The Time magazine cover that Myanmar hates
June 26, 2013 03:12
Myanmar has banned a controversial Time magazine cover story on Buddhist-Muslim religious violence "to prevent further conflict", according to a government spokesman, after days of angry reaction to the article.
The ban of the piece, which carried a front page photograph of a prominent radical Buddhist monk accused of fuelling anti-Muslim violence with the headline 'The Face of Buddhist Terror', comes despite the apparent easing of censorship rules in a reforming nation whose former military regime closely controlled the media.
Government spokesman Ye Htut posted news of the ban on his Facebook page, attributing the decision to a committee investigating deadly religious violence that has rocked the country as it undergoes democratic reforms.
"The article entitled 'The Face of Buddhist Terror' in TIME magazine July 1 issue is prohibited from being produced, sold or and distributed in original copy or photocopy in order to prevent further racial and religious conflicts," Ye Htut's post said, adding that further details will be in Wednesday's newspapers.
It was unclear how the front cover and accompanying article will be censored in print and online. Under the junta articles deemed inflammatory or dissenting were often torn from newspapers and magazines or inked out altogether.
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