Terrorism

   

Terrorism plagued pagodas throughout the city. On September 5, 1992, the security police broke into Hue Nghiem Pagoda in Thu Duc District, Saigon, and arrested Monk Thich Thien An Vo Van Man. The monk  was reportedly tortured to death at the police headquarters at 3:00 p.m. on the same day. His dead body was later transported to and kept at the morgue in Cho Ray Hospital, Saigon. Only his mother and a relative were given permission to attend the funeral. About 50 policemen in uniform and plain clothes were present. The Buddhist monk was buried in the backyard of Hue Nghiem Pagoda. Witnesses said that his grave was filled with concrete and was guarded by the security police until the concrete solidified. Buddhist followers in the area said that the city police killed Buddhist monk Thich Thien An. They maliciously destroyed the evidence for a post-mortem examination by glazing his grave with concrete. The city security police said that the monk killed himself by jumping off the third floor of the police headquarters. Such an explanation could not convince public opinion with credibility. The floors of the headquarters, which were formerly Chi Hoa Prison, were sealed with barbed wires which left no opening for any man to jump off. 

The laity in the city resisted in silent protest and opposition. On April 30, 1993, a male Buddhist immolated himself by fire in the open street in Saigon. The man soaked himself with gasoline and made himself a torch in front of the City Theater. The police on guard nearby rushed to the place, extinguished the fire, and hastily shoved the body into a pickup truck. The incident took place several days after the first commemorative ceremony in Hue honoring the late Most Venerable Thich Don Hau. News from the AFP reported that the male Vietnamese showered himself with gasoline and set fire to himself. The incident took place in front of Rex Hotel in the center of Saigon. His death  was an act of protest against the Hanoi regime. He died on the way to the hospital. The incident reminds the people of Saigon of the scenes of chaos during the Buddhist struggle for faith reached climax in 1963: The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc immolated himself by fire on Le Van Duyet Street, Saigon, in opposition to the Ngo Dinh Diem government's repression against Buddhism. His death eventually led to the overthrow the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem on November 11, 1963.

     Protests and Arrests 

Protests took place, but the administration gave no sign of concession. On August 15, 1994, a hundred Buddhists joined in a three-day sit-in demonstration in front of the  People's Council City Hall. The demonstrators chanted slogans of protest and demanded the Communist rule to return to the people the rights to religious education, religious practices activities, and grant the Buddhist Churches the permission to reconstruct ruined pagodas and the pagodas and monasteries it had destroyed.  Nine Buddhist monks and 15 followers led by Monk Thich Giac Nguyen traveled from Tra Vinh Province to Saigon. The demonstration started on April 1, 1994 and attracted a large group of fellow Buddhists in the old Capital of the South to join them in the protest. The security police had to forestall the participation of other Buddhists with threats; otherwise, the more participants would come. On the fourth day, August 4, 1994, the security police, with arms, crammed the protesters into military trucks that brought them to unknown whereabouts.

   

Harsher restrictions  were imposed on the religious services and activities .  The authorities even forbade the Church’s clergy and laity to organize charitable services and activities were. On October 29, 1994, the Venerable Thich Long Tri was arrested when he arrived in Saigon to lead a group of volunteers to rescue the flood victims in the Mekong Delta. On November 3, 1994, members of the flood-relief team including Monks Thich Lang Quynh, Thich Nguyen Nhu, Thich Nguyen Ly, Thich Tam Van, Thich Quang Ton, and Thich Nguyen Thinh were summoned to the police headquarters for interrogation. They were warned with threats and forbidden to participate in the mission. On November 5, 1994, the police arrested the lay Buddhist Nhat Thuong Pham Van Xua and female Buddhist Dong Ngoc Nguyen Thi Em. On the evening of November 6, 1994, they blocked the streets and searched for the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh and the Venerable Thich Nhat Ban. On November 5, 1994, approximately 60 Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers, who drove in a convoy of 10 trucks carrying medicine and supplies of food, clothing, and aid materials, were stopped and beset on the streets in Tenth Precinct, Saigon, while they were preparing for their journey. The security police tore off all  banners of Buddhism and placards with slogans of protest, and disbanded the group. A number of monks, nuns, and followers were arrested. The security police also took advantage of the situation to arrest a group of influential members of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church.

      Long An

The movement of opposition quickly spread southwards. Monk Thich Giac Nguyen,  a son of a high-ranking Communist war martyr, openly protested against the local authorities’ ruthless religious repression. He was a  monk in residence at Long An Pagoda, Can Long District, Tra Vinh Province, South Vietnam. Indignant at the authorities' rudeness,  reflected the situation to the higher local administration and the Fatherland Front. Nevertheless, his petition was ignored. 

    Dong Nai

   

Harassment against the clergy of the Church in other provinces of the South were noticeable. The Venerable Thich Nhat Lien, the monk in residence at Long Tho Pagoda, Dong Nai Province was among the victims  of violence. The AFP, on December 24, 1992, reported that the Venerable Thich Nhat Lien, a Buddhist high dignitary, was ready to sacrifice himself to protest against the authorities’ harsh police measures.  Since the funeral of the Most Venerable Thich Don Hau, the local Communist rule had harassed members of the Church in the province to the point that they could only practiced their faith in silence.  It allowed its security police contingents at all levels to hold arrests or grant releases of Buddhists monks as they pleased. In a letter to his disciples and relatives, the Venerable Thich Nhat Lien disclosed that if such an atrocious “Stalinist policy” against Buddhism and the dignitaries persisted, he would be ready to sacrifice himself for national cause and the Buddhist Faith.

   

The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Lien was summoned to the police headquarters for interrogation for ungrounded reasons for nine consecutive days, and was detained for three days, from December 9 to 12, 1992.  In his letter to the Sangha and his followers on December 15, 1992, he claimed that he was terrorized and suffered such a nervous strain that he almost became a man without a soul.  He further disclosed that what he reported to the police while he was “working with” them was only a fabrication. He did that at the police's request and under pressure. He vowed to immolate himself by fire for his faith and the Vietnamese people’ national cause. Subsequent to the interrogation, the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Lien was placed under house arrest at Long Tho Pagoda, Xuan Loc District, Dong Nai Province.

       Ba Ria

The opposition of the Buddhist clergy and laity to the Communist authorities expanded as far as the eastern seacoast province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.  On July 9, 1993, the People’s  troops and the police attacked  the Buddhist monks and believers who were saying prayers at Linh Son Pagoda. The authorities in Ba Ria Province even mobilized the local troops flanked by tanks and police force to attack Linh Son Pagoda. About 2,000 Buddhist  formed a line to defend their religious leaders and protect the worship place. The troopers and security forces stormed the pagoda and stifled the resistance. Twenty-five monks and about 100 believers were arrested. The 25 monks arrested were Nguyen Van Cu, Nguyen Viet Ngoc, Nguyen  Tuan, Do Ngay, Pham van Du, Tran Thanh Son, Nguyen Van Hoa, Phan Van Thanh, Nguyen Phi Hung, Vo Van Chinh, Phan Van Lai, Nguyen Huu Phuoc, Ngo Van Hua, Tran Dai Minh, Tran Quang Dinh, Nguyen Minh Cuong, Do Huy Cuong, Nguyen Van Thien, Nguyen Ngoc Tan, Nguyen Viet Ai, Phan Van Vinh, Nguyen Quoc, Pham Van Due, Hoang Son, and Nguyen Van Loc.

    The Venerable Thich Hanh Duc

   

The conflict between the Communist authorities of Ba Ria and the monks at Linh Son Pagoda became increasingly edgy after Venerable Thich Hanh Duc, the superior monk at Linh Son Pagoda, came back from the funeral ceremony for the Most Venerable Thich Don Hau in Hue in April 1992. The indignation of the Sangha and believers in Xuan Son Commune over the administration originated from the Fatherland Front and the Ba Ria People Council's decision to expel the Venerable Hanh Duc and 33 other monks, and novices from Linh Son Pagoda on ungrounded charge that they were illegal residents. The expulsion of the priests and novices aroused anger among the Buddhist congregations in the province. The Venerable Thich Hanh Duc had been in residence at Linh Son Pagoda for ten years. Moreover, he and the other monks in residence belonged to the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. They were practically legal residents at the pagoda. The use of violence against them was thust inessential. The Communist rule apparently intended to show power to whoever dared to oppose to it.

    

On January 5, 1994, the Venerable Thich Hanh Duc was brought to stand trial before the People's Court of Ba Ria Province. He was accused of "intending to cause public disturbance" and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Two other monks, the Venerable Thich Dong Hy and the Venerable Thich Dong Hai, were placed under administrative detention at Linh Son Pagoda. The trial proceeded in a military barrack near Ba Ria Township. The relatives of the defendants were not informed about it. On July 7, 1994, the Venerable Thich Hanh Duc began a hunger strike at Phuoc Co prison in the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. He only demonstrated an act of  protest against the Court's unjust indictment.

In his letter sent outside, the monk declared that if the authorities did not set him free, he would continue his hunger strike until death. On August 1, 1994, the People's Court of Vung Tau confirmed in a retrial that the conviction of Monk Thich Hanh Duc to a three-year imprisonment sentence. The local government maintained that the State-affiliated Vietnam Buddhist Church, founded in 1981, is the only legal authority. Monk Thich Hanh Duc and other Buddhist dissidents supported the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, which had been the main Buddhist organization under the former Republic of Vietnam in the South, was outlawed.  He and other monks at Linh Son Pagoda had thus practiced illegal religious services and activities. The Venerable Thich Hanh Dao was not allowed to return to Son Long in after his release from the Gia Trung “reeducation” camp in the middle of 1996. The authorities executed the same measure against a number of Buddhist monks who were released from the prison or camp (1997). They were forbidden to rejoin their pagodas of origin.

    Vinh Long

     

The movement of opposition moved further south and flamed up in the populous province of Vinh Long following the self-sacrifice for faith of the Venerable Thich Hue Thau. The monk, whose secular name is Le Van Hoan, immolated himself by fire on May 25, 1994. He soaked himself with gasoline then made himself a torch. The incident was covered up, but the news reached the Paris-based International Center of Information, Vietnam when a monk of the Sangha for the Protection of the Buddhist Faith in Vinh Long escaped from prison and wired the news to the agency. According to the monk, after the celebration of Buddha's Birthday on May 25, 1994, the Venerable Thich Hue Thau, with a banner of Buddhism, led a group of 47 Buddhist monks and believers to gather in a demonstration to protest against the Communist rule at the headquarters of Vinh Long People's Council. The demonstrators demanded the rights to religious freedom- to repair pagodas and abbeys, to allow the followers to visit pagodas to pay services to Buddha, to study Buddha's teachings without State interference, and to become a Buddhist monk. They also demanded the State to restore the legal status for the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Their demands nevertheless came to no result.

   

The Venerable Thich Hue Thau, 43, was in residence at Ngoc Pha Commune, Tan Binh District, Vinh Long Province. The self-sacrifice for religious faith of the monk aroused discontent amonf Buddhist congregations. The  local Communist administration nevertheless denied the report on the self-immolation of a monk by the name Thich Hue Thau. They said there was only a monk by the name Thich Thien Tam who voluntarily killed himself because of "personal reasons" at a pagoda in Vinh Long Province.