The organizers of an interfaith prayer event sponsored by a local National League for Democracy (NLD) chapter have issued a public apology over the circulation of photos showing Muslim leaders sitting higher off the ground than Buddhist monks.
The interfaith prayer event was held by the NLD chapter in Sintgaing Township, Mandalay Region, on October 24. The event was politicized from the beginning, with many locals refusing to attend what they saw as a political stunt by the party.
The monks who attended the event were criticized for doing so without the permission of the local MaHaNa committee, a Buddhist clerical body, and for violating their commitment to shunning material things, including politics.
The controversy deepened when photos began circulating on social media showing Muslim leaders sitting on plastic chairs beside Buddhist monks sitting on the ground. The photos triggered an outcry from local Buddhists, who said the seating arrangement violated the basic principles of Buddhist etiquette, which dictate that no one in the presence of a monk sit higher than the monk.
Local MP Hlaing Win defended the seating arrangement as an honest mistake but also accused people who shared the photos of seeking to defame the NLD and stoke racial and religious tensions in Myanmar.
Sayadaw Panyartharmi, the deputy chairman of the local MaHaNa committee said event’s organizers were “grossly negligent” and “devoid of professionalism.”
On October 27, the event’s organizers publicly apologized to members of the local MaHaNa committee, kneeling on the floor while the monks sat in chairs.
