By Naing Yarzar Min / MPA
A prominent Myanmar Buddhist monk, widely known for his controversial stance regarding the country’s military junta, has been removed from a peace march in the United States after attempting to join the rally without prior security clearance.
Ashin Ottamasara, the head of the Thabarwa Nature Centre, was escorted out of the “Walk for Peace” in Washington D.C. on the 108th and final day of the cross-country march.
Live broadcasts of the event showed the monk approaching a volunteer and embedding himself within the procession of 19 leading Buddhist monks and their American supporters. However, organizers were seen escorting him away just five minutes later.
Event coordinators cited strict security protocols for his removal.
“Participation requires prior security clearance and registration,” a Myanmar national residing in the US explained. “While any monk or nun is welcome to join, he arrived unannounced and unregistered, so he was denied entry for security reasons.”
The monk’s last-minute attempt to join the culmination of the march, which originated in Texas, has drawn sharp criticism and mockery from the Myanmar public on social media.
“If he wanted to participate, he should have joined from the beginning in Texas,” a Myanmar citizen in their 30s remarked. “Showing up only at the end in Washington is brazen. Monks like him are damaging the reputation of Buddhism in Myanmar.”
Ashin Ottamasara is a deeply polarizing figure among the Myanmar public and is widely perceived as a supporter of the military council that seized power in a 2021 coup.
In 2023, he sparked widespread public outrage after visiting U Tin Oo, a senior patron of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD), where he suggested that detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi should retire from politics.
While the military has been accused of widespread atrocities, including the killing of civilians and the burning of homes, the cleric has notably avoided criticizing the junta. Instead, he previously distributed pamphlets in Yangon suggesting that the suffering of the Myanmar people was the result of their “karma” from past lives.
His actions have led to direct boycotts, with residents in several Yangon townships refusing to offer him morning alms. He has also faced organized protests by the Myanmar diaspora during a previous visit to San Francisco.
Adding to his controversies, the monk faced scrutiny last year when he announced plans to sell two plots of donated religious land in Yangon to settle a 71 million rupee debt for his center in Bodh Gaya, India.
