DJ among five arrested for alleged religious defamation by Myanmar military

Military authorities arrested disc jockeys and others connected with the nightclub scene in Yangon and Mandalay on Thursday, charging them with “public mischief” in apparent connection to their music performances. The junta conducted a raid at the COVER nightclub in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township on the same night they detained a woman who performs as a DJ, as well as a DJ manager, in Yangon. The arrests came after a video clip circulated on social media that showed people dancing to an up-tempo version of the traditional Buddhist song “Buddham Saranam Gacchami”—a remixed cover by Soe Paing and Poe Ei San from an original by the recording artist Majit. The video provoked outrage among social media users who objected to the use of the song, which is based on a traditional Buddhist prayer, for dance music in a nightclub. Users claiming to represent the Buddhist ultranationalist group Ma Ba Tha, an abbreviation for the Association for Protection of Race and Religion, condemned the music and dancing shown in the recording as a sacrilege and called for punitive action against those responsible. Ma Ba Tha, a group of religious ultranationalists accused of preaching hate against Myanmar’s religious minorities that resulted in ethnic cleansing, was officially outlawed under the civilian government led by the National League for Democracy party in 2019. However, prominent members of the group remained active in public life. "The club has been closed since that night. The staff were also arrested,” a Mandalay resident said on Saturday. “DJ Violet was arrested in Yangon,” the resident added, referring to the woman who had played the song. The detained DJ Khin Htwe Htwe Mon, 24, uses “DJ Violet” as her stage name. She is reportedly an in-law of the well-known actor Nay Myo Aung. Khin Htwe Htwe Mon posted an apology for dancing to the song on Facebook on Thursday morning. Her family members also claimed on their Facebook pages that she had gone to confess and been granted a pardon by a local monastic authority, the Thingangyun Township Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee. However, conservative and ultranationalist monks including Ashin Thusaitta, a member of the Patriotic Monks Union, and junta supporter Pauk Ko Taw, who had both accused the DJ of encouraging immorality, did not retract their criticisms. Pauk Ko Taw, an ultranationalist known for leading armed, regime-sponsored militias trained to fight against the anti-junta resistance, denied direct responsibility for the arrest. “This young lady wasn't arrested because of Pauk Ko Taw. She wasn’t arrested because of what Pauk Ko Taw wrote,” pro-military monk Pauk Ko Taw said in a social media post last Friday, referring to himself. “We forgave her. But when some individuals didn’t grant forgiveness, she was arrested at her home that night. Now they're also preparing to file charges,” he added. Regime spokespersons issued a statement on Saturday evening confirming that they shut down the COVER nightclub and arrested Khin Htwe Htwe Mon as well as music manager Phyo Hein Ko Ko, 28; club owner Thet Lwin Aung, 49; and club manager Zin Su Ya, 31. The statement said the four individuals were arrested for acts committed on July 31 and were now facing charges under Section 505a of the penal code for public mischief, specifically for causing public alarm by undermining respect for Buddhism. The charges carry a penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. Recent accusations by ultranationalist and pro-junta monks resulted in charges against one Buddhist monk and public censure against another. Abbot Bhaddanta Tayzainda, 52, of the Dakkhinayama Monastery in Bago Region’s Shwegyin Township, received a severe warning from state monastic authorities after appearing in a clip on the online video platform Tik Tok, in which he cut a cake in the shape of a Buddhist symbol while singing “Happy Birthday” to another monk. Junta authorities also arrested U Thonedara, 41—a monk serving in a monastery in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township—on September 8 after he appeared in video recordings on Tik Tok. The military raided major monasteries in Mandalay after seizing control of government ministries in the coup of February 2021, beating and arresting monks and nuns who opposed military rule and holding them in interrogation centres, acts that did not draw criticism from ultranationalist monks. The military also routinely carries out indiscriminate airstrikes that damage and destroy monasteries, pagodas, schools, and villages as well as causing casualties and deaths among civilians and monks.

DJ among five arrested for alleged religious defamation by Myanmar military

Responding to demands from online ultranationalists, the military regime has detained four people on criminal defamation charges under Section 505a of the Penal Code

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