When Than Kin reached Win Thura’s monastery situated on the banks of the river Irrawaddy, a meeting of the Buddhist monks had been going on at that time. Win Thura was presiding over the meeting. On a two feet high stage, at one end of the hall room, Win Thura sat behind a wooden table. His followers sat on the floor in front of the stage facing Win Thura. After dinner, the meeting continued for two hours. Around a hundred followers of this extremist priest were present at the meeting. Win Thura had a dark chocolate colored robe on him while his disciples wore orange robes. One by one, the disciples expressed their views. In the statements, all of them supported the Buddhist movement initiated by their mentor. Every now and then, while his disciples spoke, Win Thura inserted his comments. Of course, the main theme of their speeches was terrorism emanating from the Rohingya population. Seeing Than Kin arrive from Aung Syke, Win Thura beckoned to him, telling him to sit next to him before introducing him to his disciples. Than Kin arrived late because of the inclement weather. After the introduction, he held Than Kin’s hand and left the hall room with him. Before leaving the hall room, he told his disciples to continue the meeting. Whatever he was going to discuss with Than Kin, had to be held privately in his chamber. They sat face to face, having a table in between them. Than Kin smiled, and said, “I’ve come here with a lot of hope. Life means love and hope.”

“Of course, but we have to remember it doesn’t matter how peaceful we are, how much love we have in our hearts, if our neighbors are mad dogs, we cannot live next to them. Yes, Rohingyas are nothing but mad dogs.”

“They’re worse than mad dogs. Mad dogs don’t kidnap our women and children.”

“We have to make a list of all such incidents and then upload them to the mass media. We should let the world see how extensively we are being affected by the Rohingya terror.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“Their mosques are the safe havens of terrorism. We must shut them down.”

“Those who are terrorists, they’re terrorists not only in their mosque, but also at homes, markets, everywhere. So, we have to pay attention to all these places at the same time or else, one day this country will turn into another Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Paying attention to all these places at the same time is a bit complicated.”

Than Kin could not finish his statement, Win Thura interrupted by saying, “Yes, it’s complicated. But still we have to do it because our objective is to save our religion, our state.”

“If I go by our principles, I cannot but support your views. But still…”

“But still what?”

“But still, I think we should be a bit careful about this.”

“Of course, we have to be prudent about it, or else all our plans will go down the drain. Now tell me, how’s the situation over there in Aung Syke?”

“Everywhere in Rakhain, the situation is in our favor. Most people are fuming at the Rohingya population. But it has not reached the point where we can have a solution to this problem.”

“Yes, this is the problem. People are not yet that angry. For a positive change, people must be furious. This is where we have to work together. I think regarding this, you can do a lot in Aung Syke.”

After this statement from Win Thura, silence prevailed between the two priests. They stared at each other with unblinking eyes. Only then, the question Win Thura had been eagerly waiting for, came out of Than Kin. After the question, Win Thura cleared his throat and said, “It’s no use screaming about terrorism, we have to prove it to the world.”

Win Thura stopped after saying this. Both of them smiled at each other. Earlier, arrangements were made in another monastery for Than Kin’s lodging. So, even though Win Thura requested him to stay the night over there, Than Kin politely refused. Win Thura expressed his doubts whether Than Kin could safely reach that monastery in this kind of rough weather. However, Than Kin was determined. The noise of heavy rainfall outside reached their ears. Along with rainfall, there was strong gust of wind splashing over the window panes every now and then. It was time to go. Win Thura came down to the ground floor with Than Kin to bid farewell to his disciple. When they reached the ground floor, they were amazed to see the entire yard inundated with rain water. The disciple from Rakhain asked his mentor, “Rainfall at this time of the year, is it a good sign?”

Win Thura smiled back and said, “Flood enriches the soil. Though it creates traffic problem, actually it’s a blessing in disguise.”