On the 75th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence, Yale University professor David Moe explains to how the 2021 coup is changing the country: Buddhist extremism risks imploding on itself, while new generations reject faith as an element of identification, although they try to continue to be inspired by religious ideals.
Milan () – On January 4, 1948, Myanmar declared its independence from British colonial rule. Exactly 75 years have passed and today the country commemorates it in a context deeply marked by the brutal civil conflict that triggered the army coup in February 2021, while reflecting on the parable of these decades.
Professor David Moe of Yale University considers that one of the most interesting transformation processes concerns Buddhist nationalism, which has gone through at least three periods: “Before independence, Buddhist nationalism was predominantly anti-colonial and anti-Western, for which brought together different groups, from Buddhist monks to farmers and students,” the teacher, originally from the state of Chin, one of the regions where the Christian presence is concentrated, explained to . “From 1948, however, this type of nationalism attacked ethnic and religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, while the Buddhist identity began to overlap with the ethnic identity of the Bamar majority.
In Myanmar there are some 135 ethnic groups, but the main ones are only eight: the Bamar, who are concentrated mainly in the central areas of the country, make up 68% of the population. Since before independence, minority ethnic groups living in the mountainous border areas have organized their own militias to fight against the central government.
Over the years, the ethnic issue has become increasingly important, “to the point that today the identity document of each Burmese indicates the ethnic group and religion to which they belong,” explains the professor. “But with the coup,” he continues, “Buddhist nationalism is imploding on itself, you’ve never seen anything like the PDF,” says Moe, referring to the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), the armed wing of the national unity government in exile, made up mostly of former deputies from the National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi. The “Lady”, as the international community calls her, was the head of the last government, but she was arrested after the coup d’état and was recently sentenced again after a false trial that increased the sentence she must serve to 33 years in prison. .
“For the first time, the Bamar majority and ethnic minorities have a common enemy: the army”, ironically founded by Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, says the academic, who in his research studies how religion can be a source of conflict but also of reconciliation. Some PDF leaders even went so far as to apologize to minority representatives, saying that they finally understood their suffering after years of discrimination and violence. “On the one hand, this is positive because it opens up the possibility of creating a federal Myanmar in case the resistance succeeds in defeating Buddhist nationalism. Although that can only happen with the total defeat of the army, which is supported by Russia and protects the most extremist Buddhist groups with weapons. Also in Sri Lanka, for example, we find radical groups linked to the Sinhalese ethnic group, but these, unlike Myanmar, do not have the direct support of the armed forces”.
It is no coincidence, then, that today, on the occasion of independence day, the Burmese coup junta paid tribute to the monk Wirathu, dubbed the “Buddhist bin Laden” and “the face of Buddhist terror” by Time magazine in 2013. The military junta has also announced an amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners, although several mass pardons in the past have resulted in prisoners being re-arrested and returned to prison.
Another new element that emerges after the coup d’état is the presence of very young people in the ranks of the resistance: “Both in 1947 and in 1988 the student movements played a leading role against the army, but here we see that even young people born after the year 2000, and they reject religion as a trait of identity”. However, David Moe explains, religious ideals continue to permeate the lives of these young people: “The new generations are not interested in going to the temple, they do not perform the rites, but they have returned to what I call ‘moral Buddhism’: they seek a way to respond to evil and change the things that are not right in society. They have not abandoned the teachings of Buddhism, but religion, especially when it enters politics, is no longer viewed favorably.”
One might wonder if a common thread can be traced with Aung San Suu Kyi, who, after studying abroad, returned home in the late 1980s and opposed the military dictatorship with a policy of non-violence inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and in the Buddhist principles. “Aung San Suu Kyi is revered as a deity and everyone shows great solidarity with her,” says the professor. “However, his mistake was wanting to please the generals between 2015 and 2020, leaving aside the ethnic issue,” although over the years he has made numerous efforts to end clashes between ethnic militias and military personnel.
“Sean Turnell, Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from prison a few months ago, once said that the former leader approves of the resistance’s actions,” referring to the armed clashes, explains Professor David Moe. The youth not only want to break with the past and create a new Myanmar, but they have been forced to fight: “At first they also had opposed the coup non-violently by creating the Civil Disobedience Movement, but the army attacked them and forced them to take up arms.
