Analysis: Current Landscape of Hate Speech in Myanmar train stations.413 For instance, one interviewee described that in 2012, an organization sponsored by Burmese business tycoon Zaykarbar Khin Shwe circulated a documentary DVD about the threat of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the Taliban to the Buddhist community; the DVD was shared to coincide with Shwedagon Pagoda’s milestone anniversary year.414 The interviewee noted that this DVD caused many Buddhists to think that Muslims kill non-Muslims.415 Similarly, another DVD “talked about how in 2012, in Bangladesh, some monasteries were destroyed by a Bangladeshi Muslim group.”416 The DVD was distributed in Karen State to convince the public that “Muslims will destroy the Burmese shops [and] people, burn monasteries, and kill to become powerful.”417 CSOs also described how movies in Myanmar reinforce racist messages.418 For instance, films play off stereotypes by depicting villains that are either part of EAOs or commonly wearing ethnic clothing.419 According to one activist, “most celebrities in Myanmar are also racists. They usually make movies that involve a kalar villain or Ah Chaut [a gay man] as comic relief. It is a very common stereotypical joke used in most Myanmar movies. They often make the villains wear ethnic clothing like Shan long pants. There is a lot of discrimination in movies.”420 In addition to movies, other types of pop culture, such as comedy and folk theatre groups like Hnin Si A Nyeint and Five Star, have been saturated with negative depictions of the Rohingya.421 One skit from the group Hnin Si A Nyeint, for example, includes a monologue by a Buddhist woman: She explains that she was forced to marry what she calls her horrible, smelly, and ugly bearded kalar husband.422 She says that people all around her told her to embrace democracy, and that he’s a human, after all. But she laments that he is barbaric, abusive, and keeps marrying one Buddhist wife after another. Finally, she has had enough, so she leaves him. The skits end with her telling the audience his name: “Rohingya.”423 In a music video, the popular artist MC Hlwan Paing mocks other rappers by call- ing them “Hip Hop Rohingya”: they steal his ideas and rhymes, but they will never be superior like him.424 Print media—books, newspapers, and pamphlets Books, newspapers, and pamphlets have also been important tools for spreading hate speech. One interviewee described that Ma Ba Tha has distributed booklets with their propaganda by placing them in tea shops and public areas.425 The CSOs pointed to two particularly influential books—Amyo Pyauk Hma So Chauk Sayar and Islamization—which contain anti-Muslim messages and portray Is413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 FGD (January 2019); See also YGN-R3-01, 4-5; YGN-R4-04, 3. 001-R1-01, 6. Ibid. Ibid., 3. Ibid. FGD (January 2019); YGN-R3-01; See also Aung Kaung Myat, “Military Rule May Be Over, but Myanmar’s Film Industry Remains in a Tawdry Time Warp,” Time, August 22, 2018, https://time.com/5374231/myanmar-cinema-film-movies/. 002-R4-04, 3. YGN-R3-01, 4. FGD (December 2019) Ibid. Ibid. MC Hlwan Paing, “Hip Hop Rohingya (Lyrics)” Youtube (accessed December 7, 2019), https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=QWKFobeKrJg 001-R1-01, 4. 67