969 Movement

The 969 Movement (Burmese: ၉၆၉ လှုပ်ရှားမှု) is a Buddhist nationalist organisation opposed to the perceived expansion of Islam in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. The three digits of 969 "symbolise the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community". The first 9 represents the nine special attributes of the Buddha in Buddhism, the 6 represents the six special attributes of his teachings (the Dharma), and the second 9 represents the nine special attributes of the Sangha (the Buddhist monastic community). Those special attributes are the Three Jewels of the Buddha. In the past, the Buddha, Sangha, Dharma, the wheel of Dharma, and "969" were Buddhist signs.

The movement has had strong reactions within and beyond Myanmar. It has received criticism in international media. In April 2013, The Straits Times reported that critics remained sceptical after Wirathu, the movement's leader, responded to recent anti-Muslim violence with pledges to work for peace.

Various media organizations have described the movement as being anti-Muslim or "Islamophobic". The movement's Myanmar Buddhist supporters deny it is anti-Muslim, with Wirathu stating it is a protective movement about targeting "Bengalis who are terrorizing ethnic Rakhine (Buddhists)". Alex Bookbinder, in The Atlantic, links the movement's origins in a book written in the late 1990s by Kyaw Lwin, a functionary in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and its precepts are rooted in a traditional belief in numerology. Across South Asia, Muslims represent the phrase "In the Name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful" with the number 786, and businesses display the number to indicate that they are Muslim-owned. 969 proponents see this as a Muslim plot to conquer Burma in the 21st century, based on the premise that 7 plus 8 plus 6 is equal to 21. The number 969 is intended to be 786's cosmological opposite.