The religious affairs department in Ma U Bin issued a new guideline, which required one-month ahead notice on organising Prophet Day ceremony. The new guideline was explained to the trustees of the mosques in the township on 5 February. Trustees were invited to immigration office on 9 a.m. on that day to hear the new guideline. “Permission for major religious ceremony like Prophet Day could only granted by the Region Religious Affairs department so they need more time to process, from township to district and to the regional level,” said an Islamic leader who attended the meeting. There are four mosques in Ma U Bi Town, they are the Jumah mosque in Tay Za road in no 3 ward, Kusani mosque on 3rd street near post office, Bengali mosque at the corner of Min and Ye Lay road and Su Taung Pye mosque in No 9 ward (behind bus depo). Two trustees from each mosque have attended the meeting, but no one from mosque in Ye Lay village attended. At the meeting, the head of the Religious Affairs Department said request should be submitted one month ahead for Prophet Day ceremony. He also said at the meeting to apply permission if mosque needed to do refurbishment, not to do repair without permission. On application for citizenship card, he said the names of the parents and grandparents need to be provided. And the citizenship identification card would be issued by the district immigration office. If applicant failed to provide full names of parents and grandparents, the application would be forwarded to the region office. He also told Muslims to report when pilgrims stay overnight in the mosque, to apply for the permission together with the group photo of the group, the copies of their citizenship IDs and the number plate of the car they used for travel. “No matter how many times we apply, they never allow us to do even minor refurbishment of mosque. Now they are asking to report three days ahead on visit of pilgrims, together with the group photo and copies of citizenship card, this rule is new and not practiced anywhere in Ayeyarwady region, I see they are tightening of rules,” said a trustee U Maw (not real name). Muslims are not allow to gather for mass prayers in Islamic schools, the authorities formed groups to monitor on the activities of Muslims. In reaction to these developments, the chair of a mosque U Nyo Mhine (not his real name) said, “I have heard about formation of such groups, officials in Ma U Bin already told Muslims. Such groups are also formed in other township in the region”. In reaction to the incidents involving the Prophet Day ceremonies in Yangon and Pyay in early January, the religious affairs department in Ma U Bin called for the meeting. But according to a member of Islamic Affairs Council in Pathein, no such meting were called in other parts of Ayeyarwady Region. Reference: BHRN