Religion is an integral part of the cultures of Burma. Most of the ethnic areas are Christian, with the exception of Arakan State which has a relatively large Muslim population. The traditional Burman part is predominantly Buddhist, with Thervada Buddhism being the form most practices. The most rural people, those that live deep in the jungle, are animists. However, practitioners of every religion can be found in each part of Burma.

Unlike other areas of the world where over time religions have become less popular, in Burma people continue to flock to religious services. Kapotati, a Christian from Karen State, said, “everyone in Burma belongs to some religion. If you are not Christian you are Buddhist. If you are not Buddhist you are Animist. If you are not an animist you are Muslim.”

In the past villagers of different faiths lived peacefully side-by-side. People were free to practice their own religions. The whole village celebrated all religious festivals, regardless of their faiths.

Sadly for over forty years people have not enjoyed this religious freedom. In Burma people cannot follow the beliefs and practices of their faiths without fearing some kind of persecution. The dictatorship has prided itself on national unity since forcibly taking power in 1962. This has included conformity to the junta’s preferred religion, Thervada Buddhism.

But while the junta does not embrace other religions, Buddhism does. One of the main underlying principles of Buddhism is acceptance of other people, including tolerance of their religious beliefs. The junta’s lack of religious openmindedness can be seen in their policy towards public sector employees. Army superiors actively encourage Christian and Muslim officers to convert to Buddhism if they want to be promoted to the upper ranks of the military. During the 1990s, there was only one non-Buddhist minister in the government. That same person again was the only non-Buddhist to hold a flag rank in the army1.

But this policy of religious conformity does not only apply to government employees. It affects the whole people of Burma.

In Chin state nearly all the people are Christian. In the 1990s the army has come into villages and has taken the children to the urban areas to allegedly receive education. Instead the army took the boys and girls to the Buddhist monasteries. They forced the children to shave their heads and to begin receiving religious instruction.

Kapotati believed this is one of the ways the government is trying to create “one country, one nation, one religion”. “For people to get a Burmese identity card they must change their religion and become Buddhist.”

He said the government and army forced people to convert to Buddhism as a way of Burmanisation. The junta uses religious conformity as a tool to further suppress the ethnic people. By suppressing non-Buddhist religions, the government hopes to also repress the different cultures of the people who share these religions, consequently assimilating them to be Burmans (the main ethnic group in Burma).

Outwardly, the government claims to embrace all religions. But the 1974 “Constitution” permits both legislative and administrative restrictions on religious freedom. The law states that “the national races shall enjoy the freedom to profess their religion provided that the enjoyment of any such freedom does not offend the laws or the public interest”.

Not surprisingly many Burmese governments have viewed religious freedom as a threat to national unity. Following independence from Britain in 1948 the ethnic groups started insurgencies against the central government. As these groups were fighting for self-determination and autonomous states they were a threat to the Union of Burma. The insurgent groups were identified by their ethnicity. One way the government could crash down the insurgents and its supportive population was by restricting religious freedoms. Religion became a weapon of the ethnic conflict.

Indeed according to Kapotati it is still common for troops of the Tatmadaw, the Burmese Army, to use religion as a tool to provoke the ethnic people to retaliate with violence. “The army enters villages where the headman is Christian. They beat the headman and ask him if he has had any contact with the rebel groups. If tells the truth and answers no, they will let him go, but will destroy the church. If he lies and confesses, they will beat and torture him, but the church will remain.”

They shit on church platforms and Bibles

“The army would shit on the Church platforms and on the Bibles. It would make the villagers angry and they would seek revenge. “

“It is not a religious war, but the army uses religion to get the ethnic people to fight.”

The Burmese army does not just want to destroy ethnic cultures, it wants to do this in a drawn out, prolonged fashion, that breaks the people’s spirits before killing them.

And this has been demonstrated in incidents all over Burma. There have been reports where males leaving church following Christian services have been forcibly recruited to perform hard-labour tasks for the army. This practice has become so common in some areas that men avoid attending church out of fear.

Burmese authorities also force people to destroy their religious sites. In September last year the Nasaka force, the Burmese border security force near Bangladesh, made Muslim villagers destroy nine Mosques in one village in northern Arakan State. A Nasaka official said “it is not necessary to have many Mosques in one village; one big Mosque is enough for prayers. Soon many Mosques will be demolished.” 2

Additionally, people are forced to make “voluntary” contributions towards the construction of Buddhist temples. In Karen State, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (an ethnic army that fights with the junta) forces each Karen village to pay a religious tax of 1000 Baht per month (approximately US$25). Then this money is used to build Buddhist temples and to print Buddhist calendars. The villagers are later forced to buy these calendars3.

According to Chris Lewa, an independent researcher on the Burma-Bangladesh border, Rohingyas, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, must obtain permission from authorities before getting married. This permission is usually granted after the authorities receive a bribe. In the last few months no permission has been granted to any Muslim wanting to get married4. There are large social and cultural consequences for not allowing people of a specific ethnic group to marry. More importantly is the affect it has on the couple, especially when they belong to a strict religion such as Islam4.

These are only a few examples so how the junta uses religion against the ethnic people, forcing them further under the dictatorship’s oppressive rule.

Kapotati said that people often believe that it is their fault the junta treats them so appallingly. “Some people believe that they are meant to suffer because they were bad in a past life. Others say it is the will of God. But I do not believe that. We are all human beings, and we should not have to suffer like this.”

According to Kapotati in the past the Koran and Bible have inspired people’s movements, political struggle, revolution and changes in social structure around the world. But in Burma preachers and religious leaders have a very limited interpretation of holy literature.

He said that in his experience they have taught the Bible as a set of religious stories that offer people comfort, but do not encourage them to change their societies.

Religions in Burma

Buddhist: 89% Christian: 4% Muslim: 4% Other (Animist...): 3%

This could be due to the severe government restrictions on freedom of expression. Most meetings and activities of organisations, including religious groups, are monitored by the junta. The military actively and violently deters people from voicing their desires for political change.

Apparently religious leaders hold significant influence over their congregations. The junta is fearful of this power and do not want clergy to instigate political change. In 1995 the junta introduced legislation which prohibits all members of clergy from belonging to political parties.

But before then, Buddhist monks had been involved in politics. In 1988 a number of monks were among the leaders of the large protests against the military dictatorship. In a Buddhist country the army gunned down thousands of people during these peaceful marches, including monks.

Following the holocaust in Europe the United Nations included religious freedom as a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights written in December 1948. Every person in the world is afforded this right, regardless of the government they live under. But this right is of little comfort to people who have had their religion used as a reason for persecution.

During the hard times in life, all that keeps some people going is their total immersion in their faith. They can express their religion, talk about it, and attend worship of it. When they have nothing else left, their faith will always be there. It is the freedom to enjoy this faith that offers people their salvation. In Burma the people do not have the freedom to practice their religions. And if they can not cling to their faith, what else do the people of Burma have?

Endtnotes:

1. “International Religious Freedom Report 2001:Burma”, United States Government
2. “Demolition of Mosques in Northern Arakan”, Kaladan News, September 16, 2004
3. “Cash and Repression: Arbitrary Taxation and Looting by the Military in Burma”, Burma Issues Newsletter, October 2004
4. CCDSPT Meeting, August 10, 2005, Bangkok

To go to the other articles published in the August 2005 BI Newsletter click on the links below:

Ongoing Attacks on Displaced Persons: A Story of a Woman Who Does Not Give Up
People's Stories