Monk stands by ‘whore’ comments

Following a stinging rebuke by the UN human rights chief, Burma’s ultranationalist Buddhist monk fired back, saying he did not regret calling a UN special envoy a “whore” and a “bitch” after she criticised a bill opposed to interfaith marriage and religious conversions.

UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee visited Rakhine state last week, where hundreds of people, most of them minority Muslims, have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since 2012 in violence which the monk Wirathu has been accused of inciting.

She had criticised legislation proposed by a coalition of nationalist Buddhist monks, including a bill that would place curbs on interfaith marriage and conversions, saying they were discriminatory toward women and minorities.

“We have explained about the race protection law, but the bitch [Lee] criticised the laws without studying them properly,” Wirathu shouted from a stage at a rally. “Don’t assume that you are a respectable person because of your position. For us, you are a whore.”

Yesterday, Wirathu said it was time for the international community to butt out of his country’s internal affairs.