Bangladeshi Buddhists protest Rohingya persecution in Myanmar on Probarona Purnima

Buddhists in Bangladesh have protested against the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and offered special prayers for them on Probarona Purnima, the second largest Buddhist religious festival.

As part of the protest against persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar, the Buddhists in Bangladesh refrained from flying sky lanterns at pagodas, Viharas and temples during this year's Probarona Purnima, which is one of the main parts of the festival.

Outside Dhaka, there were no big festivities in celebrating the day on Thursday though some of them flew some sky lanterns at some places. 

In the wake of huge exodus following the latest wave of violence that started in Myanmar's Rakhine State on Aug 25, the Buddhists pledged to give the money collected for the lanterns and other parts of the festival to the relief fund for the Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh Buddhist Federation criticised persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar, which forced hundreds of thousands of the Muslim ethnic minority to flee to Bangladesh, mostly in recent weeks of violence.

The Federation's President Asim Ranjan Barua said at a discussion marking the festival in Dhaka on Thursday: "We condemn the torture of the Rohingyas in Myanmar, which has a Buddhist majority of 90 percent."

"Gautam Buddha's basic teaching is nonviolence. Myanmar has hit the very foundation of Buddhism. We strongly protest against this," he said.

The Probarona Purnima rituals started at the Buddhist Vihara in the capital's Merul Badda through worshipping Gautam Buddha's idol in the morning.

In the afternoon, the Vihara's Vice-Principal Buddhananda Mahather and Bhikkhu Sunandapriyo delivered sermons at an event.