‘It’s naïve to say 969 is behind the unrest’

the now ubiquitous emblems of the radical anti-Muslim 969 campaign glare at you from Myanmar’s shop fronts and taxi windscreens. Bootleg DVD sellers hawk discs featuring the sermons of prominent 969 monks alongside the bestselling Korean soap operas. But despite the obvious prominence of the campaign, its radical teachings promoting segregation of Buddhists and Muslims are far from being embraced by everyone. Irrawaddy reporter Kyaw Phyo Tha spoke to a 969 leader, Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma, and an anti969 monk, U Pantavunsa, to learn more about this controversial movement.

An Interview with Myanan Sayadaw U

Thaddhamma

What is the 969 movement?

The central tenet of Buddhism is the Three Gems—Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. If they are not in the hearts of Buddhists, the faith will be gone. 969 represents all three. We’ve invented the numerical logo as an emblem of Buddhism, just as a reminder to all Buddhists to contemplate the attributes of the Three Gems, and to promote the religion among those who are not very interested in it.

How long have you been promoting the 989 movement?

I’ve been working on propagating Buddhism for a long time, but just six months on 969. It’s the brainchild of Buddhist scholars who have been studying and teaching the Buddha’s doctrine to hundreds of monks in Mawlamyine. After several meetings and thorough discussions, we launched our mission.

Your ‘mission’ is widely regarded as anti-Muslim. Do you have any comment to make about this?

It’s just speculation. We have nothing to do with saying “no” to other religions. We are just working for Buddhism. People may have different views on what we are doing. We are not trying to defeat other faiths, just strengthen our own.

During recent anti-Muslim riots, 969 logos were sprayed on the walls of destroyed buildings. Was 969 behind this?

You should keep in mind that it depends on how people use our emblem. There might be some people who use it as a pretext to promote their cause. But our goal is not like that. Let me remind you that 969 originated in Mawlamyine. If we masterminded all those conflicts, Mawlamyine would have been the flashpoint. No religious conflicts have been reported so far in southern Myanmar and the Ayeyarwady delta, where we gave our talks about 969. Given all these facts, we are guessing that some people misused our logo.

If people are misusing your logo, do you have a message for them?

Three Gems is like water that can bring peace of mind to people. We are like someone delivering that water. But if some people mix it with poison, it has nothing to do with us. I have to say they’ve misused it. We have to blame their stupidity. It’s religiously inaccurate to use our emblem improperly. It’s also naïve to say that 969 is behind the unrest. I want to warn them not to use religion as a pretext for their interests. They will only end up with bad results.

Have you ever thought that your campaign may spark religious conflicts?

honestly, no. It has never come across our minds. As I’ve mentioned before, we are like water deliverers. If you impose a ban on the delivery due to its negative consequences, it shows how unwise you are. What happened during the unrest was something that shouldn’t have happened.

During your 969 sermons, you urge Buddhists to shop only at Buddhistowned businesses. Don’t you think that is an act of discrimination?

I’ve never urged my followers not to trade with people of different religions. I only encourage Buddhists to help and take care of each other. Since members of other religions often only patronize their own businesses, why shouldn’t we support our Buddhistowned businesses? If they [Muslims] have that kind of discipline, we should have our own discipline for ever-lasting Buddhism.

Is Buddhism under threat?

Myanmar is the only country in the world where Theravada Buddhism flourishes very well. When our Buddhists are less interested in the faith, our religion will be under threat. Apart from Buddhists, who else will take care of Buddhism? That’s why we are working hard to make people more interested in the religion.

Do you have any response for those who say 969 is religiously narrowminded?

They are just saying that without studying our mission closely. Since the campaign is led by scholarly monks, you can take for granted that our vision isn’t religiously narrow-minded. It’s not masterminded singlehandedly. What I want to tell the world is that, like the example I gave, we are just delivering water, the water of the Three Gems.