(Translations of news posts direct from Ah-Shin Wirathu’s Blog in October 2013.)
From his Ma Soe Yein Teaching Monastery in Mandalay he was planning to travel in planes and cars and boats to Myitkyinar at least 500 miles away.
His plan was to cover almost every town and every large village on his way from Bamaw to Myitkyinar the Kachin State Capital at the end of very dangerous Bamaw-Myitkyinar unsealed-dirt-Road.
After staying three long days in Bamaw Shin Wirathu travelled to Myitkyinar the state capital of civilwar-torn Kachin State now populated by Buddhist majority of ethnic Shans and Burmese, and Christian minority of native Kachins.
26 October 8:00 AM – His vehicle-convoy left Bamaw at 8 in the morning of October-26 for Myitkyinar. The convoy with a heavy army escort stopped at Dawd-phone-yan Town on Bamaw-Myitkyinar Road for a lunch break and reached Myitkyinar at 3 in the afternoon.
26 October 5:00 PM – In the late afternoon of that day Shin Wirathu met and paid respects to Venerable Abbott Wun Tho Sayadawgyi in his abode at Myitkyinar.
26 October 7:00 PM – That night at 7 Venerable Shin Wirathu delivered a
Dammah sermon titled “More Relatives the Merrier”
to a thousand-strong Buddhist audience at the Aung-daw-mu Prah-hitta Buddhist
Monastery in the Lel Gone Ward in Myitkyinar.
27 October 12:30 PM – Next day October-27 at 12:30 in the afternoon Shin Wirathu visited Shwe Nyaung Bin Pariyatti Teaching Monastery. After paying respects to the Chief Abbott Bard-dan-tah Thu-dammar-sarra Padarna Narya Sayadaw at the monastery our Shin Wirathu gave a Dammah speech to the young pupils from the Dammah School there.
Shwe Nyaung Bin Sayadaw U Thu-dammar-sarra is the Chairman Abbott of Myitkyinar Township’s Thangah Naryaka (State-sponsored Association of Buddhist Monks), and the Dammah School at his large monastery has nearly one thousand boys and girls attending the civic-culture classes there.
The Buddhist boys and girls then demonstrated to Shin Wirathu what they have been learning at the Dammah School to Shin Wirathu by singing Nationalist Dammah songs and reciting Dammah lessons.
27 October 1:30 PM – Later at 1:30 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Aye Zaydi Monastery and gave respects to Aye Zaydi Sayadawgyi Abbott Bart-dan-tah-ku-tha-la. Shin Wirathu then delivered following Dammah speech to the boys and girls attending the Aye Zaydi Dammah-School.
“If a pagoda was built on the banks of a river the pagoda would eventually collapse by the erosion, but if the pagoda is built in our hearts it will never collapse. If a pagoda was built on mountain top the pagoda would collapse by the earthquakes, but if the pagoda is built in our hearts it will never collapse. Even if a pagoda was built on firm ground the pagoda could still be destroyed by our enemies, but if the pagoda is built in our hearts the enemies will never be able to destroy it.”
27 October 2:00 PM – Later that day at 2 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Ram-pu Ward’s Chan-myae-aye Monastery and gave respects to Sayadawgyi U Thu Za Na. Shin Wirathu also gave following Dammah lecture to the boys and girls attending the Chan-myae-aye Dammah-School.
“Our religion Buddhism will be maintained for generations by you our youths, and our youths will fend off the evil infidels of foreign religions and foreign races.”
27 October 2:30 PM – Later that day at 2:30 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Kyet-paung-chan Ward’s Pyay-wa-chan-thar Monastery and gave respects to Sayadawgyi U Wunna Thiri. Shin Wirathu also gave following Dammah lecture to the boys and girls attending the Pyay-wa-chan-thar Dammah-School at the monastery.
“Being a good boy or girl is following our Lord Buddha’s teachings, being good is practising our Buddhism, being good is listening to our monks, being good is listening to one’s parents, being good is listening to ones’ teachers, being good is thanking Lord Buddha, being good is thanking Dammah (Buddha’s teachings), being good is thanking Thangars (Buddhist monks), being good is thanking one’s parents, and being a good child is thanking one’s teachers.”
27 October 3:00 PM – Later that day at 3 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Aung Nan Ward’s Mya-thein-dan Dammah-hall inside Aung-chan-thar Pagoda compound and gave respects to Aung-chan-yeik-thar Sayadawgyi U Ardeiksah Wunthah. Shin Wirathu also gave following Dammah lecture about “969” movement to the boys and girls attending the Pyay-wa-chan-thar Dammah-School at the monastery.
“First 9 is the nine attributes of our Lord Buddha, say it aloud, and second 6 is the six attributes of Dammah, say it aloud, and third 9 is the nine attributes of Thgangars, say it aloud, and feel proud. By adhering to the “969” one will always be protected from any harms and one will also become both peaceful and prosperous.”
27 October 3:30 PM – Later that day at 3:30 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Kyun-bin-thar Ward’s Kyun-bin-thar Prah-hittah Monastery and gave respects to Sayadawgyi U Nar-ra-dah. Shin Wirathu also gave following Dammah lecture to the boys and girls attending the Kyun-bin-thar Dammah-School at the monastery. “Lord Buddha taught us to be polite in our physical behaviour and in our speaks and in our minds.”
27 October 4:30 PM – Later that day at 4:30 pm Shin Wirathu arrived as scheduled at Yuzana Ward’s Abbotts Teaching Monateryl and gave respects to the chief-abbott Sayadaw U Thilar Sarah.
27 October 5:30 PM – Shin Wirathu gave a Dammah sermon titled “Human rights and our nationalism” to the adoring Buddhist audience at the Abbotts Teaching Monasteryl.
27 October 8:00 PM – That night at 8 Venerable Shin Wirathu delivered a special second-night Dammah sermon titled “We have to suffer for our nationalist cause” to a selected Buddhist audience again at Lel Gone Ward’s Aung-daw-mu Prah-hitta Buddhist Monastery in Myitkyinar.
(Blogger’s Notes: Since my army days in early 1970s Myitkyinar, despite being the capital of Kachin State, has basically been a majority-Buddhist town because of combined Burmese and Shan population who are almost 100% Buddhist.
I still remember the stark contrast between the treatments we Burmese soldiers received from the Buddhist wards and Kachin wards. We were shot at by the Christians in the Kachin wards while the Buddhists wards' residents were happy to see us and gladly giving us food and drinks and cheroots.
 |
| Burmese army patrol vehicle in Myitkyinar. |
As in the rest of Burma the Kachin State has diverse population of mainly Kachin, Shan, Burmese, and other ethnic groups. Kachin State’s 4 districts, 18 townships, and 11 sub-townships have a total population of more than 1.6 million in the year 2,012 and there are more than 500,000 Kachins, nearly 400,000 Burmese, over 300,000 Shans, and almost 300,000 other ethnic groups living in the Kachin State.
According to the last census figures the districts of Myitkyinar,
Moenhyin, Bamaw, and Putao have population of more than 1.6 million out of
which Kachins are 39.319%, Burmese 29.288%, Shans 23.633%, Chins 0.737%, Karens
0.218%, Yakhines 0.217%, Mons 0.030%, and Kayahs 0.020%.
Total Buddhist population of war-torn Kachin State is now nearly 60% compared to just 35% Christians and that rapid demographic change is frightening the Christian-Controlled KIA but encouraging the Buddhist Burmese Army in their grueling war against KIA.
Shin Wirathu’s well-publicised proselytizing trips to Kachin State especially Myitkyinar and Bamaw the most populous towns in Kachin land just after the futile peace-talks between the army and KIA in last October 8-10 was not a coincidence, I believe.
Travelling in a vehicle convoy with a heavily-armed army escort on extremely dangerous Bamaw-Myitkyinar road through Dawd-phone-yang where KIA has regularly ambushed army troops? Burma army definitely was behind Shin Wirathu’s proselytizing trip into the still-nominally-Christian Kachin land.)