In the Heat of Suppression

     

On the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Church, May 18 of the Lunar Year Giap Than (2004), the Hoa Hao Council of Elders restated in its letter of confidence specifying that the nation was in danger and the religion, in peril. The signatories declared that “in the past years, our fellow countrymen have lived in despair and suffered patiently misery due to malevolence as the consequence of the corrupt factions of the holders of power at all levels who always lie in wait to  sweat the labor and steal the properties of the people. Although in the heart of  utmost suppression, the congregations of Hoa Hao Buddhism all in one with strong public support from all social classes inside the country and internationally determinedly stand up in a long war to face the peril and wait for the right time to restore national prestige and enlighten the Hoa Hao Buddhist Faith.”

A prestigious adept, Tran Huu Duyen, aged 83, who had spent 25 years in prison for religious cause, pledged to continue to serve his religious cause  He was nevertheless placed under residence surveillance following his visit to U.S. Consulate in Saigon  on February 13, 2004 and handed to the Vice-consul a letter, asking for the United States intervention so that the Hoa Hao faithful could have the rights to religious freedom and free  elections. The letter also specified that a Committee for Cult should be reestablished as instituted by the traditional worship of Hoa Hao Buddhism.  In the name of the Hoa Hao Buddhists, the religious wished that the Church be authorized to  fly Hoa Hao Buddhist banner, to organize Saint Days, and to reinstate the properties confiscated by the Stare. The venerable Tran Huu Duyen insisted, in particular, on the release of Hoa  Hao Buddhists currently imprisoned, among them was Nguyen Van Lia, a religious of prestige,  who had been incarcerated three years for having organized in his residence the commemoration of death of the founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism. This prestigious of prestige was condemned with false charge as he had also made a case with regard to the calumnies spread by the actual political regime towards the founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism, and  citing true historical incidents in the book entitled “Thirty Years of Resistance in Cochinchina, 1945-1975.”

     Arrests and Imprisonment

On February 25, 2005, the religious Tran Van Hoang, 47 years old, and his brother Tran Van Thang, 35, an inhabitant of  Hoa Thoi Hamlet, Thoai Son District, An Giang Province, were arrested on charges of conducting illegal propagation of religion at a private residence. Tran Van Thang’s wife was also arrested but was released two days after that. The Office of Hoa Hao Buddhism Overseas in South California, in its letter to urge on the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and various international rights organizations, earnestly asked for help. The Chairman of the organization confirmed that the Communist administration intentionally suppressed the legitimate Hoa Hao Buddhist Church.

Incidents of arrest continued to take place in An Giang Province. On August 5, 2005, the security police arrested 9 Hoa Hao Buddhists. The unjust arrest led to unbent resistance of local Hoa Hao followers. Two among them decided to immolate themselves by fire. They were Vo Van Buu, a native of My An Commune, An Giang Province and Tran Van Ut known as Ut Hoa Lac, a resident in the northern quarters of An Giang Township. It was not known whether Vo Van Buu was alive or dead, but Tran Van Ut died instantly after the arrest.

The self-immolation by fire of two Hoa Hao adepts aroused deep anguish among the Hoa Hao Buddhist congregations in An Giang and elsewhere. The authorities nevertheless turned a blind eye to the aspirations of the Hoa Hao Buddhists. They even prepared to bring before the Court a number of Hoa Hao adepts on charges of causing social disorder. The venerable Le Quang Liem declared the that the authorities had increased suppression against the legitimate aspirants for religious freedom of the Church. He appealed to the Vietnamese communities in the country and overseas to support the Church's movement for religious cause. He urged on international personalities and rights organizations to support the Vietnamese people in their struggle for religious freedom. He would,, in the name of Hoax Halo Buddhists, bring Hanoi to stand trial before the international Court if it continued to commit crimes against Hoax Halo Buddhism.  

   

     Repression

Adepts of Hoa Hao Buddhism elsewhere in the country resisted with firm determination the suppression and resiliently served their faith.  On August 19, 2005, in a silent protest, Le Van Duong, a Hoa Hao Buddhist of renown in My Tho township, immolated himself by fire at the front gate of the U. S. Consulate in Saigon.  Before that, e had attempted to immolate himself by fire at the same place but saved in time. The self-immolation by fire was attributed to by the civil authority as an act of a lunatic. The Nguyen Van Coi, a Hoa Hao dignitary, on the contrary, contended that Le Van Duong’s self-sacrifice originated from desperate grievance. He resisted in vain against brazen abuse of power of a high-ranking Communist cadre who had unlawfully seized his property.  His death coincided with instances of self-immolation by fire in various Hoa Hao Buddhist communities and were thus  conducive to intensifying the resistance of Hoa Hao Buddhist laity against the authorities' increasing suppression.

    

When asked about the incident,  the venerable Le Quang Liem replied that “Human life is most precious to human being, why on earth does he (Le Van Duong) have to destroy it?  It results from the desperate situation  he  could  not endure. Wrath and humiliation are so acute that he was unable to resist and find no way to get out. Being cornered to the dead end, the ultimate solution to many fervent Hoa Hao Buddhists is self-immolation by fire: Rather die in glory than live in shame!”

On June 3, 30 Hoa Hao Buddhists were obstructed from attending the commemoration ceremony for Ha Hai,  who passed away after release from prison. Being pushed back by the police, the adepts started on a hunger strike and engaged in a collective self-immolation by fire. To calm down the protesters, the  authorities managed to settle the matter. They nevertheless proceeded the arrest of 10 adepts. which act provoked the self-immolation by fire of two adepts of prestige, Tran Van Ut and Vo Van Buu. The former died in flame, and the latter died on August 3.  The police succeeded to disband the protest. Hoa Hao Buddhists sent petitions to the local and central authorities, expressing determination of the Church. They pledged to continue to fight for religious cause, if the authorities continued to repress their religion and obstruct them from visiting friends and relatives. As always, their protest came to no answer.  

On June 3, 2006, the local security police launched an operation in Dong Thuy Commune, Lap Vo District, Dong Thap Province and stormed the residence of Nguyen Van Tho, the chairman of the local executive board of Hoa Hao  Buddhism. The religious was then placed under detention  and isolated in the location. Hoa Hao adepts came to rescue. A hunger strike took place. The protesters denounced the authorities’ measure  as a means of repressive control over religious activities. The security police subdued the protesters with violence and disbanded the group instantly.

While repression was taking place in most communities of legitimate  Hoa Hao. the representative of the official Council of Administration of Hoa Hao Buddhism in An Giang Provinc34 pronounced that the religion developed significantly. More than two million adepts practiced religious services peacefully, and the celebration of the Holy Day would be a big event. The President of the Fatherland Front, Pham The Duyet, sent compliments to the Council. The representative of the Bureau of Religious Affairs also sent to the council best wishes. In reality, the conflict between the Council and the legitimate Church over legitimacy grew tense. The State sided with the former and  slashed pure Hoa Hao Buddhism.  On  June 13,  when the adepts of Hoa Hao in the province of An Giang prepared to celebrate the Holy Day to commemorate the foundation of Hoa Hao Buddhism, the local authorities multiplied measures of control to avert all religious activities and dissolve gatherings for fear of open opposition from the faithful when more than a million of Hoa Hao pilgrims from al over the South came to attend the ceremony. In Dong Thap Province, open protest broke out, leveling the opposition of the Hoa Hao community as regards the State’s rude treatment against pure Hoa Hao Buddhism. From May 30, the local authorities had arrested 16 Hoa Hao adepts  for having actuated a perpetual hunger strike to protest against the the repression by violence  of the local police forces.

Adepts of pure Hoa Hao Buddhism in distant communes were also the victims of police raids.  In most cases, they were finally brought to stand trial before the Court. In an interview with the press  on February 7, 2006, Nguyen Van Coi, the spokesman of Hoa Hao Buddhism Overseas in Washington D.C., U.S.A., reported that in September 2005, the local Communist administration  convicted in secret 7 Hoa Hao Buddhists from 5-7 years in prison. They were then imprisoned in Bang Lang, An Giang Province. On the eve of the Lunar Year (2007), the security police brought 5 of them in a covered truck to Xuan Loc prison in Dong Nai Province, 300 kilometres from An Giang. The move to a distant prison causes serious problems to family members every time they want to visit the prisoners. Among the prisoners  were Nguyen Van Dien, Vo Van Thanh Liem, Vo Van Buu, Nguyen Thanh Phong and To Van Mamh. All of  them are Hoa Hao Buddhist of prestige.

On the morning of November 11, 2007, on the order of the authorities of An Giang,  the police destroyed a library of pure Hoa Hao  Buddhists in Phu My District. They stormed and ransacked the facility. Hoa Hao adepts in the area came to the office of the State affiliated Hoa Hao Buddhism Council of Administration and asked for rescue. They were nevertheless told that the incident came out of the initiative of the State and that the State-run directory of Hoa Hao Buddhism held no responsibility whatsoever for it.         

The following day, many adepts were convoked to a “session of work” at the office of the district security service. They then learned that the destruction of the library had been officially managed on the direction of the superior authorities, and this action came out of necessary imposition. Concerned Hoa Hao Buddhists in the  local community maintained that the nature of problem lies in the documents displayed at the library. They are, in the view of the authorities, reactionary, anti-revolutionary, and anti-national. Anything that is related to non-sanctioned religious activities and Hoa Hao Buddhism under the direction of Le Quang Liem is banned. The representative of the directory had advised the interlocutors to turn away from Le Quang Liem, the leader of pure Hoa Hao Buddhism, a reactionary who opposes the State and who is wrong.

    

The malevolence of the authorities, sources said, was the cause that led to the destruction to the archives, ruining completely all documents, writings, and, especially, the files and records on the incidents of conflict during 1945-1947 between the Viet Minh and Hoa Hao Buddhism. In effect, in 1945, the leaders of Hoa Hao Buddhism embraced national independence and solidarity and allied with the Communist-led Viett Minh Front in the resistance against the French. Two years later, the prophet Huynh Phu So, the founder of the religion and Supreme Advisor to the Alliance, was trapped in an ambush and was killed by the Ally Viet Minh. This act of malice threw the leaders of Hoa Hao and adepts back to the French with whom they allied in their fight against the Viet Minh guerrillas. The officials intentionally erased all historical evidences of these tragic incidents. 

The Struggle for Survival of Hoa Hao Buddhism

 

 

    The Protest in Saigon

 

Hoa Hao Buddhists made a move towards actuating a struggle for religious freedom. Many members of pure Hoa Hao Buddhism, in March 2001, came to Saigon and tried to get contact with  President Bill Clinton, who was on his visit to Vietnam, and alert him on the situation of this Church.  To cope with this political malaise, the municipal authorities sought to abort the contact between the President and the believers of the Church. Hoa Hao demonstrators were immediately repressed. Gatherings of protesters were disbanded at Hoa Hao religious milieus Many adepts of the Church were the target of oppression. The venerable Le Quang Liem, aged 81,  Secretary of Hoa Hoa Buddhist Church, was summoned to the security police headquarters. He was instantly placed under house surveillance for “having provoked social troubles” with an attempt to organize a collective self-immolation by fire of his Church’ s adepts in Saigon. The State ‘s repression pushed the Hoa Hao Buddhists to such an extent that they could no longer hold frustration and anger and pledged to struggle for their religious faith, regardless of a brutal repression they might face in the days to come.

 

     Resistance to Repression

 

The year 2001 saw  the  resilient resistance of the Hoa Hao faithful against State control.  The Overseas Association of Hoa Hao faithful, which has its siege in the United States, on March 17, 2001, informed the public worldwide of a scourge of religious persecution in which Hoa Hao Buddhists suffered.  In Saigon, a great number of Hoa Hao adepts held rally in the city-park Le Van Tam to profess their wail and wrath. Armed with placards and signboards with slogans demanding for religious freedom and cans with gasoline and cotton, they prepared for a collective self-immolation by fire in protest against the political regime’s religious persecution, They protesters ran into collision with the police that instantly executed arrests of prominent leaders of the group, among whom was the venerable Le Quang Liem, the supreme leader and soul of the resistance. The Hoa Hao leader was then held in custody for 30 hours in the premises of the police where he reportedly suffered ill-treatment. He was then escorted back to his residence. He was later subject  to residence surveillance for two years. The spiritual leader of Hoa Hao Buddhism nevertheless refused to sign the police minutes in which he was held responsible for the incident.

 

     Suppression of Prestigious Leaders

 

      Le Quang Lem   

 

The resistance to State repression of Hoa Hao Buddhism  ever persisted, straining the friction between the State and the Church  The official journal Quan Doi Nhan Dan (The People’s Army) attributed to the Hoa Hao’ s activities as crimes of sabotage. The venerable Le Quang Liem was labeled an “evil doer.” He was accused of having abused the religion for propaganda purpose, fomenting  opposition to the State. The venerable Le Quang Liem,  in practice, not only gained confidence from his fellow Hoa Hao Buddhists inside the country and overseas but also received support from friendly religious circles. Regardless of warnings and threats from the authorities, Fr. Chan Tin,  the Redempttorist priest who had signed with the Hoa Hao leader and leaders of other faiths a number of statements on the State’ s breach of religious freedoms, diffused a letter of protest against the unjust  arrest of Le Quang Liem.  He demanded an immediate release of Le Quang Liem  and two other Hoa Hao adepts, the  dissolution of the State-instituted Administrative Committee  led by Muoi Ton,  the cessation of  State control over Hoa Hao Buddhism, and the restitution of the legal status of Hoa Hao Buddhism with Le Quang Liem as the spiritual leader of the legitimate Church.

 

      Nguyen Thi Thu

 

Indignant of the unjust arrest of Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Thi Thu, who was the responsible for the League for Women of Hoa Hao Buddhism, decided to immolate herself by fire as an act of protest against the Communist State. Sources reported that three days after the protest of Hoa Hao Buddhists in Saigon, a self-immolation by fire took place in the village of Tan Hoi, in the province of Dong Thap. The incident coincided with a demonstration organized by Hoa Hao Buddhism to protest against the arrest of their spiritual leaders.  Reports on  the self-immolation by fire of the Church's  female leader Nguyen Thi Thu  created an atmosphere mourning in the Hoa Hao circles in the province of An Giang and elsewhere in the southern provinces. The death of an official of the League of Women was not only an act of protest injustice but also of will and sacrifice for religious cause.

 

 

Reasons for Repression

 

 

The Communist administration ever targeted pure Hoa Hao Buddhism with repression.   Immediately after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, showed anti-Hoa Hao stance, notably in the months of February and March, the period of the year during which the faithful of Hoa Hao Buddhism prepared for the celebration of  the anniversary of death of the founder of the religion, the Prophet Huynh Phu So, who was assassinated by the Communist Viet Minh in 1947. The great event is marked by effervescence due to religious fervor and reverence towards the Master of the faithful. The civil authorities, on the other side, fearful of popular opposition, usually obstruct the Church’s activities or even interdict all forms of celebration on this occasion.    

 

The announcement of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Association Overseas specified that the official of the League of Women of Hoa Hao Buddhism, Nguyen Thi Thu who sacrificed herself after having showered herself with gasoline. The witnesses to the immolation heard her proclaim her faith according to which she willingly sacrificed herself for religious freedom. The police of the Vinh Long Province, which is adjacent to Dong Thap, affirmed the sacrifice of Nguyen Thi Thu by revealing that the woman was dead from  the fact taking plac ein the village of Tan Hoi. They said, however, that they did not know the reason for her death. Sources from Hoa Hao Buddhism reported that approximately one hundred policemen came to the place, dispersed the gathering with cudgels and brought away the body of the victim, regardless of the protest of Hoa Hao Buddhists who wished to bring it to her family.

 

Sources  stated that incidents of protest developed at the Hoa Hao founder's birth-place in March 2001. the Venerable Le Quang Liem, aged 81, secretary of the Buddhist Church of Hoa Hao had been in various instances summoned for interrogation by public security and placed under residence surveillance for two years on charges of provoking "social troubles" and fomenting an attempt at inciting a collective immolation by fire of Hoa Hao adepts of Saigon. was convoked for “a session of work” at a Saigon police headquarters when Nguyen Thi Thu, aged 75, a dignitary of the League of Women of Hoa Hao Buddhism immolated herself by fire to protest against his detention .

 

    The Trial of Truong Van Duc

 

On May 11, 2001, many adepts of Hoa Hao Buddhism were condemned on crimes of causing public disorder and inciting opposition to the police. The People’s Court of the province of An Giang sentenced 30 Hoa Hao Buddhists to various prison terms. Two Hoa Hao dignitaries were among the convicts  One of them, Truong Van Duc, aged 58, was sentenced to 12 years  in prison, and the other, Ho van Trong, aged 76, faced four years. Both belong to the branch of Hoa Hao sect that refuses to submit themselves to the State-instituted Hoa Hao Buddhist Committee of Administration operating under the patronage of the official Fatherland Front of Vietnam.

    

According to the authorities, the accused might have participated in a demonstration organized by members of  a Hoa Hao group antagonistic to the State-instituted Council of Administration. This group was the organizer  of the  protest  led by Le Quang Liem in the district of Tan Phu on February 20, 2001 . The demonstrators “beat and wound many policemen that come to disperse them.” The accuser specified that while the police was enforcing the law, Truong Van Duc might have incited the troublemakers  to resist and encouraged Ho Van Trong to immolate himself by fire. The latter might have been saved by the public. The authorities did not mention the reason  for the demonstration, however. 

 

    Tran Ngoc Dinh

 

On  May 5, 2002, Tran Ngoc Dinh, a Hoa Hao Buddhist in An Giang, circulated a letter of protest in which he expressed indignation against the Communist authorities’ nomination of candidacy to the National Assembly of Nguyen Tan Dat assigned as a representative of Hoa Hao Buddhism. Tran Ngoc Dinh  attested the fact that Nguyen Tan Dat was the vice-chairman of the State-created Hoa Hao Buddhism Executive Council at An Giang and that he was only an instrument in the hand of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Nguyen Tan Dat was in no capacity whatsoever to represent the Hoa Hao faithful. Indifferent to Tran Ngoc Dinh s protest,  the authorities in An Giang proceeded with their plan. Complaints against abuses of power of he local authorities in matters of religion fell to the deaf ears. 

 

To the distress of pure Hoa Hao Buddhism, Hoa Hao Buddhists who practice the religious commandments legitimately handed down by His Holiness Huynh Phu So are targeted with all forms repression. The chairman of Long Dien Commune, as a case in point, insisted on breaking down the gate at Quang Minh Tu Temple, Long Dien A under the pretext that it had been constructed without authorization. He commanded that within 5 days the gate be destroyed; otherwise, the authorities would have it brought down.  Such an unruly act is regrettably seen elsewhere in the country!

 

On a visit tour to Quang Minh Tu at Long Hoa Hamlet, Long Dien A Commune, Cho Moi District, An Giang Province on June 24, 2002, the official of U.S. consulate in Saigon James Walter was prevented from contacting with  Vo Van Thanh Liem, the guardian at the temple. The religious, who had repeatedly protested against the oppressive measures of the  communal authorities against him.  He had been followed and had many times taken away from home on ungrounded charges. He was then put on constant watch by the security police. He was forbidden to see anyone. Accidentally the American official met with Le Minh Triet,  a Hoa Hao Buddhist religious who had been imprisoned for 8 years and was still placed under house arrest. During conversation, Le Minh Triet exposed the malaise in which the Hoa Hao faithful serves their faith and expressed disbelief in the religious policy of the totalitarian regime. 

 

State repression against pure Hoa Hao Buddhists intensified. The venerable Vo Van Thanh Liem announced he would kill himself if the security police lowered the banner of the religion and  notice boards at the Church’s temple in Cho Moi District. Also, a number of  Hoa Hao adepts pledged to immolate themselves by fire to protest against the authorities’ scheme to repress Hoa Hao Buddhism. During 5-11 November, 2002, on the order the provincial authorities of An Giang, the security police  flocked to Phuoc Long Temple at Phu Ha Hamlet,  Cho Moi District, to intimidate Hoa Hao believers there. They ordered them to destroy the temple and pull down the banner. All religious services and activities were strictly forbidden.