burma gained independence. Myanmarese haven’t forgotten the fact that the Rohingyas had even approached M A Jinnah asking for assistance to cede their part of the land in Arakan state to East Pakistan in 1947. The Myanmar Army, also called the Tatmadaw, has relentlessly carried out the violence reported against the Rohingyas since they consider them as a foreign ethnic group that seeks to secede from Myanmar. There is no documentary evidence yet of BBS being directly involved in any violence against the Rohingyas in Arakan state in the recent wave of communal riots.
Amidst all the confusion of the fight against the military for restoration of democracy, sprang a nationalistic movement called the 969 Movement during the late 2000s. Essentially, it was a grassroots leaderless group of monks promoting Buddhism and militant nationalism throughout Myanmar. Similar to other Buddhist movements in the region, the 969 Movement too was formed to challenge and oppose the changes in the demographics attempted by the Muslims and the Christians. In fact, the term 969 is a challenge to 786 – symbol of Basmala in Islam. Its leader, monk Ashin Wirathu made it to the cover of the Time magazine in 2013 when it carried out a detailed article on what it called Buddhist terrorism. Wirathu has denied carrying out any provocative violent attacks on Muslims although he was jailed for seven years for his role in inciting anti-Muslim pogroms in 2003. He advocates economic apartheid that tries to isolate the Rohingya Muslims by not engaging in any trade with them.
Lack of headlines around the world
Across the world, conflict watchers try to guess where the next big conflict would occur. According to a popular study, for the world to sit up and take notice of a conflict, it should be both highly probable and highly impactful. The current conflicts in the region are neither probable nor impactful enough for the world to take notice. Also, barring the Rohingya issue, the other conflicts have been either dormant or extremely low-key for a long time now. The attack on the Rohingyas in Myanmar has gathered some traction in the recent months and has the potential to metamorphose into a larger region-wide conflict. For now though, these conflicts show no sign of donning the headlines.
Is There Dogma in Theravada?
A comparison is generally made about the Buddhist teachings and the Abrahamic faiths with an argument that the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path qualify as dogma. The argument extends that there needs to be an unquestionable belief in rebirth. As a counter-argument, the Buddhists point out that Buddha encouraged all to test with his/her own reasoning. He even said that these dogmas were empty of inherent existence and just expedient means, and were to be used as ointments for the pain of psychological suffering. It’s quite evident that the monks do not see their movements as redemption towards the fulfillment of the dogma. Instead they merely look at themselves as social and cultural conscience keepers to protect the Buddhist identity of the region.
And finally…
It is a known fact that the Buddhist monks in the region are not brandishing any religious texts to justify their advocacy of violence unlike the gatekeepers of the Abrahamic faiths. The reasoning provided by the monks is simple. Demographic changes employed by any means becomes a death blow to the Buddhist identity of these nations and that the monks and the general Buddhist population should be prepared to resist and oppose the same at any cost. The examples of Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar reiterate the same demographic changes that seem to have irked the monks. Minus the violence, this is identical to the grand speeches made by the heads of state of Western nations reiterating that they will remain Christian despite waves of immigration from their former colonies and elsewhere.
There is a need for the global intelligentsia to delineate Theravada Buddhism from the violence employed by the practicing monks and thus spare the conservative Theravada of any ignominy. If Christianity can be delineated from Ku Klux Klan to spare the blushes, if Judaism can be delineated from Zionist movements to spare the blushes, surely Theravada has a stronger case by virtue of not advocating violence in the first place. Having said that, it is also imperative to prevent the opinions of the monks from influencing the state’s decision. The states need to guarantee basic human rights to citizens irrespective of the community they belong to. Spread of Jihadist doctrine is an apparent root cause for the monks to take a hardline stance. The governments in this region will have to ensure that the Jihadists do not cause any more harm to the delicate secular balance witnessed in the past decade.
Photo Credit: By Javierfv1212 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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