Myanmar's military government on Thursday rejected a U.S. State Department report that accuses it of religious intolerance, saying the United States should first set its own house in order.
"Ironically, the countries accusing Myanmar of religious intolerance are themselves experiencing religious conflicts, reminding us of a popular Western expression, 'People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones,'" a government statement said.
It cited the 1994 incident in Waco, Texas when some 70 followers of a religious cult leader were killed during a siege of their house by the FBI.
The junta statement was released in response to International Freedom Report 2004 that the U.S. State Department released Wednesday. The report lists nine countries including Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and China as being of particular concern in denying their citizens freedom of religion.
The report adds to a string of criticism that the junta has faced internationally for suppressing democracy and jailing political dissidents, including keeping Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. The government also has been accused of using forced labor and rape as a weapon of war.
"Myanmar is a country which prides herself on the fact that all the major religions of the world flourish side by side in complete harmony and understanding," the junta statement said.
According to official statistics, almost 90 percent of the country's 50 million people are Buddhists, 4 percent Christians and 4 percent Muslims. There is also a small Hindu minority.
However, religious freedom is seen by the junta through the prism of political dissent, and even the Buddhist monks are known to have been jailed for speaking up about democracy, the U.S. report said.
It says that since late 1990, the government has banned any organization of Buddhist monks other than the nine state-recognized monastic orders.
The junta also authorized military commanders to try Buddhist monks before military tribunals, the report said, adding that the government continued to discriminate against members of minority religions and restricting their educational, proselytizing, and church-building activities.
During the last two years, local authorities in Arakan State scheduled approximately 40 mosques for destruction because they were reportedly built without permission. Thirteen mosques were destroyed before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervened.
The government statement did not directly respond to the accusations but said "it is absolutely improper and insensitive to accuse other nations or governments on the basis of hearsay evidence."