The network of Buddhist nationalists formerly known as Ma Ba Tha has announced plans to assemble in Yangon next Monday in support of the delegation currently disputing allegations of genocide against Myanmar in The Hague.
The group, now labelling itself “nationalist forces”, said it would hold a “rally of honour and support for Myanmar’s delegation at the International Court of Justice [ICJ].”
Former army colonel Ko Ko Hlaing is currently representing Myanmar’s military junta in hearings at the court related to a wave of violence targeting the country’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, which peaked in 2017.
The organisers are still reportedly deliberating whether prominent ultranationalist monk Wirathu—a figure long associated with inflammatory, anti-Muslim campaigns—will appear at the event. Some within the group feel it would be better to postpone the provocative figure’s return to public life, a former Ma Ba Tha member told Myanmar Now.
Some participants also reportedly have misgivings about inviting another senior monk, Pamokkha, who is similarly known for his hardline nationalist stance. Pamokkha led a protest outside the United States Embassy in Yangon in 2016 and was later sentenced to three months in prison in 2018 for organising an unauthorised demonstration.
He told Myanmar Now he had not yet decided whether he would attend Monday’s event.
The rally is expected to be led by the nationalist activist Win Ko Ko Latt and Buddhist monks Nyana Dhamma and Thusitta, who previously organised campaigns targeting Islamic schools, as well as counterprotests against anti-coup demonstrators in 2021.
All three are known for backing the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a proxy for the military in Myanmar’s electoral politics since its founding in 2010.
During the civilian government of the National League for Democracy party—which the military ultimately ousted in the coup of 2021—nationalist activist networks staged demonstrations supporting the military and promoting anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim narratives.
A political memoir by former navy chief Soe Thane documents more than 20 pro-military rallies organised before and after the 2021 coup, many of them allegedly coordinated by USDP leaders.
Ma Ba Tha was formally dissolved in 2017 by a government-appointed body of monks—the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee—but the network’s members later regrouped under new names, including the “Buddha Dhamma Parahita Foundation.”
These reorganised nationalists have continued to hold public demonstrations and maintain ties with military-aligned political figures.
The most recent major mobilisation came in late 2024, as clashes intensified in northern Shan State between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups allegedly supported by China. Nationalists demonstrated against the Chinese government in junta-controlled cities, only stopping after the Chinese embassy lodged a formal complaint.
Following Monday’s rally in Yangon, organisers said similar demonstrations are expected elsewhere in the country.
Pamokkha denied that the nationalist movement is aligned with the military.
“We are not supporting the military, and we are not opposing it,” he said. “We will continue to do what we believe is right for the nation and the people.”
Rights groups and Muslim leaders have long accused Ma Ba Tha and its successor networks of preaching hate and inciting hostility against the Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities. Despite its formal dissolution, the network’s activities have continued under different banners, often echoing the political messaging of Myanmar’s ruling generals.
As the genocide case against Myanmar unfolds in The Hague, the planned rally will show the extent to which nationalist mobilisation can still affect the political atmosphere in the country’s largest city.
