The Myanmar monk once dubbed ‘the face of Buddhist terror’ has likened himself to suave fictional spy James Bond.
In an interview with the LA Times, Ashin Wirathu appeared to compare his political stance, which is nationalist and vehemently anti-Muslim, to the British secret agent’s.
“James Bond is a nationalist,” he said, before launching into an unorthodox interpretation of the films based on one of the many scenes in which 007 slept with a woman to obtain information.
“While he did not take much pleasure in the act,” said Wirathu, “he did it for his country.”
The 46-year-old monk claims Myanmar Muslims are plotting a “jihad” against the Buddhist majority and warns his huge following not to mix with them.
Human rights groups have warned that he and the 969 movement he leads have stoked religious riots responsible for scores of deaths since 2012.
Anti-Muslim discrimination in Myanmar has also fuelled the mass exodus of members of the Rohingya minority aboard overcrowded fishing boats bound for Thailand and other regional destinations.
In the LA Times interview, published Sunday, Wirathu said he had read the Koran: “To tell you the truth, I didn’t find anything I liked.”
Wirathu has had a fraught relationship with international media.
In 2013, he was featured on the cover of TIME magazine in a story titled ‘The Face of Buddhist Terror’. The resulting backlash led to the issue being banned in Myanmar.
The controversy arose two years after he was released from prison, in 2011, after spending eight years behind bars on charges of inciting religious violence.
Photo: Daniel Craig at the Orange British Film Academy Awards in February 2007/ Wikicommons/ Caroline Bonarde Ucci.
