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The Burmese bin Laden

Introduction

On July 1, 2013, the weekly Time Magazine flashed the cover page with a portrait of
a Buddhist monk in burgundy robe with a stoic face. The pitch dark background seems to
distort the serene face of the monk. The headline runs THE FACE OF BUDDHIST
TERROR in big white letter, sub-titled How militant monks are fueling anti-muslim
violence in Asia by Hannah Beech. In no delay, the governments of Myanmar (a.k.a.
Burma) and Sri Lanka, both countries populated by Buddhists majority, banned the issue.
Ironically, the issue spread on social media sites like wild fire. Many staunch Buddhists
reacted with curses of all kinds unimaginable, the four-letter word seemed to make up all the
comments. All these hateful reactions culminated in giving the person who penned the article
a new name, Hannah Bitch. There are even youtube videos challenging the journalist and
accusing her of being Islamic stooge.

This paper attempts to analyze the article by Hannah Beech in terms of its argument
in utilizing description of facts and the use of seemingly deliberately chosen words which are
inflammatory. Despite her attempt to explain the sectarian violence on multiple bases such as
history and socio-political situation of the time, the real matter of the problem is not quite
adequately spelt out. After laying out the general features of the article, this paper picks up on
where Hannah Beech did not quite sufficient account for the causal mechanism of conflict
between Buddhist and Muslim in Myanmar. Informed by Karl Mannheims documentary
method and master binary framework of cultural sociology (Alexander 2003), this paper
attempts to bring out for view in binary terms what exactly lies at the center of this complex
phenomenon.

The Face of Buddhist Terror

Three features from the article seemed to have caused strong reactions from the
Buddhists. They are the main argument of the article, the use of negative and inflammatory
word in depicting Buddhism and its followers in contrast to the mild description and situation
of the Muslim, and thirdly the way the monk is addressed as bin Laden.

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The main argument is that the Muslim in Myanmar are persecuted by Buddhists. It is
not just the Buddhist laity alone but its clergy, the monks, who perpetrated violence against
the Muslims. The monks preach hatred and bigotry. They incite violence. About 90% of
Muslims in Myanmar are radical, bad people Now is not the time for calm. Now is the
time to make your blood boil. intones the monk, Beech wrote. Islam is a religion of
violence. Everyone knows this. quotes the report of a Thai monk. And in the case of
Myanmar, the religious violence that happened in west of the country and in Meikhtila, a
town in the center of Myanmar, which saw 70 Muslims were slaughtered and mosque burnt
down, the report continued. It suggests that the Buddhists instigated the assault. In fact, the
violence started with the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl by a Muslim man. In any case,
the main argument is compelling enough to cause the stir for Buddhists who take so much
pride in their religion and in the Buddhist way of life. In general, the Buddhists felt that the
argument is not only exaggerated, but damaged their identity, Burmese civilization, culture,
and way of life. This conception and feeling, brought forth reactions from Buddhist in
banning the issue and the cursing on social media platforms.
In presenting her argument, Hannah Beech seemed to have deliberately chosen strong
language to pit Buddhism against Islam. She seemed to have achieved the ends by opposing
profane Buddhism and sacred Islam, the exact opposite in the conception of most Buddhist.
Throughout the article, the Buddhists are given the negative descriptions and the Muslim
sympathetic. The subhead goes The monks are inciting bigotry and violence. The Burmese
monk, Wirathu, is addressed bin Laden and that his message cracks with hate and he
detests the minority Muslim. He preaches virulent sermon and tells her, Muslims are
breeding so fast and they are steeling our women, raping them. In the account of the strife,
[M]achete-wielding Buddhist hordes attacked Rohingya villages; 70 Mulisms were
slaughtered in a daylong massacre in one hamlet. These lines seem to effectively depict
Buddhist in a bad image. In describing the Muslim she writes, the Muslim are the minority
in a Buddhist majority nation. Buddhist blood is boiling in Burmaand plenty of Muslim
blood is being spilled. Much of the violence is directed toward Rohingya, a largely stateless
group, the worlds most persecuted people. She interviewed a Muslim man in the shadow
of a burn-down mosque. These dichotomies seem to have worked well, making the Buddhist
the big bad guy bullying small and weak Muslim, and making the irony of Buddhism as a
religion of pacifism, compassion, and tolerance stand out. This depiction of their religion, the
Buddhists could not take it.

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Hannah Beech wrote of Wirathu as The Buddhist monk who has taken the title the
Burmese bin Laden. This seems to suggest that it was the monk who took up the name of
internationally infamous terrorist upon himself for the cause of terrorizing the Muslim. The
name actually was given by critics of Wirathu. For Buddhist lay people, not to say calling the
monks of such notorious name but by just making a slightly negative remark to monks one
could bring harm upon oneself in various ways physical, metal, economic, psychological and
spiritual. For them, monks hold the rank of a god. In direct translation from Burmese, monks
are personification of Buddha, or son of god. The status surpasses political. In some cases in
the Burmese history, certain monks commanded even the kings. Given the position Buddhist
monks hold in society, the moral authority they command, most importantly how revered
they are by the laity, in short, the status equals that of god, the beacon of their race and nation
(as most Burmese consider it), addressing such figure as bin Laden, the terrorist, without
doubt, or even if the laity disagree with the monk, created such a vehement reaction tower the
journalist. Therefore, the argument of the article, the negative depiction of Buddhism and
desecrating their monks, which are the exact opposite perception of how they perceive
themselves and their religion, justified the indignation among the Buddhist.

Karl Mannheims Documentary Method

In social science, unlike the natural science, it is not sufficient to just describe a
phenomenon, be it an action or an event. The pioneer of social science, especially Marx
Weber, held that since social actors have intention or volition, unlike natural objects, a step
beyond mere description is called for. It is necessary to account for the causal mechanism of
a phenomenon (Weber 1949). Description could be said to answer the question What is it?,
giving accounts of what can be observed through sense organs. The response to the question
How is it? could be regarded as interpretation, in the sense that a new information or
further explanations are given. Asking Why? seeks explanation as to the causal mechanism
of a phenomenon. Only then one can say one understand of a given phenomenon in terms of
cause and effect. Since sociology deals with intentional actors, whose actions carry sociality,
the causal mechanism is based on meaning.

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Karl Mannheim distinguishes three kinds of meaning, namely, social, subjective and
cultural or documentary meaning. Symbols and signs, for instance, English Language, is
shared by many people. In that sense, it has social meaning. However, the choice of word one
uses to communicate to others depends on ones intention or motive either to greet a person
or to curse. This is subjective meaning. Existing as potentiality or latency, deep meaning
structure, in a socially shared culture, attitude, disposition, habitus in Bourdieus term, is
cultural or documentary meaning. To account for cultural meaning which exists in a deeper
layer than social and subjective meaning, of a phenomenon presupposes immersion and
intuitional knowledge of habitus, or cultural pattern (Bohnsaak 2010). Karl Manheim calls
this documentary method.

Shortcomings of Hanna Beech in the Light of Documentary Interpretation

Using documentary interpretation propounded by Mannheim and Bohnsaak, this
section of the paper attempts to take up on Beechs argument and go beyond the
shortcomings of the accounting for the conflict between Buddhist and Muslim. Documentary
Interpretation is a method to go beyond mere description and interpretation of phenomenon.
It seeks to reveal cultural meaning which document themselves in the habitus, or cultural
pattern of a phenomenon (Bohnsack 2010).
The article argues that the violence against Muslim was led by the monks. The
objective of their incitement is to defend Buddhism from bad, radical Muslim, who could
overwhelm the Burmese Buddhist population given their rapid rate of multiplying and to
protect the Buddhist women from being raped. Where Beech was not quite able to account
for is the origin or cause of, in her words, vague sense that Buddhism is under siege that
Islam now seeks new territory, the fear and concern of the perceived or felt threat of
Muslim. She did try to connect the role of the monk in anti-cononial movement in history,
their moral command in the nation formation and the political milieu of 2013, that is the
democratization from authoritarianism. However, she failed to bring out where and how the
strongly perceived and felt threat of the Muslim shared by the Burmese Buddhist arise from.
For Buddhist in Myanmar, as already mentioned earlier, the monks are the
personification of god and are the gate to nirvana, the entire purpose and meaning of their
existence. The monks and the monasteries are like centripetal force around which their lives

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revolve. Their earthly existence always looks towards next life to be reincarnated into a
better being. The monks instruct them how to live their life according to Buddhist tenets,
what kind of attitude and outlook to develop to life, others, and the world. The monks give
them opportunity to make merit for the next life in various forms. To give alms and donation
to monks and monastery, or just to sweep yard of the monastery one can obtain merit.
In this sense, their social life is inseparable from the monks. In fact, when asked about
their race, most Burmese usually answer they are Bamar-Buddhist (Bamar refers to the people
of Burmese ethnic. Burmese is used as both adjective of Bamar and to refer to Bamar). Its not just

Bamar but Bamar-Buddhist. For them race and religion is one. There is no dualism. The way
they say it also differs from other non-Bamar ethnic groups. When they say they are BamarBuddhist, they say it with such pride as though evoking some ancient spirits and past glory
and as though the entire history belongs to them and made up of their grandeur in Buddhist
way of life. This documents a deeply felt meaning and identity.
Related to this race-religion is, naturally, Burmese nationalism. Bamar are the largest
ethnic group in Myanmar, subjugating other ethnic groups for many centuries in what today
is called Myanmar, western part of Thailand and some eastern parts of India. When the
British colonized and did away with the Burmese throne, their national/ethnic pride was
shattered. And when anti-colonial waves reached the then Burma in the late nineteen century,
it was Bamar who fought the British with such tenacity. Indeed, Buddhism and its monks
were at the forefront as the banner of moral authority. It was a bitter experience for Bamar
and even after independence from the British, Burma remained isolated. Today, in a multiethnic nation Myanmar, Bamar takes up most positions in government offices. As a matter of
fact, if one is not a Bamar-Buddhist, it is very unlikely for one to get important government
position, not to mention to get high positions in the military service. It is their perceived sense
of superiority, which is at the core of anti-islamic movement. The British colony was too
bitter an experience for We, Bamar, the master race, a name they internalized and took up
during anti-British movement.
On practical terms, animosity towards not only Muslim but Indian decent dated back
to the British colony. During 1900s Indians were brought in from British-India to take up
positions as judge, clerks, administration posts in civil services, as money lenders, Chettiar,
and laborers. When the ripples of the Great Depression reached Burma around 1930s
Burmese farmers were in debt to Chettiar, and lost their lands and livestocks. The farmers

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revolution became a part of anti-colonial movement. Again, the pride and sovereignty of the
master race was hurt by foreigners. The Burmese harbor resentment against the Indians ever
since. Till today, they call the Indians and their descents kalar, a condescending term to
denote people of darker color and to connote dirtiness or something of lower status in every
respects. The sentiment against Indian by the Burmese was a time bomb. In fact, it exploded
twice, once after Burma gained independence from the British whence several tens of
thousands of Indians left the country. A second conflict happened in 1988. The antagonism
never went away. It has been lurking not only in the thickets of social fabric and it does
appear in different forms and intensity when looked closely at the social life.
The practical, social, economic and religious relationship between Bamar and Indian
has been more or less in conflict. In the wheelings and dealings for subsistence, the strong
nature of the bitterness, the temper and condescending attitude of Bamar can be seen. The
character of Bamar is that of jealousy and of cunning. Positively, of gregarious type, but once
stoked, the temper of Bamar flares fiercely. On the other hands, Indians are known for their
shrewdness and dishonesty in economic matter and business. They have strong opinion on
issues and always tend to look at and solve things the Indian way. They also have a very
strong Indian culture and preserve it. These incompatible characters are always filled with
tension. In comparison to either Bamar or Indian, the other non-Bamar ethnic groups in
Myanmar, are more of a peaceful and conflict-avoiding people. Thus, the strain in
relationship between Bamar and Indians which is rooted in history, culture, character, attitude
is century old and it is only a matter of intensity at twists and turns of the history of these
people.
With regard to the question of under what condition the latent volcanoes of Bamar
animosity against Indian erupt, several factors can be pointed out. From political perspective,
since independence from the British in 1948, Myanmar has been run by Bamar, by
democratic government until 1962 and ever since the Burmese military has been running the
country until 2011. During the military dictatorship, the generals shut the country from the
West, wary of their neo-colonialism, the catchphrase used by the Burmese military, and
making the country one of the poorest in the world. All the while, Chinese influence was
growing so much as swallowing up the country. To get out of the claws of the Red Dragon,
China, to balance out the influence of China, the generals meticulously planned to adopt
democracy in their own way, dubbed the disciplined democracy, with the hope that Western

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investment would come into the country. Democratic election was held in 2011 and quasicivilian government was set up. As economic doors are open, it seems like Bamar are afraid
of competition. For more than half a century, it had locked itself up and the scales fall from
their eyes that they are in no position to fare well in the new global arena. The ruling generals
and their associates were at the top of the list of who are afraid of this new uncertainty. At the
same time, the government led by civilian-turned ex-generals, was facing demands of
authentic democracy. The domestic cacophony of demands were getting louder and activists
bolder. Protests of various kinds, such as protest against gas pipeline that was being built
from the western part of the country to China, cutting the country into half and hydro-power
plant for China. The Bamar elite, most of whom are the military and its associate, face
uncertainty within and without the country. These were the fiercest and the loudest ones in
cursing and reacting against Hannah Beech. Once again, their perceived sovereignty is
under threat. Under this duress with the latent animosity, the rape and murder of a Buddhist
girl by a Muslim man in the west of the country and the sectarian conflict afterwards, became
a perfect decoy. The government fanned the fire of violence against the Muslim. In the midst
of this, some nationalist Buddhist monks become perfect stooges. The muslim became the
unfortunate victim. It is noteworthy that the violence was carried out only against specifically
Muslims of Indian descent, not Muslims of other ethnicity.
These historical, cultural, and national meaning which lies in the complexities of
society and in the countrys turbulent political, economic and social conditions is the causal
mechanism of the recent and ongoing (although in low intensity) conflict between Buddhist
and Muslim in Myanmar. Why do the monks preach hatred toward Islamism? It is not just
religious bigotry and it is race-religion. It is the combination of irrational forces of tangled-up
emotions and ideology center around race-religionhurt, anger, resentment, pride, fear,
threat and race, nationalism, Burmese culture. Although the feeling is not well defined, it is
real feeling, of a more primordial kind. In Alexander terms, Bamar-Buddhist perceive that the
Indian Muslims are polluting their Buddhist sacredness.
Following Bohnssacks focusing metaphor, in the monks preaching, a general pattern
of the need to uphold the sacredness of Bamar-Buddhist and safeguards it, can be
repeatedly found. Their mantra is to preserve race, religion, and its propagation. This
documentary meaning reveals itself not only in the words the monks use to preach but also
how they say them and it is distinguished from literal meaning. This focusing metaphor refers

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to the common experience of Bamar ethnic as a people. Bohnsack calls this the center of a
common space of experience, conjunctive spaces of experience.
Conclusion
Hannah Beech ended the article with a line a monk intoned, I will sacrifice myself
for the Bamar race. and the Burmese of all ages from young students to grandma followed.
The last sentence by Beech goes, Its hard to imagine that the Buddha would have
approved. She could not understand it. Not to say feel it. For Bamar-Buddhist, the meaning
and feeling in saying the line comes out of from the depth of their being.
What she did not quite spell out was the nuances of the issue, especially the root
causes of the problem. Documentary method fills this gap by intuitively uncovering
structured meaning, emotions and ideology from the habitus, and common experience of the
people involving in the conflict, and accounting it in binary codes. Documentary Method,
thus, brings up for view causal mechanism of religious violence between Buddhist and
Muslim and hopefully explains it better.

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Reference:
1. 1. Beech, Hannah. 2013. The Face of Buddhist Terror. Colombo Telegraph. July 13,
2013. Retrieved12 June 2014. (https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/full-textof-the-banned-time-story-the-face-of-buddhist-terror/)
2. Alexander, Jeffrey C. & Philip Smith (2003): The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology.
Elements of a Structural Hermeneutics. In: The Meanings of Social Life. A Cultural
Sociology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 11-26.
3. Bohnsack, Ralf (2010): Documentary Method and Group Discussions. In: Bohnsack,
Ralf, Nicolle Pfaff & Wivian Weller (eds.): Qualitative Analysis and Documentary
Method in International Educational Research. Opladen: Budrich, 99-124.
4. Mannheim, Karl (1968): Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge, 3383.
5. Weber, Max (1949): Objectivity in Social Sciences and Social Policy. In: The
Methodology of Social Sciences. Glencoe: Free Press, 49-112.