The Robe and the Sword

Dear Reader,

Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest and largest religions, with a well-deserved reputation for being peaceful. But in some parts of Southeast Asia, a different kind of Buddhism has emerged: militant, political, and violent, even though it is in many cases led by monks.

Sonia Faleiro, an Indian writer living in London, reports on the rise of Buddhist extremism in three countries: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. The Robe and the Sword is her vivid, beautifully written, deeply learned, anguished account of her reporting. It overturns our standard typology of religion and politics.

Faleiro understands the phenomenon she is writing about as one of the legacies of colonialism. Faraway rulers governed in ways that created deep tensions between ethnic and religious groups; when rule from faraway ended, the tensions came to the surface. In the instances Faleiro covers, the prime target of Buddhist extremism is Muslims. Resentment, fear, and rage fuel regular sprees of violence and repression.

Great journalism is meant to bring what’s important and not well known to light, to enrich and complicate our picture of the world, and to call attention to wrongs so they can be righted. The Robe and the Sword does all that.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Lemann
Director, Columbia Global Reports