U Wirathu Urges Security Presence at Mosques, Monasteries
11 September 2013
The prominent nationalist monk U Wirathu has joined a Muslim leader in calling for security personnel to be posted at Burma’s mosques and monasteries, in a proposal aimed at heading off further communal violence in Burma. Radio Free Asia reported that U Wirathu and Muslim leader Diamond Shew Kyi met in Rangoon’s Eastern Dagon Township on Tuesday to discuss the inter-religious violence between Buddhists and Muslims that has wracked Burma over the last 15 months. U Wirathu is the face of the ultranationalist “969” movement, which has been blamed for fueling tensions between the religions with rhetoric that critics say is anti-Muslim.