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.