By Aman Ullah
Sixteen overnight visitores, including a number of Muslims studying the Qur’an, were detained in Thingangyun Township, Yangon Region, after complaints to the police by local nationalists. The police were acting under a “midnight inspections” law now under review in parliament because of its use by the former military regime to suppress dissent.
The case came before Thingangyun Township Court on August 8, when the 16 appeared on charges under the 1949 Residents of Burma Registration Act. The court allowed them bail only after a local MP warned that detaining them further could lead to unrest.
The arrests followed complaints from the nationalist organization Myanmar National Network, said its representative Ko Win Ko Ko Latt. The MMN had insisted that police take action under the controversial law, which carries penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment, with hard labour.
Myanmar National Network spokesperson Ko Win Ko Ko Latt said his organization discovered the 16 when they were following up a warrant in an unrelated murder case. Police took action under the 1949 law only after his supporters gathered outside the local police station.
Thingangyun Township’s other Yangon Region MP, Nay Phone Latt (NLD; Thingangyun 1), took to social media to warn residents not to be swayed by the views of hardliners. “We want to get this sorted out. The visitors were just personal friends, but the nationalists whipped this up online as a racial and religious case to try to cause trouble.”
Township administrators brought in senior monks in the Sangha Nayaka religious affairs committee in an effort to restore calm after nationalist monks became involved in the affair.
“They carried the senior monks to the township to control the other monks. The senior monks interceded with the police to help resolve the situation,” said Myanmar National Network representative Ko Naung Taw Lay.
He added, “We took action to make sure there would be no trouble. It’s not true we were carrying sticks and knives. We only got involved because the authorities were taking no action. Now that the defendants have appeared in court we don’t have to go any further.”
Myanmar National Network (MNN)
Myanmar National Network (MNN) is a prominent youth activist groups that actively support the Ma Ba Tha. MNN contested in one seat in the 2015 election. Their activists appear closely involved with the Ma Ba Tha’s ground activities and they appear to be very active on social media as major disseminators of Ma Ba Tha
content, as well as outright hate speech. For example, they accompany Ma Ba Tha monks pressuring police and judicial cases involving Muslims and tailor their anti-Muslim lectures in rural villages to young children, as discussed later. Recently, association with the Ma Ba Tha has begun to give the MNN a significantly elevated public profile, including interviews on SkyNet, the country’s largest cable TV provider.
The MNN General Secretary is Naung Taw Lay, a 30-year old former land and youth rights activist. He ran as an independent candidate from North Okkalapa Township for the lower House but failed. Its Chairman and co-founder is Win Ko Ko Latt who is a prolific social media user and is highly active at Ma Ba Tha events, including rallies.
He is regularly pictured alongside senior Central Committee monks, including Wirathu, Ashin Wimala, and Ashin Parmoukkha. The MNN’s anti-Muslim messaging is often more direct than the Ma Ba Tha’s official narrative. In Naung Taw Lay’s interview with Myittatagun, he described an aggressive legislative agenda focused on “national security” that would eliminate “terrorist training camps” and tighten Myanmar’s already draconian citizenship laws, including restricting MP candidacies to only those belonging to “national races.” In addition, MNN members regularly attended the Race and Religion advocacy rallies; in one instance from 2015, Win Ko Ko Latt was seen leading part of a protest against Rohingya ‘boat people.’ Among the images posted on Facebook were ones with signs that had crude and overt anti-Rohingya messages such as, “Go away, disgusted and wicked Bangali from our Myanmar Sea.” More recently, several activists were seen on social media maintaining what appeared to be a booth at the Ma Ba Tha’s grand celebration rally in Yangon in October; they were also pictured at the event with prominent monks, including Ashin Parmoukkha and Ashin Sopaka.
The MNN regularly hosts anti-Muslim events that target young children. In these MNN-sponsored ‘classes,’ children are shown evidence of Muslim crimes (often with graphic imagery), and subsequently quizzed on their knowledge. In a recent Facebook video of such activities, MNN members are seen teaching a ‘Buddhist training course’ to young children and having them recite atrocities committed by ISIS in Syria. At one point, a teacher asked, “Who is committing these violent murders?” and the children responded, “Islam!” MNN propaganda on printed sheets was laid out on the ground for the entire village to pass by and view. This was accompanied by a speech; in this case, delivered by a monk named Ashin Nayaka who spoke in front of what appears to be a group of 5-10 year olds.
MNN members work in coordination with senior Ma Ba Tha monks, and have co-hosted events. In one example from September 2015, Ashin Parmoukkha was seen on a social media post speaking at a large MNN-organized gathering under a MNN banner donning 969 logos. In addition, Win Ko Ko Latt and Si Thu Myint are frequently seen with Ashin Parmoukkha, including on a visit to a local police station with the latter to pressure the sentencing of an allegedly mentally ill Muslim man, as seen on Facebook. In June 2015, MNN leaders were also seen on Facebook with other senior Ma Ba Tha officials and monks as part of the Save Shwedagon rally, and also appear to have played a role in helping coordinate the Ma Ba Tha’s flood relief drive in August.
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