Another example is the seeming ambivalence of the influential
monk Sitagu Sayadaw, who is associated with MaBaTha and also regularly
participates in interreligious dialogues and preaches for peace and
tolerance. In explaining the association, one monk close to him said
that he was seeking to channel the MaBaTha monks’ motivation to
protect Buddhism into reconciling rather than divisive ways. Indeed,
multiple people (sympathetic to the organization, it must be noted)
explain the genesis of MaBaTha as an initiative on the part of some
senior Burmese monks who felt that the 969 movement was in danger
of creating a negative perception of Burmese Buddhism and wanted to
bring it under more control. While this may have been the intention
of some of the monks who launched the organization, its creation has
certainly not resulted in the disappearance of anti-Muslim preaching or
violence directed against Muslims.