Rebirth: Indian Buddhism under Modi (video)

Crystal Quintero and Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; BuddhistChannel.tv (buddhistnews.tv); "India Jones and the Election of Doom" (Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

The Daily Show's Jason Jones chases down look-alikes of India's new PM Narendra Modi in an attempt to interview him about a bloody piece of his past. (thedailyshow.cc.com)

 

Rebirth of Indian Buddhism under PM Modi

Senaka Weeraratna, Lankaweb, May 21, 2014

Newly elected prime minister will promote India’s rich Buddhist heritage to attract tourists and scholars and enhance India’s standing in the world.
 
NEW DELHI, India - The world’s first global Buddhist missionary, Anagarika Dharmapala, and the most talked about man in India today and perhaps in the entire policy and decision making world, Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi, share something in common. More

Bangladesh makes amends after anti-Buddhist rampage

Nicholas Farrelly, Myanmar Times, May 22, 2014

In contrast to Burma, the government moved quickly to rebuild and restore Buddhist buildings.

DHAKA, Bangladesh - “Who did this?” I asked a monk [in formerly Buddhist now Muslim "Bangla" or "West Bengal"] on a recent afternoon in Ramu, southeastern Bangladesh. “It was the Islamists,” he replied. He pointed to the marks beneath the glistening new paint where a Buddha’s head had been cleaved off and rented asunder. When asked about the culprits -- “miscreants” in the local application of English – he gave me a glimpse of monastic resignation. “I don’t know. They are people who don’t understand.” More

Lonesome Japanese Buddhist temple comes alive with cute anime characters
Yusuke Kato, Asahi Shimbun, May 19, 2014
TOKYO, Japan - Shoeizan Ryohoji Temple, tucked away in a residential area in western Tokyo, has a 400+ year history. But until just a few years ago, many locals didn’t even know the Nichiren Shu [devotional] sect Buddhist building was there. More

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Racism in Buddhist Burma: Muslim Rohingya

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Kathmandu Post (ekantipur.com); BBC News America; 

Beloved daughters of Burma must be protected from feared minority? It's racist discrimination. Sandalwood paste is used on many children to lighten and keep skin clear (Dietmar Temps/Deepblue66/flickr)

 

Proposed law is discriminatory

(KP) Burma’s human rights record will hit a new low if a proposed marriage bill becomes law. Couched in an idiom that merely seeks to give “protection and rights” to Buddhists, the proposed law targets the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority and forbids Muslims from marrying into the majority community. 

 

Spearheaded by a monk, Ven. Wirathu, the move, it seems, has officialdom’s blessings. President Thein Sein, succumbing to pressure from the extremist lobby, asked parliament to consider enacting such a law, which proposes a 10-year jail sentence for a Rohingya marrying a girl from the Buddhist community without obtaining her parents’ permission.

Vaguely worded, the proposed law, which bans polygamy, would “balance the increasing population” -- of whom, the legislation doesn’t specify. The proposal has also been criticized by Aung San Suu Kyi, who called it “a violation of women’s rights and human rights.” 

 

Already subjected to a discriminatory two-child policy, the Rohingya community is considered by the UN as the world’s most persecuted group. The state doesn’t recognize the Rohingyas as Burma’s citizens [regarded as rightly belonging in neighboring Muslim Bangladesh, who rejects them] even though most of them have been living in Burma for generations. They are not allowed to own land, and they cannot travel without permission. More

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