The Straits Times reported that Ashin Wirathu, the movement's leader, responded to recent anti-Muslim violence with pledges to work for peace, but critics remain sceptical.

[12] Alex Bookbinder, in The Atlantic, links the movement's origins in a book written in the late 1990s by Kyaw Lwin, a functionary in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and its precepts are rooted in a traditional belief in numerology.

Burmese President Thein Sein, however, has defended Wirathu, saying the monk's order was striving for peace and prosperity and that the report undermined efforts to rebuild trust between faiths.

"The government is currently striving with religious leaders, political parties, media and the people to rid Myanmar [Burma] of unwanted conflicts," he added.

[22] Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Yangon early in the afternoon on 30 June 2013 in a peaceful demonstration against Time magazine's article on Wirathu and the 969 movement.

[24] The movement is seeking to draft a law that would forbid Buddhist women from marrying non-Buddhist men without the permission of local officials.

[25] Dhammapiya, a senior monk who helped write the original proposal for the laws, said they were meant to encourage peace between different faiths and to "protect" Buddhist women from being forced to convert to Islam when they married Muslim men.

Government religious regulatory authorities, while supporting the protection of the Buddhist faith from perceived Islamic threats, reject the legal initiatives of the 969 movement and "prohibited the creation of formal organisations" based on 969 principles.