12 Matthew J. Walton and Susan Hayward including economic and geopolitical reasons.14 But there is also a widely held perception (even if no direct evidence exists to prove it) that the mass monastic mobilization against the regime, and the outrage caused by the military’s brutal attack on monks and nuns, contributed to the speed with which the regime pushed through its constitution in 2008 and followed with multiparty elections in 2010. Since 2011, Buddhist monks and nuns have continued to voice public positions and mobilize communities. Some monks have organized peace marches and reached out to support religious and political leaders in war-affected states. In Kachin state in August 2012, the president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) noted that a group of “Saffron Revolution monks” had recently visited to offer relief to victims of the conflict and to learn more about the situation of the Kachin people.15 In early 2014, a monk walked on a six-day journey in Rakhine state, from Sittwe to Mrauk U, in support of national peace and reconciliation (Democratic Voice of Burma 2014). Monks have also been quite active in advocacy and mobilization to support environmental protection efforts and protest development infrastructure projects. The largest and most well-known example was against the expansion of a China-backed copper mine in Letpadaung, in the northwest of the country. The monks and farmers who encamped in the area for months sought to draw attention to illegal land seizures and social, environmental, and health consequences of the mine. The heavy-handed and clumsy response by riot police in November 2012, which resulted in serious injury to Buddhist monks, attracted domestic and international condemnation (Ei Ei Toe Lwin 2013a). The events also drew more attention to the negative consequences of foreign-backed investment projects and the need for greater legal oversight of these projects. Finally, as will be discussed in more depth below, some monks have been responding to recent incidents of violence against Muslim communities by providing humanitarian relief and by challenging Buddhist arguments justifying bias toward other religious groups. The Rise of the 969 Movement Since 2012, monks have played a visibly negative role, on the whole, in supporting and organizing anti-Muslim campaigns. The face of the Buddhist monastic mobilization against the Muslim community has