A. A. Simonia

Candidate of Economic Sciences

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Keywords: Myanmar, ASEAN, Buddhists, Burmese Muslims, Buddhist radicalism, 969 movement, Rohingya, monk Ashin Wirathu, President Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi

Since the self-dissolution of the military junta in Myanmar in early 2011, there have been increasingly disturbing reports of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts. First, there were clashes in Rakhine State (Arakan) between indigenous Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims who do not have citizenship of the Union of Myanmar. But in 2013, simmering divisions broke out between Buddhists and Burmese Muslims in other parts of the country.

Monk Ashin Viratu became the spiritual leader of the anti-Islamic protests. Given that Myanmar has assumed the chairmanship of the ASEAN-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (2014) for the first time, as well as the upcoming 2015 general parliamentary elections, the above-mentioned destabilizing events are particularly dangerous for Myanmar's further transition to democracy.

RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN MYANMAR

Burma has always been considered one of the most tolerant countries. In the center of Yangon (until 1989 - Rangoon), the former capital [1], on an area within one block there are: the oldest Buddhist Sule pagoda (existing for more than 2000 years, which contains the sacred hair of the Buddha), a Hindu temple, a mosque, a Christian church and even a synagogue-the only one in the country built back in the 19th century. It was founded in 1854 by a community of Iraqi Jews and is still active today, although there are very few adherents of Judaism in Burma.

This square in the city center is considered a symbol of religious tolerance. The country with a population of about 60 million people is home to 135 ethnic groups that speak different languages and profess different religions.

Even in colonial times, Burma developed a "pluralistic society", which was a motley mixture of Europeans, Chinese, Indians and local residents, among whom, in addition to the Burmese, were representatives of other tribes and nationalities. As noted by the English researcher J. R. R. Tolkien.Furnivall, "they communicate, but they don't unite, each group has its own religion, its own culture and language... This is a pluralistic society, where different parts of it live side by side, but live separately" [2]. The same situation is observed today, i.e. Burma / Myanmar has not become a "melting pot", although interethnic and interfaith marriages occur.

According to official data from 2003, in a country of 60 million people, Buddhism is practiced by 90% of the population, and Christians and Muslims account for 4% each, although the proportion of minorities may be underestimated by official statistics. According to the latest data, Christians in Myanmar are now about 5.6%, 2/3 of them are Protestants, almost half of them are Baptists, 1/3 of all Christians in Myanmar are Catholics. Muslims make up up to 8% of the population.

In December 2013, a solemn celebration was held to mark the 200th anniversary of the arrival in Burma of the first American Baptist missionaries who translated the Bible into Burmese. The four-day celebrations in Yangon were dedicated to the memory of the missionary educator Edoniram Judson, who compiled the first written grammar of the Burmese language and the first Burmese-English dictionary (from which the author of this article also studied Burmese). More than 40 thousand people took part in the celebrations. members of the Baptist church. At the opening ceremony of the festival, Baptist Christians performed-representatives of Kachin, Chin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Arakanese (Rakhine) and Shan in national costumes [3].

CLASHES BETWEEN MUSLIM AND BUDDHIST COMMUNITIES

In recent years, conflicts between Muslim and Buddhist communities have become increasingly frequent in Myanmar. The dangerous thing is that these clashes take on a protracted and massive character. In 2012, Rakhine State experienced two major conflicts between Raoghain Buddhists and non-Myanmar Rohingya Muslims. The reason was the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl by three Rohingya Muslims. As a result of the clashes, about 200 people were killed and tens of thousands on both sides became internally displaced [4].

According to official data, the Muslim group in Myanmar has 1.7 million people, i.e. it ranks third in number after Buddhists and Christians, according to other sources-second after Buddhism, as their number continues to grow. Rakhine State (Arakan) has the largest Muslim population due to the nearly one million Rohingya who have settled along the border with Bangladesh. Separate Islamic communities of Burmese Muslims live in different parts of the country, mainly in cities.

The majority of Muslims in Burma were formed during the colonial period, when Burma was part of India, from the marriages of Muslim Indians with Indian women.

Burmese women. Although these Muslim Indians who took Burmese women as their wives practically merged with the Burmese population, their wives and children began to practice Islam. During the 1941 census. They were listed as "Burmese Muslims"for the first time in the country's history. This category of citizens also includes descendants of Muslims who came from China and other neighboring countries. As for the Musul Man Rohingya, according to the results of that census, they were recorded as "Bengalis", i.e. non-indigenous people of Burma who do not have the right to citizenship.

Burmese Muslims are Muslims of a Buddhist country, i.e. their daily secular life, like that of the vast majority of the country's inhabitants, remains in the general mainstream of the Buddhist way of life, although no one interferes with Burmese Muslims to pray and perform religious rites. However, for some Myanmar residents, Islam is a pragmatic choice. Members of the Muslim diaspora help their co-religionists to get a job and provide them with initial capital to start their own businesses. Muslim children can get a good education in schools funded by the funds of rich oil countries in the Middle East, and then they can study for free at universities in Arab countries. Children who were educated there and returned to their homeland are already very different from their parents in appearance and worldview. They return with connections in the Islamic world, sometimes with endowment funds.

Burmese Muslims have always kept aloof from the Rohingya, regarding them as "wrong Muslims." They also feared that if the Burmese government fought Islamic extremism, it would also target them.

At the height of inter-communal clashes in Rakhine State in June 2012, members of the Muslim diaspora in Yangon even took part in demonstrations in support of the government's policy against "Bengalis calling themselves Rohingya". But after the re-outbreak of sectarian conflict in Rakhine State in October 2012, Burmese Muslims announced that for the first time in their memory, they had decided not to celebrate one of the two main Islamic holidays - the ritual of sacrifice "Eid al-Adha" (in Arabic), or" Eid al-Adha " (in Turkic), which is mainly used for religious holidays. 2012 fell on October 26.

As the head of the Yangon-based Myanmar Islamic Association explained to Irrawaddy magazine, the decision was made "in solidarity with the persecuted fellow Rohingya Muslims." At the same time, he said that this decision does not apply to Islamic diasporas living in other regions of the country. But, as it turned out, the authorities warned all Burmese Muslims that they would not be able to guarantee their safety during the performance of festive rituals, although they would take the necessary actions. Muslims living in Mandalay, in the Karen and Mon states, also did not dare to celebrate the feast of sacrifice in the midst of clashes in Rakhine [3, 24.10.2012].

Of particular concern is that the worsening problems with the Rohingya have led to a deterioration in relations between Burmese Muslims and Buddhists, who see all Muslims as a potential threat to their national and religious identity.

AREAS OF CONFLICT

The history of coexistence between Muslims and Buddhists in Burma, especially in recent decades, has not been simple. In 1997 - 1998, an anti - Islamic book by an unknown author was published in Myanmar - "The Danger of the Disappearance of our Nation", which became a bestseller and went through several editions. The book provides data on the number of mosques and Islamic religious schools in the country. It also contains a number of stories about Muslim men exploiting and forcing young Buddhist women to convert to Islam.

The publication of this 100-page book helped to increase anti-Islamic sentiment among the Buddhist population. According to the author of the article "Freedom of Religion in Burma", an expatriate Burmese journalist Khin Maun Win, this book "speaks sharply and negatively about Islam and Muslims in order to awaken Burmese nationalism based on Buddhism "[5].

Similar anti-Islamic literature has appeared before: in October 1996, pamphlets calling on Buddhist women not to marry Muslims and boycotting Muslim-owned shops were widely distributed in Yangon and other cities.

In 1997, attacks on members of the Islamic diaspora occurred all over the country, including in the second major city - Mandalay. In February-March 1997, anti-Islamic protests took place in the Karen State, where several mosques were destroyed, copies of the Koran were destroyed and burned, and Muslims were expelled from their places of residence. Since the army did not stop the rioters and the Muslim population was left to fend for themselves, Islamic religious leaders were sure that the all-powerful military intelligence, which was considered the think tank of the military regime, was behind these pogroms. In March 1997, 33 mosques were destroyed and looted across the country.

A new outbreak of sectarian hostility with Burmese Muslim citizens occurred on March 20, 2013 in central Myanmar - in the city of Maithil. Then similar riots spread to other cities, including the former capital of Yangon. According to official figures, 43 people were killed in clashes in Maithil.

As always, the quarrel began on a domestic basis. A conflict arose between a Buddhist buyer and a Muslim seller in a gold jewelry store: the buyer expressed doubts about the authenticity of the jewelry, a dispute broke out, then a fight broke out, which rolled out into the street. Several Buddhist monks from a nearby monastery joined the scuffle. A crowd of nearly 200 Buddhists gathered and went to smash nearby Muslim shops. As a result of the clashes, one Buddhist monk was killed, after which

as a result, three city mosques were burned down.

On the third day of unrest, when entire districts were already burning, a curfew was imposed in Maithil. Hundreds of special police officers were sent to the city. However, residents of the city believed that they could not prevent the destruction of entire districts and help all the victims. Special forces soldiers mainly helped residents evacuate from burning houses. The omission or lack of harshness in the suppression of militant Buddhists and Muslims by special forces units can be attributed to the fear that international human rights defenders will regard their actions as violent against the population, and victims of conflicts will be attributed to "brutality in reprisals against the population by the authorities", as was the case during the clashes in Rakhine State in June and October 2012.

The third hotbed of inter - religious clashes broke out in the Shan State at the end of May 2013-in Lashio. Muslim pogroms continued for two days, burning down a mosque, an orphanage, and residential buildings. The reason was the attempt of a local Muslim, as a result of a quarrel, to burn alive an employee at a gas station. He doused it with gasoline and tried to set it on fire, as a result of which a 24-year-old Buddhist woman with severe burns was sent to the hospital. The crowd demanded that the police hand over the criminal with the intention of organizing a lynching, but, having been refused, went to smash and set fire to everything Muslim that was on the way. The perpetrator was later sentenced to 26 years in prison for attempted murder. [6]

In all the incidents mentioned above, the special police were unable to stop illegal actions on both sides, even after the curfew was imposed. Arson and looting stopped only after the introduction of a state of emergency and the entry of army units into the city. Although the appearance of soldiers on the streets of Myanmar, which was recently ruled by a military junta, was a very dangerous sign, residents of cities where riots took place supported this decision. Even the well-known dissident Min Ko Nain , a former political prisoner who spent half his life in prisons and camps and has always opposed authoritarianism, supported President Thein Sein's decision to declare a state of emergency and bring in the army to stop the Maythil pogroms in March 2013. [7]

According to the results of investigations of all these incidents, Myanmar police say that the instigators of the clashes, as a rule, were Muslims. The perpetrators of the crimes were arrested, tried and severely punished. According to Myanmar's official press, about 1,500 people were arrested and 535 convicted for involvement in inter-religious conflicts, including in Rakhine State in 2012. 73 people were convicted of participating in riots in central Myanmar in the first half of 2013. For crimes committed during the Muslim pogroms, 25 Buddhists were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years, one Muslim-to life in prison for the murder of a 19-year - old student during the riots, and four more Muslims-to seven years [8].

Myanmar is a Buddhist country. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 people in the country are Buddhists. But since Muslim families tend to have many children, the Muslim population has grown significantly in recent decades. This is especially true for Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State: until recently, there were 800 thousand of them, today they are increasingly talking about 1 million people. There are 10-12 children per Rohingya woman.

After two outbreaks of ethnic and religious conflicts in Rakhine State in 2012, a Government commission was working to investigate those tragic events and find ways to resolve the conflict. A solution to the problem was proposed - the government should take measures to integrate the Rohingya into Myanmar society, and in return, in order to level the demographic burden, Rohingya families were forbidden to have more than two children.

The publication of the results of the commission's work caused a scandal, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi also condemned such a discriminatory proposal. Some commentators have even compared the birth control measure to the Nazis ' treatment of Jews. However, demonstrations were held in Rakhine State in support of the proposal, and it was generally supported across the country. [9]

President Thein Sein, in an interview with French television, said that "unfounded accusations of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State are groundless" and that this is part of a" smear campaign by some external forces " [10].

IDEOLOGY OF THE ANTI-ISLAMIC MOVEMENT

At the same time, nationalist, primarily anti-Islamic ideology is gaining popularity among Burmese Buddhists. The pogroms are led by Buddhist monks, who traditionally, since colonial times, show significant social and political activity. The riots are being coordinated by activists of Myanmar's newly formed nationalist anti-Islam movement 969 through social media.

Back in 1997, an official of the Ministry of Religious Affairs published a 40-page booklet in Molamyain, Mon with the title "969". It should be noted that there is nothing aggressive in the number "969". This number is intended to eliminate the imbalance created in Myanmar between Muslim and Buddhist numerology [11].

Just as in Islam there is the number "781", meaning the phrase "in the name of Allah, the Merciful and merciful", so in Buddhism the number " 969 " consists of numbers: the first one means 9 basic qualities inherent in the Buddha, the second - 6 basic qualities inherent in the dharma, and the third digit - 9 basic qualities inherent in the Buddha. the sangha.

Stickers with this number have always been sold in Myanmar, and many Buddhists traditionally hang them over the doors of their homes, like Muslims - quotes from the Koran or the same number "781".

But now the anti-Islamists calling for a boycott of Muslim merchants are recommending that-

It is recommended to attach such stickers on the doors of Buddhist-owned shops so that customers can determine who is the owner of the store and make their choice. Muslim merchants, in turn, tear such stickers from the shops of their competitors, for which they are sometimes arrested. Many members of the Buddhist clergy object to the use of the number "969" in inter-religious disputes.

In June 2013, the leader of the anti-Islamic movement, Ashin Viratu, proposed to the monks the idea of passing a law banning marriages between Muslim men and Buddhist girls. If a Muslim wants to marry a girl from a Buddhist family, he must obtain permission from her parents and local authorities, after which he must convert to Buddhism.

Ashin Viratu explains the need for such a law by saying that " girls from Buddhist families, marrying a Muslim, lose the right to freedom of religion." Aung San Suu Kyi denounced the idea of such a law, saying it discriminated against women. "This is a violation of women's rights and a violation of human rights," she said on June 21, 2013 in an interview with Radio Free Asia [12].

Women's rights activists in Myanmar and abroad also oppose such a law as gender inequality. Note that sometimes Buddhist girls themselves are a "weak link", preferring rich Muslim suitors. Some of the population believes that the monks, who initiated the adoption of the law, should not interfere in worldly family affairs.

However, there was broad support for the proposal among the Buddhist population. In a short period of time, $ 2.5 million was collected in Myanmar. signatures. A petition with these signatures was sent to the parliament with a proposal to hold a national referendum on interfaith marriages [3, 18.07.2013]. The Buddhists returned to this question six months later. More than 10,000 monks attended a conference held in Mandalay on January 15, 2014, to discuss a draft law on the prohibition of interfaith marriages prepared by lawyers. Proponents of this document believe that the Marriage Act (1954) does not guarantee women and children protection from forced religious change. The draft of the new law, together with the signatures of almost 4 million people, was submitted to the Parliament for consideration. According to Buddhists, only Muslims object to this document, while representatives of Christianity and Hinduism are silent [3, 16.01.2014].

BUDDHIST SPIRITUAL LEADER ASHIN VIRATU

The ideologue of the 969 anti-Islamic movement, Ashin Viratu, a 45-year-old monk from Mandalay, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003 "for anti-Muslim propaganda and inciting sectarian hatred", but after serving 8 years, he was released as a political prisoner in the wake of democratic changes under a general amnesty. According to his fans, Ashin Viratu is a very charming and charismatic leader.

Foreign journalists call him "Burma's bin Laden" and a "radical Buddhist," but he says he is fighting to preserve the Buddhist religion and the Burmese nation from Muslims who have significantly more children than Buddhists and are buying up Burmese land. He is convinced that, in addition to the dominance of Muslims in trade, there is a threat of Islamization of the country and the penetration of Muslims into the authorities and even in the environment of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ashin Viratu drives around the country with an escort of 60 roaring motorcycles. The traffic police clear the way for them, and his admirers prostrate themselves before him. There are rumors in Myanmar, though not confirmed by any evidence, that Ashin Wirathu is associated with "hardliners" who want to take advantage of Buddhist nationalism in the upcoming 2015 elections.

Some opposition politicians even talk publicly about training camps in the jungle, about mobile groups of young people with stickers "969" on motorcycles, ready to quickly arrive anywhere. Some eyewitnesses claim that during the anti-Muslim actions, many non-local people could be seen, including those dressed in saffron togas of monks. But Ashin Viratu himself denies any connection with "hardliners", who also claim that they are not involved in organizing inter-religious conflicts [3, 17.06.2013].

At the same time, he has repeatedly stated that he considers the candidacy of Aung San Suu Kyi unsuitable for the post of president. In January 2014, he said that it is more important to strengthen the border with the Islamic State of Bangladesh to block the flow of illegal migrants to Myanmar than to discuss the possibility of electing the opposition leader as president in 2015: "She cannot become our national leader, because she will not be able to protect our national interests. I am with those who want to build a wall along the border [3, 9.01.2014].

Ashin Viratu's sermons are distributed on videotapes and CDs. In his speeches, he teeters on the edge between freedom of speech and incitement. During a sermon in Taunji in Shan State, Ashin Wirathu described the recent conflict in central Myanmar with numerous casualties as a "show of force". "If we show weakness, our country will become Islamic. You can be full of kindness and love, but you shouldn't sleep next to a rabid dog." In June 2013, while Ashin Wirathu was preaching at a monastery in Mandalay, a homemade bomb exploded 12 meters away from him, he was not injured, but five pilgrims were injured. After the attack, Ashin Viratu claimed that the bomb was intended for him to silence him. Previously, he received death threats.

The attitude of Buddhist religious figures to Ashin Virat is also ambiguous. Some consider him a slave to their own vanity and accuse him of manipulating believers in their own interests and in the interests of the people allegedly behind him. But there are also those,

who support it unconditionally.

According to a 55-year - old monk who heads a monastery school in Yangon, monks in Myanmar are divided equally-into moderates and extremists. He considers himself a moderate, but says that "he is afraid of Muslims, because their numbers are growing rapidly" [13].

When journalist Hannah Beach's article "Extremist Buddhist monks persecute religious minorities" was published in the American Time magazine in July 2013, and a photo of Monk Wirathu was placed on the cover with the inscription "The Face of Buddhist Terror" [14], this caused a wave of indignation in Myanmar and a demand for an apology. Within two days, more than 40 thousand people took part in the discussion of this publication on social networks. Users ' indignation was caused by the combination of the words "Buddhism and terror" [15].

The very next day, a statement was posted on the official website of the president, which stated that "such a publication causes great harm to inter-religious relations in the country and leads to a misunderstanding of Buddhism, which has been the main religion of the people of Myanmar for thousands of years."

President Thein Sein defended Monk Virata as a representative of the Buddhist clergy: "Buddhist monasticism, known as the Sangha, is a worthy and respected people who strive for the peace and prosperity of Buddhism." The President also denies that the Myanmar government has a discriminatory policy towards Muslims: "Although the majority of the population of Myanmar is Buddhist, the Government respects Article 362 of the Constitution, which states that there are other religions in the country: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Animism" [16].

Ashin Wiratu himself responded: "Regarding the comparison between me and bin Laden: he had blood on his hands, but my hands were clean. This comparison is completely inappropriate. We propose laws that will protect our people and religion. Does this mean that we are extremists? We encourage you to love and respect our religion and people. Does this mean that we are terrorists? There is a video recording of my interview with Time magazine, so you can check if there is anything provocative there. They didn't print their questions or my answers. And in their photos, I look intimidating. " [17]

According to state television, the Myanmar government banned the distribution of the July issue of Time magazine in order to "prevent riots on religious grounds". [18]

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Increasing sectarian tensions in Myanmar may make it more difficult for it to assume the honorary chairmanship of ASEAN this year.* On January 17, 2014, Myanmar hosted ASEAN Foreign Ministers for the first time in this capacity in the ancient city of Pagan. At a press conference following the meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marta Natalegawa said that clashes between Buddhist and Islamic communities inside the country are causing a resonance in the countries of the region. He cited the example of an attempt by a terrorist group to blow up the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta in May 2013 as a response to sectarian clashes in 2012. "Although this is an internal problem of Myanmar, it has an impact on all of us, as it becomes a detonator of terrorist activity," the minister said.

On New Year's Eve 2014, Indonesian police shot dead six Islamic terrorists to prevent other anti-Buddhist activities. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Myanmar live in other ASEAN countries, including Malaysia, and they are also periodically attacked by Islamists, including Rohingya refugees. All of this is causing concern in the ASEAN countries.

"We are not delving into this issue right now, "Natalegawa said in unison with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, who asked that" this issue should not be escalated " while Myanmar holds the ASEAN presidency. "The main principle of ASEAN is non-interference in the internal affairs of its member countries. We don't comment on events in Thailand or Cambodia," the Myanmar minister said.

At the same time, the Indonesian Foreign Minister stressed that issues of religious tolerance will be raised at the upcoming ASEAN summits during 2014 [3,17. 01. 2014]. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, and it was at the origin of the creation of ASEAN, of which Myanmar became a member only 30 years later. Myanmar draws heavily from Indonesia's experience in transforming the military regime into a civil democratic society.

On January 19, 2014, three days after a Buddhist conference in Mandalay proposed a new law on interfaith marriage, leaders of Myanmar's three major religions met in Yangon for the first time in history. The conference "Religious Roots of Social Harmony" was organized by the Myanmar public group Religions for Peace, established in September 2012, and the Human Rights Institute at Columbia University (USA). Ashin Viratu was also invited.

The main topics of discussion were establishing peace between adherents of different religions, conflict prevention strategy, and achieving mutual understanding between educated segments of citizens with different religions. The leader of the Islamic community made a sentimental speech. He said that "Myanmar has managed to create a union of different representatives of a pluralistic society since the time of the Burmese kings. Islam appeared in Myanmar 1000 years ago. We represent a part of society and are proud to be law-abiding citizens of our beloved homeland together with our brothers and sisters of different nations."

Ashin Viratu, for his part, told reporters that" the issue of religious tensions cannot be resolved at a summit meeting like this, " and called for an end to the conflict.

* Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997, but it was only 16 years later that it won the ASEAN Presidency.

He also added that he "organizes the study of legal bases by the Buddhists of the State of Arakan in order to avoid further criminal confrontation" [3, 21.01.2014].

Freedom of speech and assembly, granted for the first time in 50 years, has enabled radicals in Myanmar to spread their views to the general public. To say that such outbreaks of ethnic or religious discord are costs of democracy would be incorrect and inaccurate.

Historical experience and recent events show that authoritarian power keeps various ethnic and religious groups of the population existing in the country in a latent state. But when the existing authoritarian power is either eliminated in a short time, as happened in Iraq, or weakens control over the population for internal political reasons, as in Myanmar, the primordial contradictions between these groups are released, come to the surface and escalate to open acute conflicts.

The weakening of the military's power on the ground, the reduction of controls and the lifting of bans have led to an increase in religious tensions in Myanmar over the past two years.

1. See: Simonia A. A. Naypyidaw-the new capital of Myanmar / / Asia and Africa Today. 2007, N 10. (Simoniya A. A. Naypyidau - new capital of Myanmar // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. 2007, N 10) (in Russian)

2. Furnivall J.S Colonial Policy and Practice. N.Y., 1956, p. 304 - 305.

3. The Irrawaddy (Thailand). 06.12.2013.

4. On the Rohingya problem, see: Simonia A. A. Who are the Rohingya? // Asia and Africa today. 2009, N 11, pp. 27-31. (Simoniya A. A. Kto takiye Rohinga? // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. 2009, N 11) (in Russian); aka: Myanmar 2012: Ethno-confessional conflict in the south-west of the country / / Asia and Africa Today. 2013, N 2. (Myanmar 2012: etnokonfessiionalny konflikt // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. 2013, N 2) (in Russian)

5. Khin Maung "Win. Religious Freedom in Burma: A Devisive and Suppressive Practice of the military regime // Legal Issues on Burma Journal (Bangkok), October 1999, No. 4, p. 20 - 22.

6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22868003? print=true

7. The New Light of Myanmar (Yangon), 20.07.2013.

8. The Associated Press, 11.07.2013.

9. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/29/asia-pacific/suu-kyi-opposes-two-child-limit-f or-muslim-minority/; see also: Myanmar: Islam and Buddhism divide the country // Truth.<url>, 16.06.2013.

10. The New York Times, 20.07.2013.

11. For more information, see: http://dragon-naga.livejournal.com/ 31.07.2013

12. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/suu-kyi-slams-proposed-inter-faith-marriage-law-054035441.html# GeQqXmZ

13. Fuller T. Extremism rises among Myanmar Buddhists // The New York Times, 20.06.2013.

14. The Time, July 1, 2013. Vol. 182, No. 1 (The Asian version of the July issue of the magazine appeared on June 22).

15. Burmese leader defends "anti Muslim" monk Ashin Wirathu // BBC News Asia, 24.06.2013.

16. Anger over Time's "Buddhist terror" story // Bangkok Post, 24.06.2013.

17. http://buddha.by/yavlyaetsya-li-monakh-viratkhu-olitsetvoreniem-buddiiskogo-terrorizma

18. http://www.moscow-info.org/articles/2013/06/ 26/692667.phtml

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