Pauk Ko Taw
Pauk Ko Taw | |
|---|---|
ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော် | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | August 1985 (age 39) |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Known for | Buddhist monk, and association with Ma Ba Tha |
| Other names | Ashin Ariawuntha (အရှင်အရိယဝံသ) |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
| Movement | Ma Ba Tha (Patriotic Association of Myanmar) |
Pauk Ko Taw (Burmese: ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်; pronounced [paʊʔ kò dɔ̀], also known as Ashin Ariawuntha (Burmese: အရှင်အရိယဝံသ; pronounced [ʔəʃɪ̀ɰ̃ ʔəɹḭjə wʊ̀ɰ̃ θa̰], born August 1985) is a Burmese nationalist Buddhist monk involved in both religious and political movements in Myanmar.[1][2][3] He is a member of the now defunct Ma Ba Tha (Patriotic Association of Myanmar), a nationalist group advocating for the protection of Buddhism in Myanmar.[4]
Pauk Ko Taw has had a significant influence on top military generals in the Mandalay Region and has led the military-backed Pyusawhti militias in both the Magway and Mandalay regions. His views on Buddhism's role in politics have been both supported by nationalist groups and criticized by human rights organizations and other observers.[5][6]
Early life and ordination
[edit]Pauk Ko Taw was born in August 1985[7] in Pauk, Myanmar and later adopted the monastic name Warthawa.[8][9] He eventually became known as Ashin Ariawuntha (အရှင်အရိယဝံသ), a name associated with his public persona and involvement in nationalist movements.[10][11] Specific details about his early life and monastic training are limited, and his public influence grew primarily through his political and social activities.[12][13][14]
Life
[edit]Pauk Ko Taw rose to prominence within Ma Ba Tha, a Buddhist nationalist organization that advocates for the protection of Myanmar's Buddhist identity. He is a member of the Patriotic Myanmar Monks Union (Mandalay).[15][16][17][3]
He was previously arrested along with other Ma Ba Tha monks in 2018 for organizing a protest camp in Mandalay calling for the overthrow of the NLD government. He was sentenced to nearly a year in Mandalay's Obo Prison.[18]
Pauk Ko Taw has openly supported Myanmar’s military junta, especially following the 2021 coup. While Ma Ba Tha leaders and his mentor Wirathu were imprisoned, Pauk Ko Taw emerged at the forefront of pro-military campaigns supporting the coup regime.[19][20] His alignment with the junta has drawn both support from its proponents and criticism from pro-democracy activists, and some Buddhist leaders, human rights organizations, such as Progressive Voice Myanmar, Amnesty International,United Nations, and Burma Human Rights Network.[21]
Pauk Ko Taw is referred to as the second-generation leader of Ma Ba Tha and is also described as a close disciple of Wirathu. His connection to the junta has led to his categorization as a key figure within Myanmar's Buddhist nationalist movements.[3] He later often posts criticism of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, while frequently praising and supporting Vice Senior General Soe Win on his social media platforms.[22]
On January 16, 2024, during a protest in Pyin Oo Lwin, Pauk Ko Taw called for the resignation of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, citing poor national administration, and requested his replacement as Commander-in-Chief by the second-in-command, Soe Win.[23] He was subsequently arrested for this speech and later released after a short time.[24]
Pauk Ko Taw has emerged as a leader of the Pyusawhti militias in central Myanmar, tasked by the military regime with overseeing these militias undergoing military training.[19] He delivered a speech at a Pyusawhti militias commando training graduation ceremony in Mandalay Region, urging the brutal suppression of those opposing the military. In addition, top military generals in the Mandalay Region revere Pauk Ko Taw. Recently, they invited him to encourage soldiers injured in battles against northern alliances and to deliver sermons within the military.[7]
In August 2024, senior Buddhist monks of the Saffron Revolution have called on the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee to take action against extremist nationalist monks Wirathu, U Wasawa, and Pauk Ko Taw under monastic disciplinary rules for their involvement in armed activities and promoting terrorism.[25]
In September 2024, seven members of Pauk Ko Taw's Pyusawhti militia were arrested in Mandalay for committing armed robbery.[26]
Influence and criticism
[edit]Pauk Ko Taw remains a polarizing figure in Myanmar. He has garnered support from segments of the population that aligns with his nationalist and pro-military views. However, his stance has sparked strong opposition from organizations such as Frontier Myanmar and Burma Human Rights Network argue that his views on nationalism have been viewed as contributing to divisions along religious and ethnic lines.
References
[edit]- ^ "As defeats mount, Buddhist extremists start to desert Myanmar's military regime". AsiaNews. 24 January 2024.
- ^ Jonathan Head (24 January 2024). "Myanmar's army is losing - and facing fire from a militant monk". BBC News.
- ^ a b c "Ultranationalist monks including Naymingyi Sayadaw at the Taunggyi protest, U Kaythaya in Yangon and Pauk Ko Taw in Mandalay have all demanded that Min Aung Hlaing step down as commander-in-chief given his battlefield failures during Operation 1027". Frontier Myanmar. 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Tidak jelas dukungan seperti apa yang dimiliki Pauk Ko Taw di angkatan bersenjata. Namun komentarnya senada dengan komentar para pendukung junta lainnya, yang semakin frustasi dengan ketidakmampuan para pemimpin militer Myanmar untuk membalikkan keadaan terhadap lawan-lawan mereka. (It is unclear what kind of support Pauk Ko Taw has in the armed forces. But his comments echo those of other junta supporters, who are increasingly frustrated by Myanmar's military leaders' inability to turn the tide against their opponents.)". CNBC Indonesia (in Indonesian). 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Nationalist Monk Briefly Detained After Joining Chant Calling for Myanmar's Leader to Step Down". The Irrawaddy. 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Buddhist monk leading deadly pro-junta militias in Myanmar's Sagaing region". Radio Free Asia. 24 January 2024.
- ^ a b နေမင်းနီ, အောင်ဇေ (23 August 2024). "ပေါ်တာဆွဲ စစ်မှုထမ်းခိုင်းသည့်စနစ် ကျင့်သုံးနေပြီဟု သင်္ကန်းဝတ်ပျူခေါင်းဆောင် ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော် ထုတ်ပြော". Myanmar Now.
- ^ "Last week it was the turn of the ultranationalist Buddhist monk Ashin Ariawuntha, also known as Pauk Ko Taw, arrested and interrogated by the authorities after declaring at a rally in the Mandalay region that the head of the junta should hand over power to his deputy, General Soe Win". Agenzia Nova. 22 January 2024.
- ^ "This is just what happened in January when the ultranationalist monk, Pauk Ko Taw, led a protest by a few hundred pro-regime demonstrators in the former colonial hill station Pyin Oo Lwin, calling for Min Aung Hlaing to resign and hand over the reins of the military and the country to his deputy General Soe Win". University of Melbourne. 3 May 2024.
- ^ Aung Zay, Nay Min Ni (23 August 2024). "Monk who led junta-trained militias condemns Myanmar junta's abductions for forced recruitment". Myanmar NOW.
- ^ Jonathan Head (24 January 2024). "This though was criticism from an unusual quarter. The monk, Pauk Ko Taw, is part of an ultra-nationalist fringe of the Buddhist clergy, which has until now been staunchly behind the military junta". BBC News.
- ^ Thomas Kean. "Myanmar: The Many Foes of Min Aung Hlaing". The Diplomat.
- ^ "When asked about his role in the conflict, a former Ma Ba Tha monk named Pauk Ko Taw told RFA that Warthawa's actions are "righteous" and that he "doesn't support killing people." "He is just working as a monk for building peace in Sagaing's Kanbalu township, that's why he organized [the groups] for peace making," he said. "We Buddhist monks need to organize people to stay peaceful and united and preach harmony to our ethnic groups. Warthawa has not committed any major sins … in Buddhism."". Radio Free Asia. 24 January 2023.
- ^ Palki Sharma (26 January 2024). ""Militant Monk" Challenges Myanmar's Military Junta, Becomes Viral | Firstpost Unpacked". Firstpost.
- ^ Hein Htet Kyaw (2 October 2024). "An Investigation into 969 nationalist Buddhist movement in Burma". Atheist Alliance International.
- ^ "During a pro-Junta event in Pyin Oo Lwin on January 16th, Monk U Ariya Wun Tha, also known as Pauk Ko Taw, suggested that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is better suited for a civilian role, advocating for him to transition to such a position and transfer the Commander-in-Chief role to his deputy, Vice Senior General Soe Win". Burma News International. 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Seven men were arrested by police for an alleged robbery at a home, where a vehicle and a mobile phone were stolen, in Pyigyitagon Township on Sept. 11. The men are alleged to be members of a pro-military militia led by a Buddhist monk named Pauk Ko Taw". Democratic Voice of Burma. 16 September 2024.
- ^ Linn, Harry (17 July 2024). "သျှမ်းနဲ့ ပလောင် (တအာင်း)ကို သွေးခွဲနေတဲ့ ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်ကို သတိထား". သျှမ်းသံတော်ဆင့်.
- ^ a b "In mid-January, at a small gathering in a cantonment town in Myanmar, hard line pro-military monk Pauk Kotaw suggested that the country's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing step down and his deputy take over. The crowd cheered in agreement, according to videos of the event posted on social media. Online, pro-military journalists and bloggers have been similarly direct. "He should resign as commander-in-chief," Ko Maung Maung, a pro-military Youtuber said in a post". The Japan Times. 31 January 2024.
- ^ "«Κοιτάξτε το πρόσωπο του Soe Win», είπε ο Pauk Ko Taw στο πλήθος. «Αυτό είναι το πρόσωπο ενός πραγματικού στρατιώτη. Ο Min Aung Hlaing δεν τα καταφέρνει. Θα πρέπει να μεταβεί σε πολιτικό ρόλο.» ("Look at Soe Win's face," Pauk Ko Taw told the crowd. "This is the face of a real soldier. Min Aung Hlaing doesn't make it. He should move into a political role.")". Hellas Journal (in Greek). 24 January 2024.
- ^ "The capture of the towns of Laukkai (Kokang) and Paletwa (Chin) had the greatest psychological impact on Tatmadaw soldiers. It led to the sentencing of six generals to death or life imprisonment for surrendering, as well as public and official criticism of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. In particular, the prominent ultra-nationalist monk Pauk Ko Taw cited him as an example of leniency and endorsed Soe Win, his deputy, as a potential replacement". Atlas of Wars. 1 February 2024.
- ^ "ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်ပြောတဲ့ စစ်ခေါင်းဆောင်နုတ်ထွက်ရေးသဘောဆောင်လဲ". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 18 January 2024.
- ^ "စစ်ခေါင်းဆောင် နုတ်ထွက်ဖို့ ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော် ဟောပြော". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 19 January 2024.
- ^ "မင်းအောင်လှိုင်ရာထူးကဆင်းခိုင်းပြီး ဒုကာချုပ်ကို ရာထူးနေရာလွှဲပေးဖို့ လှုံ့ဆော်သည့် မဘသ၊ အမျိုးသားရေးအစွန်းရောက် ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်ကို စစ်တပ်က ခေါ်ယူစစ်ဆေးပြီး ပြန်လွှတ်". Khit Thit Media. 19 January 2024.
- ^ "ဦးဝီရသူ၊ ဝါသဝကိုယ်တော်နှင့် ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်တို့အား အရေးယူရန် မဟနကို တိုက်တွန်း". DVB (in Burmese).
- ^ "မန္တလေးတွင် ဓားပြတိုက်သည့် ပေါက်ကိုယ်တော်၏ ပြည်သူ့စစ် ၇ ဦးကို ဖမ်းမိ". DVB (in Burmese).