U Wie Douktah is a Buddhist abbot in Meiktila, Myanmar. He and his disciples provided sanctuary to more than 900 Muslims when violence broke out 2½ years ago. According to official figures, at least 44 people were killed in 2013 after a dispute erupted between Muslims and Buddhists in a Meiktila market. In an overwhelmingly Buddhist country where angry anti-Muslim rhetoric is becoming increasingly part of mainstream discourse, U Wie Douktah is a symbol of tolerance.
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U Wirathu is a founder of an ultra-nationalist Buddhist movement called the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, known locally as Ma Ba Tha. In an interview with CNN, he did not hesitate to name what he said is the No. 1 threat to his faith: Muslims. "Their law requires Buddhist women who marry into their religion must convert (to Islam)," he said. "They take many wives and they have many children. And when their population grows they threaten us." Myanmar is roughly 90% Buddhist, the CIA World Factbook estimates.
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This mosque in Meiktila was torched in the 2013 riots. It is still in ruins.
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At one of the few mosques still operating in Meiktila, it gets so crowded that people have to pray in shifts at Friday prayers.
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People sit at the Buddhist monastery Meiktila Burma, where U Wie Douktah gave shelter to Muslims in 2013.
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Buddhist monks demonstrate against the U.N. and the return of Rohingya Muslims May 27, 2015 in Yangon.
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A fireman begins to clean up a burnt down market after riots broke out in Lashio in eastern Myanmar's Shan state on May 30, 2013. Security forces patrolled the riot-scarred streets of the town in eastern Myanmar after a fresh outbreak of religious violence that left one dead and several wounded. One person was killed and five injured in fighting between Muslims and Buddhists that saw a mosque and orphanage torched and stick-wielding mobs roaming the streets threatening Muslims.
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A resident watches as black smoke rises from burning houses in riot-hit Meiktila, central Myanmar on March 21, 2013. At least 10 people were killed in riots in central Myanmar.
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Black smoke rises from burning houses around a mosque in riot-hit Meiktila, central Myanmar on March 21, 2013.
