969 Movement

rdf:langString 969 Movement

rdf:langString The 969 Movement (Burmese: ၉၆၉ လှုပ်ရှားမှု) is a Buddhist nationalist movement opposed to what they see as Islam's expansion in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar (Burma). The three digits of 969 "symbolise the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community". The first 9 stands for the nine special attributes of the Buddha and the 6 for the six special attributes of his Dharma, or Buddhist Teachings, and the last 9 represents the nine special attributes of Buddhist Sangha (monastic community). Those special attributes are the Three Jewels of the Buddha. In the past, the Buddha, Sangha, Dhamma, the wheel of Dhamma, and "969" were Buddhist signs. The movement has had strong reactions within and beyond Myanmar. In the international media it has received criticism. The Straits Times reported that Ashin Wirathu, the movement's leader, responded to recent anti-Muslim violence with pledges to work for peace, but critics remain sceptical. Various media organizations have described the movement as being anti-Muslim or "Islamophobic". The movement's Myanmar Buddhist supporters deny it is anti-Muslim, with Bhikkhu Wirathu stating it is a protective movement about targeting "Bengalis who are terrorizing ethnic Rakhine (Buddhists)". Alex Bookbinder, in The Atlantic, links the movement's origins in a book written in the late 1990s by Kyaw Lwin, a functionary in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and its precepts are rooted in a traditional belief in numerology. Across South Asia, Muslims represent the phrase "In the Name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful" with the number 786, and businesses display the number to indicate that they are Muslim-owned. 969's proponents see this as a Muslim plot to conquer Burma in the 21st century, based on the premise that 7 plus 8 plus 6 is equal to 21. The number 969 is intended to be 786's cosmological opposite.