The head of Myanmar’s ruling military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, paid tribute to a radical monk who was previously dubbed “Buddhist bin Laden” after he was accused of inciting religious hatred.
Monk Virathu, who was dubbed “Buddhist bin Laden” by Time magazine in 2013 after a bloody sectarian riot, today received the title of “Tiri Bianchi”, according to the press service of the military council.
The group noted that the head of the junta awarded the title to Virat for his “outstanding work on behalf of the Union of Myanmar”.
Virathu is one of hundreds of people currently receiving honorary titles, awards and honours, as the junta prepares to mark the country’s 75th anniversary of independence from Britain.
Virathu has become notorious for his anti-Islamic nationalist rhetoric, especially against the Rohingya Muslim minority. In 2013, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was called “the face of Buddhist terrorism.”
Virathu has previously called for a boycott of Muslim-owned companies and restrictions on marriages between Buddhists and Muslims.
Human rights groups said his calls helped fuel hostility towards the Rohingya community and set the stage for a military crackdown in 2017 that forced about 740,000 people from the community to flee across the border into Bangladesh.
Wirathu was later imprisoned during the reign of the country’s former civilian ruler, Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges of sedition.
In September 2021, the military council announced that Virathu had been released after all charges were dropped against him.
As for 77-year-old Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi, she faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life behind bars after being overthrown by a military coup almost two years ago and has been incarcerated ever since.
Source: AFP