'Avoid hate speech'

Myanmar's minister for religion yesterday warned ultra-nationalist monks to avoid hate speech, in a rare government rebuke to Buddhist hardliners behind bilious anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The warning came after a firebrand monk from the Ma Ba Tha movement on Wednesday decried Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a "dictator" intent on bringing down the Buddhist group.

Anti-Muslim tirades by the monk-led group are blamed for a surge in sectarian hatred across the country which has seen repeated bouts of religious violence.

The group's rise to power under the former military-backed government went virtually unchecked, with its leaders organising mass rallies and social media vilification of Muslims.

But their star has waned in recent months. Myanmar's ruling council of monks has formally distanced itself from the group for the first time, raising speculation the network could be disbanded.

Yesterday, Myanmar's new religion minister Aung Ko added a warning against "people spreading hate speech".

The Ma Ba Tha's "future may be uncertain if they spread hate speech to create conflicts between religions... and among races," he said, adding the "the government is trying to create stability."

It was the first time a top minister from Suu Kyi's administration has publicly tackled the group, whose influence was credited with swaying the Nobel laureate against fielding any Muslim candidates in November's polls.