Monk blames Myanmar's military for Rohingya unrest

Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira, who was a top leader of the 2007 "saffron revolution" against Myanmar's junta regime, has blamed the military for the ongoing ethnic unrest in the country's Rakhine state.

Gambira also criticised the monks in Mandalay who recently demonstrated demanding the deportation of all Rohingya, the Muslim people living in Rakhine

The former monk - who is now known as Ko Nyi Nyi Lwin since he took off his robes earlier this year - said the military was "exacerbating the conflict in an attempt to retain its relevancy" in the country.

Expressing his view in a letter, a translation of which appeared on some Myanmar activists' websites this week, he said: "The violence between Rakhines and Rohingya in Arakan state [Rakhine's former name] is an example of how dictatorships all over the world rely on and use conflicts to stay in power. The military systematically uses divide-and-rule policies on the grounds of nationality, religion, economic and education status, etc., to divide people and to keep itself necessary and relevant.

"There have been conflicts between Buddhist monks and Muslims before. The military dictatorship always benefited from it. These ethnic clashes are still being encouraged by the military to keep the people separated."

Gambira said he did not support the way the monks in Mandalay recently demonstrated, demanding all Rohingya be deported from Myanmar.