Security and strategic affairs analyst Kamal Uddin Mazumder unpacks the border tensions between a region historically inflamed by Buddhist-Muslim conflict
Bangladesh
The Buddhist Circuit’s Significance and the Legacy of Buddhism in Bangladesh
Overtures from Bangladesh’s foreign minister seeks to re-establish a new circuit between Bangladesh and India
The Right Balance: Negotiating Buddhist Power in Sri Lanka
After a mob attacked a UN safe house for Rohingya refugees on 26 September near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne came out with some of the strongest public words I’ve seen leveled by a Buddhist public servant against fellow, self-proclaimed Buddhists. “As a Buddhist I am ashamed at what happened,” […]
No Easy Answers: Bangladesh’s Buddhists and Rohingya Refugees
The tragedy of Myanmar’s displacement of Rohingya Muslims, aside from its complex ethnic, historical, and religious backdrop, is exacerbated by two essential political realities. The first is that Western media and governments erroneously saw what it wished to see in Aung San Suu Kyi throughout her difficult struggle against the Burmese junta. When she decided […]
My Journey to Become a Monk
In Bangladesh, a short term monastic experience is highly regarded by every male Buddhist. Some join the monastic order permanently as a result, while others may give up the aspiration of monkhood to fulfill personal obligations. In 2003, after receiving permission from my parents, I entered into monastic life at the age of 15. It […]
Reflections on a Bengali Community in California
In June this year, I was invited to present a paper to the 10th International Conference on Conflict Education at the Ohio State University in Ohio, USA. En route to my destination, I made a stop to call on the Bengali Buddhist community at Long Beach in Los Angeles, California. This was on the recommendation […]
Setting the Stage
John Cannon A careful reflection of the path I have followed while “shuffling my way along this mortal coil” brings into sharp relief some of the events that have moulded me as a person from youth onwards: founder, teacher and administrator of a cultural and language programme for Chinese immigrant children in Toronto; two solo […]