BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of people attended the funeral Thursday of a senior monk who was fatally shot by soldiers, an incident that could undermine the intimate relationship Myanmar’s military government has sought to maintain with the country’s Buddhist clergy.
The body of 78-year-old monk Bhaddanta Munindarbhivamsa was carried through the crowd on a vehicle shaped like a Karaweik ship – an ornate ship with a golden image of a mythical bird on the prow – from a temple in the city of Bago, where it had been preserved for the past week so mourners could pay their respects.
The mock boat was accompanied by more than a hundred other vehicles and a long procession of monks and worshippers to a newly built pyre at a cemetery on the outskirts of town for cremation.
Buddhist clerics are extremely influential in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation where the religion is deeply intertwined with tradition and culture.
The killing of Bhaddanta Munindarbhivamsa, a retired member of the State Sangha Mahanayaka Committee, the monastic organization that oversees Buddhist clergy, sparked outrage, especially because the military government initially lied and blamed it on resistance fighters opposed to the army regime.
Myanmar’s military junta came to power in February 2021 after the military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. After security forces used lethal force to suppress nonviolent protests, armed resistance emerged and the country is now in crisis civil war.
The military, which likes to portray itself as the guardian of Buddhism, has worked hard to keep the clergy on side and strengthen its legitimacy, devoting resources to building and repairing religious structures and donating money and gifts to monasteries and senior monks.
State media announced earlier this month that the head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaingwhereby limousines are donated to senior monks in the State Sangha Mahanayaka Committee,
Historically, monks played an important role in resisting British colonial rule, and in more recent times against previous military governments. Monks have taken part in protests against the 2021 takeover, and some have joined armed resistance forces.
Bhaddanta Munindarbhivamsa, who had served as abbot of a monastery in Bago where hundreds of young monks from around the country come to learn Buddhist scriptures, was traveling in a car in the central region of Mandalay on June 19 when it was fired upon by soldiers at a truck.
However, state television MRTV reported that evening that the monk had been killed in the explosion of a landmine laid by a local unit of the People’s Defense Force, a loosely organized armed resistance movement opposed to military rule.
That statement was discredited the next day when another monk who had been traveling in the car disclosed details of the incident to monks and devotees at the monastery in Bago.
Bhaddanta Gunikabhivamsa said soldiers fired seven or eight shots at the car, killing his senior colleague and wounding the driver and himself. Videos of him giving the explanation were shared widely on social media, sparking outrage from both soldiers and state media for trying to cover up the killing.
The military government, facing a major PR debacle, was forced to quickly backtrack when the story of the surviving monk spread and acknowledged that soldiers had shot the monk.
Min Aung Hlaing sent Religious Affairs and Culture Minister Tin Oo Lwin to the deceased monk’s monastery on Monday to read out his apology.
In the statement, Min Aung Hlaing expressed deep sorrow over the monk’s death, but also said security forces had to fire on the civilian vehicle because it did not stop when ordered to stop, as it was traveling at high speed with its windows closed in an area where the resistance was reportedly active.
Min Aung Hlaing said an investigation into the incident had begun by senior officials and that the military government would continue to serve the interests of the Buddhist religion by cooperating with monks.
The military government’s efforts to gain support among senior clerics build on the military’s long-standing alliance with the army right-wing monks who share their ultra-nationalist views and have their own followers who can be mobilized for political action.
The slain monk was one of several senior clerics who publicly condemned the military’s 2021 power grab.
He and ten other monks signed a letter of protest posted on Facebook a few days after the takeover, accusing the military of destroying the country’s development and the hopes of its youth. The letter has resurfaced since his death and is circulating widely on social media.