Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 2013-06-27

Myanmar’s government has banned this week’s issue of TIME after widespread outrage in the country over the magazine’s controversial cover story which features a monk known as the Venerable Wirathu with the title “The Face of Buddhist Terror.”

The International issue of TIME profiles the Venerable Wirathu, leader of the Buddhist 969 movement that advocates the social exclusion of the country’s minority Muslim population.

The movement has been accused of stirring up deadly clashes between Buddhists and Muslims that have spread across the country over the past year, leaving about 200 people dead and up to 140,000 displaced, mainly Rohingya Muslims.

In March at least 44 people were killed in sectarian strife in central Myanmar with thousands of homes set ablaze.

Buddhist mobs have also attacked masjids and Muslim businesses, and stickers and pamphlets of the 969 movement have often appeared during and after the violence.

Government spokesman Ye Htut posted news of the ban on his Facebook page, attributing the decision to a committee investigating deadly religious violence that has rocked the country as it undergoes democratic reforms.

“The article entitled ‘The Face of Buddhist Terror’ in TIME magazine July 1 issue is prohibited from being produced, sold or and distributed in original copy or photocopy in order to prevent further racial and religious conflicts,” Ye Htut’s post said, adding that further details will be in Wednesday’s newspapers.

It was unclear how the front cover and accompanying article will be censored in print and online. Under the junta articles deemed inflammatory or dissenting were often torn from newspapers and magazines or inked out altogether.

Wirathu who has spoken out against the article denies responsibility for the violence. He said that he won’t sue TIME magazine for defamation in what he believes is keeping true to Buddhist principles of acceptance.

Radical monks have led a campaign to shun shops owned by Muslims. Wirathu has also called for a law to restrict marriages between Buddhist women and men of other faiths which he hopes would carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Senior monks have accused foreign media of one-sided reporting of the Buddhist-Muslim conflict.