Nationalist protesters, including Ma Ba Tha members, march in Yangon in May, 2015. PHOTO / COCONUTS MEDIA
Hardline Buddhist organization Ma Ba Tha, or the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, are holding their second annual conference in Yangon from June 20-21, according to local media and the group’s Facebook page.
A main topic of discussion will be the so-called race and religion laws, a package of four Ma Ba Tha-backed bills which critics say limit the rights of non-Buddhists and women. One has already been passed and three others are moving steadily through parliament.
The estimated turnout at Insein’s Ywarma Monastery is 3,000 people. According to a statement from Ma Ba Tha, there will be a kind of open meeting the night before the start of the conference, which marks the two-year anniversary of the group’s creation. The inaugural conference last year also took place in Yangon.
U Maung Maung, a Central Committee Member of Ma Ba Tha, was quoted in Burmese-language newspaper Messenger Journal as saying that in the lead-up to the conference, members will track the progress of the legislation.
“If it is not effective, we will discuss… in the conference.”
