After leading politicians and Buddhist monks disowned the extremist nationalist group, the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, also known as Ma Ba Tha, has hit back with a video “response”.
The film attempts to show that the previous government supported it, the Myanmar Times reports.
The clip, posted to social media earlier this week, is of a statement made by the former minister of religious affairs, U San Sint, dubbing Ma Ba Tha “a reasonable organization” while at a conference of prominent Buddhist clerics in 2014.
Glowing praise indeed… And from a man who was later sacked and jailed for alleged misuse of state funds.
The situation for the fervently Islamophobic group has, let’s say, moved on a bit since then.
In recent weeks it has been disowned by not only the new Yangon Region Chief Minister, Phyo Min Thein, but the new religious affairs minister, Thura U Aung Ko. The latter said Ma Ba Tha would face an “uncertain future” if it continued to whip up interreligious conflict.
The official Buddhist council also disowned the group in a statement dated July 12.
Judging from the new video, Ma Ba Tha is trying to show support for both the Sangha and the religious affairs minister. In other words, sucking up.
“This is a response from Ma Ba Tha,” senior Ma Ba Tha member Ashin Tawpaka told the Times. “We uploaded the video to show our relationship in the past. We will continue to pursue our objectives and carry out our functions.”
Um, really? Do you have to?
