political monks has become infamous for rallying the Burman Buddhist population in developed cities to protect Buddhism against the threat of Islam. Through MaBaTha, “Buddhist nationalism has been able to equate itself with national identity” (Nilsen, 2015). The primary mechanism used by MaBaTha monks to disseminate their ideology has been to perpetuate the myth of an imminent Islamic invasion that would overtake the nation. To this end, MaBaTha has focused its efforts on promoting and securing support for controversial laws to protect religion—in this case meaning Buddhism. Examples of two such laws are the 2015 interfaith marriage law and the subsequent population control bill. Two of four bills together titled the Protection of Race and Religion Laws (likely named thus due to the critical role MaBaTha played in its promotion), both bills were drawn up by stringent Buddhist monks espousing unwavering anti-Muslim agendas (Poole, 2015). Poole explained that the population control bill mandates a 36-month gap between children for certain mothers and giv[es] regional authorities the power to implement birth spacing in overcrowded areas. Some argue the legislation is aimed at curbing high birth rates in the Muslim community. The population bill is vague about the penalty for unauthorized birth less than three years apart, but it could include coerced contraception, forced sterilization, or abortion. (Poole, 2015) The law is justified by a Tatmadaw-perpetuated stereotype that Muslims reproduce at an excessive rate and plan to overrun the nation (particularly the Buddhist religion and the majority Burman population). The population control bill provides Burma’s elite with the means to legally physically constrain the non-Burman races within Burma. The vagueness of the bill’s language, coupled with the fact that regional authorities are vested with the power to implement it, leaves excessive room for its abuse. It also allows the military to avoid implementing it in regions where it may not be 81