Malaysian Buddhist chief high priest K Sri Dhammaratana has condemned a group of monks who are reportedly goading violence against Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

He said only “bogus monks" would condone violence, The Star reported.

“Sometimes people use bogus monks for political reasons.

“They let them wear the (Buddhist monk’s saffron-coloured) robe, and do things that genuine monks would never do. Violence is never encouraged in Buddhism. We are not supposed to kill living things, including animals,” he said.

He was asked for comment on monks leading the Ma Ba Tha group to incite violence against the Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim.

Myanmar’s Sangha Maha Nayaka committee, which represents the country’s top monks, had in July distanced itself with the Ma Ba Tha group, which it said was not set up according to the committee's rules and procedures.

Dhammaratana said he visited the conflict area three year ago and believe it is not a religious matter.

“It is being wrongly presented to the world as a religious issue.

“It has nothing to do with religion. It is caused by human weakness,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to find a peaceful solution so the Buddhist image will not be tarnished.

This comes after Malay NGOs urged Buddhist monks in Malaysia to state their stand on the monks’ protest against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Yangon.

The monks were protesting against Najib’s stand against anti-Rohingya violence.

Myanmar has summoned Malaysia’s envoy to the country over Najib’s attendance at a pro-Rohingya rally in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

The country has also halted sending labour to Malaysia, but did not elaborate why in its announcement on Tuesday.