On Sunday, The Daily Beast reported on an upsurge of support for presidential hopeful Donald Trump from an unlikely place: Buddhist temples in Burma. The infamous organization known as Ma Ba Tha, a group of Islamophobic, sexist, violent monks, apparently likes Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.
A 34-year-old youth group leader affiliated with Ma Ba Tha, named Win Ko Ko Latt, said, “I like Donald Trump because he understands the danger posed by Muslims. It shows that our struggle is a global one and that Islam isn’t just a threat to Myanmar but to the entire world.”
Myanmar’s anti-Muslim movement is led by Ashin Wirathu, the famous monk who TIME Magazine dubbed “The Face of Buddhist Terror.” Last month, The Myanmar Times ran a column titled, “Who said it: Trump or Wirathu?” The column asked readers to guess who said “There are people that shouldn’t be in our country. They flow in like water.” (That’s from Trump.)
Trump’s growing popularity is a serious worry for the Rohingya people, members of Burma’s persecuted Muslim minority group. One man, whose village was torched by a Buddhist mob in 2012, told The Daily Beast, “[Trump] talks about Muslims the same way as some of our government officials. This is something that makes me nervous because the international community is our only hope.”
For more on Myanmar’s radical monks, see:
- Buddhists Betray the Teachings, by Jack Kornfield
- The Rise of Militant Monks, by Michael Jerryson
- The Fire This Time: A look at the religious violence in Burma, by Hozan Alan Senauke
- Extremist monk Wirathu responds to global criticism
And for more on Donald Trump: