Ven. Budugala Jinawansa Thera President Hela Budhu Saviya

December 16, 2019

His Excellency

U Win Myint

The President of Myanmar

Myanmar

Your Excellency,

We are deeply concerned with the allegations made against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, and the denigration of Myanmar world – wide by the International Media working hand in glove with sinister NGO groups having a diabolical anti – Buddhist agenda. They are blatantly using the bogey of Human Rights and false and misleading accusations of Genocide to name and shame countries, that are truly independent, assert sovereign rights of free nations, and do not bow down to western diktat.

Today it is Myanmar. Tomorrow it will be Sri Lanka. Having destroyed Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan without being held to account for their crimes, the very same western countries are now strategically using Muslims to destroy the foundations of Buddhist countries.  

Both Myanmar and Sri Lanka have a shared past linked to Theravada Buddhism running for over a thousand years. History shows that both countries had assisted each other in times of crisis when the survival of each country was at stake. An existential threat from a common source intending to displace Buddhism in both countries persists today. This trend is clearly visible in the narrative of the disappearance and replacement of Buddhism in several Asian countries during the last one thousand years.

The Dharmic (Indo – Buddhist) world must take cognizance of these historical developments and ask the question whether the current happenings in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand (all Theravada Buddhist countries now besieged ) are but a continuation of a tailored process set in motion over a thousand years ago to dislodge and finally replace Buddhism from its traditional primacy in Buddhist Asia.

British colonial rulers must take blame for much of Myanmar’s contemporary troubles, having intentionally stoked tensions between its Bamar Buddhist majority and ethnic minorities through a strategy of divide and rule,” sowing seeds of resentment between the Bamar and minorities like the Rohingya.

Will the British also take responsibility for bringing most Rohingyas from Bengal in the 19^th and 20^th centuries as cheap labour to work in Burmese paddy fields, in a manner similar to bringing Indian Tamils as indentured labour to Sri Lanka then called Ceylon to work in tea plantations without the consent of the Kandyan Sinhalese people, and whose traditional lands were forcefully grabbed by the British under the draconian Waste Lands Ordinance, 1840 ? 

We take the view that the elected Government of Myanmar with a mandate to protect the citizens of Myanmar, had no other choice but to send its armed forces to Rakhine in order to protect Buddhists, Hindus, and various indigenous Tribal Groups, who faced the wrath of ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) and the Bengali Muslims who had infiltrated Rakhine heavily with intent to grab land and dispossess the original inhabitants namely the citizens of Myanmar, from their traditional home land in Rakhine.  

We further take the view that what the Government of Myanmar is doing is absolutely right, in protecting Myanmar’s interest in the face of OIC funded propaganda. The So called Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Where was ICJ and UN when Bangladesh was ethnic cleansing Buddhist tribes (Chakma, Marma, Tripura etc.) from Chittagong Hill Tracts?”

A propaganda war has been launched against Myanmar by the OIC and the highly prejudiced international media such as Al Jazeera that totally ignores the Bengali Muslim land grab that blights Rakhine, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh), and various parts of India including Assam.

A similar situation of organized and co -ordinated violence arose in Sri Lanka, when on Easter Sunday April 21, 2019, suicide bombers linked to radical Islamic terrorist groups killed 259 people and injured over 500 people.   Three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings.

The failure to counter aggressive Abrahamic incursions can only lead to the shrinking of Buddhist space and Territory in South Asia, South East Asia and the Far East.

We admire the moral courage of Myanmar in standing up to foreign invaders. Much of Asia was once under European colonial rule for centuries. People in Asian countries fought for their freedom and liberty from Western colonial occupation, and finally obtained independence. But this independence is now again under threat from neo – colonialism.   

Organization of Islamic Co – operation (OIC) is in the picture via Gambia. The absence of the equivalent of an OIC in the Buddhist world such as a summit level League of Buddhist Nations, is worrisome. While European Christian heritage nations are protected heavily by the European Union (EU) and NATO, and Islamic countries have the powerful 57 member OIC to take up their cause at the drop of a hat, Buddhist countries unfortunately lack an effective international Buddhist organization with clout to adequately defend them at a time of crisis.

Between Turkey and Indonesia, there are only four non – Muslim countries, namely the pre-dominantly Hindu India, and three predominantly Buddhist countries, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. They all face threats to their survival from armed violence and demographic change.

Hela Budhu Saviya wishes to express concern, at these developments which threaten the future of Buddhist nations.  The people of Sri Lanka and Myanmar have a long history of friendship and solidarity. We express our continued support and admiration to an Asian Heroine namely the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi for her great courage and perseverance in the face of continued threats and intimidation.  

You are not alone.

Hela Budhu Saviya pledges support and backing to the Government and people of Myanmar in their hour of crisis.

May the Triple Gem Bless you

Ven. Budugala Jinawansa Thera

President Hela Budhu Saviya

Sri Lanka