Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa, 78, was a distinguished teacher and creator of books on Buddhism and the top of a monastery who publicly opposed the 2021 military coup that plunged Myanmar into chaos.
He was shot dead on June 19 while traveling in a automobile through the central Mandalay region.
Junta-controlled media initially blamed opponents of the coup for the killing, but the following day a senior monk on the scene said security forces were responsible.
His accusation received wide coverage on social media, and the junta said it could investigate the incident.
“We are deeply heartbroken by the loss of Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a letter read out on the abbot’s monastery on Monday.
“We would like to sincerely apologize for this matter,” the letter read.
The letter revealed that the automobile wherein the abbot was traveling didn’t have any religious markings and didn’t decelerate on the checkpoint, prompting junta soldiers to open fire.
An investigation shall be conducted and the junta will take “actions based on facts”. The abbot’s funeral was to happen on Thursday
The military has long sought to portray itself as a defender of Buddhist identity, the bulk religion in Myanmar.
Since taking power in 2021, locals and foreigners have been arrested and jailed on charges of “harming” Buddhism as a part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent that has left 1000’s jailed or killed, in keeping with an area monitoring group.
But clergy have also been on the front lines of political protests.
The huge demonstrations that broke out in 2007 over rising fuel prices were led by monks. The clergy also organized relief campaigns after the devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and the inaction of the previous junta.
