Abbot banned from preaching one more year

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The popular abbot considered a friend of opposition groups cannot give public talks anywhere in Burma, according to a new ruling issued by the state sangha authority.

Abbot Ashin Pyinnyar Thiha. "What else can I do?" Photo: Mizzima

The ban on Ashin Pyinnyar Thiha of Thadu Pariyatti Monastery in Kyimyindaing Township in Rangoon follows a one-year ban in 2011. The order was from the State Sangha Committee, Ashin Pyinnyar Thiha told Mizzima.

“Someone gave me a copy of the letter that says they banned me until 2013,” he said.

Because of the ban, he has cancelled sermons scheduled in Tachileik on February 11 and 12 and in Khinoo on February 13, 14 and 15.

In 2011, the abbot was banned by the state authorities for teaching things “incompatible with Buddhism,” a charge he strongly rejects.

During the first year of the ban, on December 12 the Region Sangha Committee sent the abbot a letter to calling him a ‘disobedient monk’ and ordering him to leave the Sardu Pariyatti Monastery complex for delivering speech at the Mandalay Region National League for Democracy office in September. The letter also ordered the monastery to halt all religious training conducted in the monastery, which trained hundreds of monks.

He was ordered to sign a letter confirming that he would leave from the monastery no later than February 19.

“I signed the pledge. I did as they told me. What else can I do not to be a ‘disobedient monk,’ what else can I do?” he told Mizzima.

On February 15, 16 and 17, he said he would visit Kyimyindaing and Kamayut townships to meet with supporters and receive donations.

He said he would leave Thadu Monastery on Sunday. “I’ll leave... No need to feel sorry. When the time comes, all of us have to abandon everything.”