|
Report: Thai-based Dissidents Accused of Inciting Buddhist Monks
|
 |
|
The Associated Press
|
Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 22--(AP) Myanmar's military government has accused dissident groups based in Thailand of trying to instigate religious unrest by smuggling into the country sarongs with Buddhist symbols, a news report said Wednesday.
In predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, wearing sarongs with Buddhist symbols or Buddha images is regarded as sacrilege. Exiled dissidents based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot have sent to Myanmar merchants shipments of women's sarongs bearing a wheel-shaped Buddhist symbol and a design similar to Buddha's image, the Seven Day News journal said. The journal is not directly controlled by the government but all publications in the country must be approved by censors.
Authorities discovered that "unscrupulous persons" sent photographs of such sarongs to Buddhist monasteries in Mandalay to incite racial unrest, said the journal. It said local authorities had to explain to Buddhist monks in Mandalay that such materials have been banned since 2001 and that merchants have stopped importing such designs.
Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, has the largest number of Buddhist monasteries in the country. About 90 percent of Myanmar's 52 million people are Buddhists. The rest are Christians and Muslims.
In a separate development, a riot broke out between Buddhists and Muslims on Sunday in Kyaukse town, about 330 miles (530 kilometers) north of Yangon, according to unconfirmed reports by residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the riots were not linked to the reports of sarongs but began after Buddhist monks apprehended two Muslim men for allegedly cutting the heads of Buddha images and handed them over to the police. Subsequently, an irate mob set fire to a mosque and several houses, they said. It was not clear if there were any casualties, and the government did not immediately confirm the report.
