The Shanga
The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh
The notice
of August 27, 2001
by the International Bureau of Information, Unified Buddhist
Church in Paris indicated
that the State persistently applied pressure on the Vietnam Unified
Buddhist Church.
The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, the superior monk of Lien Tri Pagoda at Thu
Duc, Saigon, sent a letter of protest to the
authorities of the Communist Party and State. The monk expressed indignation of
the Buddhist clergy of Saigon in face of
multiple repressive measures of the authorities agaiist it. The letter further stressed
that “these measures aimed at repressing all those who express opinions that
are different from the dogmas considered as infallible by the Party in power.”
The monk cited, as a case in point, the arrests of dissidents who
advocated religious freedom. Among them were Catholic priests, Hoa Hao
Buddhism, and the Christian supporters of the Christian Montagnards Movement in
the Central Highlands. He also established a long list of Buddhist monks and
nuns who suffered police intolerance in various instances of repression. The Venerable
Thich Khong Tan is best known as a fervent Buddhist monk and devoted advocate
for religious freedo. He himself had been detained in camps of concentration
for 23 years (EDA 336).
Released from prison, the Venerable Thich Khong Tanh
was targeted with repression. On November 5, 1994, he was, again, arrested when he and a group of
Buddhists were on the way to the Mekong Delta
to aid the flood victims. He was condemned to 5 years in prison. Freed from the
prison, he continued to devote himself to religious duties and engage in
humanitarian services He was trailed wherever he traveled. He was stopped from
doing charitable work at 8:00 A.M. on August 22, 2007 while he was distributing money and relief
aids to the victims of injustice in front of the Office of Reception at 110 Cau Giay Street, Hanoi. The local security police kept close
watch on every gathering of victims of injustice who claimed for unjust
compensation for their land. and readily disbanded any assembly of land claimants
at any place.
On the recommendation of the Most Venerable Thich
Quang Do to deliver relief money to the victims of injustice in the North, the Venerable
Thich Khong Tanh arrived in Hanoi on August 22. Actually, in a meeting session,
at the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, the Vietnam Unified
Buddhist Church
decided to set aside an amount of the 300 million dollars from the fund of
relief it received from the Vietnamese communities overseas as a means to
rescue the victims, and the monk was assigned
to the mission. He was trailed and detained at the security police headquarters
of Cau Giay. Also present at the interrogation was the Vice-minister of
Security Police Nguyen Van Huong, who entreated him in vain to give the money
for relief to the Fatherland Front. Those claimants for land, in this State
official’s views, are, in reality, rich people who act in the interests of
evildoers. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh was escorted back to Saigon, August 24.
Meanwhile, in Saigon
a protest of hundreds of victims of injustice was taking place in front of the
residence of President of the State Nguyen Minh Triet on Ky Dong Street, Third Precinct,
expressing indignation over religious repression. The demonstrators marched
through the streets and chanted slogans. They were finally blocked and
disbanded by the security police. The campaign to rescue the victims of
injustice initiated by the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do received warm welcome
and gained strong popular support in the country and overseas. In Texas, U.S.A,, assemblies
for fund raising were organized for this
purpose. A vigilant activist in the movement, the Venerable Thich Khong
Tanh was restricted to inaction.
The Venerable Thich Vien Dinh
The Most Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, Vice-president
of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, declared in an
interview with RFA that the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was facing
severe repression. On August
18, 2005, the members of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Church
in Binh Dinh Province were convoked to “work with” the security police.” They were warned with
threats of their participation in the Church’s activities. Instances of
repression occurred after the issuance
of the decision by the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do that officially recognized
the legitimacy of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Unified
Buddhist Church
in Binh Dinh. Eighteen members in the
board who dutifully carried out their tasks were continually convoked to “work
with” the security police. The Most Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, the Superior
guardian monk at Long Van Pagoda, Saigon, concurrently the guardian monk at Thap Buddhist
Temple in Binh Dinh, was also the
target for repression. The authorities had placed him under house arrest in
Saigon.after the Luong Son (Binh Dinh)
incident in October 2005. For two
years, he had been restricted to isolation and warned against a visit to the
ancestral temple and his master, the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang.
The Venerable Thich Thien Minh
On the anniversary of the foundation of the
Vietnamese Communist Party (February 3, 2006), the authorities released several
prisoners of conscience among whom was the Venerable Thich Thien Minh Huynh Van
Ba of the Unified Buddhist Church from the concentration camp Z30A Xuan Loc,
Dong Nai Province. The monk had been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned without
a trial, first in 1979 then in 1986 for his struggle for religious freedom,
democracy, and human rights and. particularly for the restoration of the legal
status for the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church.
Telling about his impression after 26 years in prison, he said that it was
truly a story of horrible fright even to
a monk like him.
The monk was free from the prison and allowed to
come back to his old residence, but was
placed under house surveillance. Such condition was to him a transfer
from a small prison to a larger one. He thought that so long as Vietnam has no
freedom, democracy, and human rights he himself and the Vietnamese in the country
will ever live in difficulty, silence, anxiety, loss of faith, and
restlessness. As a result, the Venerable
Thich Thien Minh became a victim of antagonism and harassment when coming back
to Bac Lieu Province
where he had been a resident. He could no longer serve his faith at his old
pagoda. His petition to the authority requesting to render to him his pagoda
was ignored. He even received warnings with threats. If he would not join the State-sponsored Buddhist Church
of Vietnam, he had to give up the frock.
The Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet
The Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet, Chairman of the
Executive Board of Tien Giang Province, the Unified Buddhist
Church, was tried in
absentee in a session of crime denunciation of the people because he had joined
in the services of rescue of the victims of injustice. On August 22, 2007, the security police
mobilized the masses from various Buddhist worship places to meet at the Khmer
Buu Thang Pagoda in the province of
Tien Giang to take measure against him. Also present at the meeting were State
officials, cadres, and members in the executive board of the State-created Buddhist
Church of Vietnam. Until
after the speeches and declarations by the district and commune authorities had
finished could the masses realize they were mobilized to impute Monk Thich Minh Nguyet and members of the Unified Buddhist Church.
The Church was charged with unfounded crimes and defamed with calumny and
insult.
The Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet, when asked on a
possible session of revelation of crimes against him, disclosed that he had
refused to come to a ”session of work” with the security police due to his poor
health. In an interview with RTA, the monk related that he had for a long time
met with difficulties from the administration. They always caused trouble to
the members in the executive board of the Vietnam Unified
Buddhist Church.
He had faced serious oppression ever since the time he was in company with the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do when the dignitary was on his mission to rescue
the victims of injustice at the Palace
of National Assembly on Hoang Van Thu Street,
Saigon.
Repression at Pagodas
Twice in two consecutive days, 9-10 August, 2006,
evildoers stormed Phuoc Buu Pagoda at Vung Tau Township in the Ba Ria province,
ransacking the worship place. Part of the roof of was accidentally in flames.
The incident occurred while the
guardian monk and the believers were
reciting prayers. The Venerable Thich Thnh Tinh of Phuoc Buu Pagoda said that,
on the first night, August 9, 2 bottles
of gasoline had been found in front of the guardian-monk’s office. The
following night, a container of 5 liters of gasoline was planted right in the
room near the entrance to the pagoda.
On September
3, 2006, Buddhist Nun Thich Thong Man of the Unified Buddhist
Church was unjustly
evicted from Dich Quang Pagoda where she
had lived her priesthood for the past ten years. The Venerable Thich
Vien Dinh, Vice-chairman of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhism, Unified Buddhist Church,
presented the case in a petition to SRV Prime Minister for consideration. The
petition came to no reply, nevertheless.
The Leadership
Desperate Resistance
Resistance to repression ever persisted, although
under desperate condition. Previously, in many instances, the clergy of the Unified Buddhist Church
had demanded the government to release Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang from
residence surveillance. For almost 20 years, the ailing dignitary had only been
treated with poor medical care, and thus he should be allowed to return to Saigon to be treated with proper care. The Most Venerable
Thich Quang Do decided on his own initiative to look for a new residence for the Patriarch and bring him
from Quang Ngai back to Saigon. The dignitary was instantly placed under stricter
control. Security measures against the Church multiplied. From the early days
of June 2001, the security police
tightened watch on the pagodas in 8 provinces in the South and the Center.
Heavy guard was posited in hundreds of pagodas in Saigon,
Nha Trang, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Da Nang, and Hue. Inside Thanh Minh Monastery where the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do was in residence, the security police posited a
permanent checkpoint; outside of it, hundreds of plainclothes agents moved
about. Telephone lines to the monastery were cut short. The dignitary could in
no way communicate with the believers
outside, and thus everyone was ignorant of what would happen to him.
On June
1, 2001, in 115 pagodas in the South, telephone lines were cut, and
communication between them was totally dead. Tension reached a climax in Quang Nam and Quang Tri where the State’s accusations
against the clergy of the Unified
Buddhist Church
were ambiguously diffused through the loudspeakers hung on electricity posts.
In spite of all that, in the morning of June 7, 2001, a large group of monks
and believers left for the Center to join in
the one in the district of Nghia Hanh in the province of Quang Ngai. On
June 7, 2001, mobilization of support for the journey was activated in pagodas
throughout Central Vietnam, in Nha Trang, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang
Nam, and, particularly, Hue and Quang Tri. The clergy and laity were prepared
for participation in the operation of rescue initiated by the Most Venerable
Thich Quang Do.
To deal with, he police, on the other side,
blockaded the roads to pagodas all along the way from Saigon
to Quang Ngai. In addition, by the order of the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh
City, the authorities imposed house surveillance on the principal promoter, the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do. The dignitary had been, in reality, under
residence surveillance, beginning on June 1, 2001. Movement ouside the residence is violation
of the law. His violation of the law was intolerable, and thus he was
restricted to inaction. (EDA 333)
Under international pressure, the authorities
changed their tactics. The Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, who was in residence at
his pagoda in Quy Nhon township, south of Quang Ngai, was coerced to move to another
pagoda. The Patriarch desisted the authorities’ initiative and insisted that
the police should let the Buddhist delegation to bring him back to Saigon. To soothe out his stance, they suggested to him
to consider a plan for reunification of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
and the State-affiliated
Buddhist Church
of Vietnam. The Venerable Thich Quang Lien of the State-affiliated Vietnam
Buddhist Church was sent for to play the role of an intermediary. The Most Venerable
Thich Huyen Quang nevertheless rejected the initiative and affirmed that there
existed no disagreement between the two monks on any subject, neither was there
problem between the two Buddhist organizations. The existence of two Buddhist Churches
essebtially resulted from the intention
of the State, It deliberately had founded the Buddhist Church of Vietnam,
creating division between them. He suggested that a meeting at the highest
level be scheduled, if there was any, and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do should
be invited to come to discuss the matter.
Restrictive measures focused on the leadership of
the Church were taken. The administration kept a severe watch on the activities
of the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang. In
his message on the Lunar New Year’ s Day (2003), the Patriarch, 85, who had
been placed under house arrest since 1982, appealed to Vietnamese fellow
countrymen and Buddhists inside the country and overseas to continue to
struggle for religious freedom, democracy, and human rights. The message
stressed the difficulties facing Buddhism. Regardless of atrocious violence no
one feared and surrendered. The appeal was issued coincidentally with the
publication of the resolution of the Seventh Plenum of the Communist Party,
specifying that it pushed forward the program of social welfare, to erase
hunger and reduce poverty, and looked for a better way to maintain security and
social order.
In the middle of February, the Patriarch s
heath deteriorated. The doctors at Quang Ngai
Hospital proposed that he
be brought to Saigon for better medical
treatment. The Patriarch then asked the local security police to give consent. At the end of February, his health
deteriorated alarmingly, and he was brought to and hospitalized at Quang Ngai.
The doctors, again, proposed that he be brought to Saigon
for better treatment. After multiple deliberations, the authorities decided to bring him to Hanoi for treatment,
after which he would be transferred back to Co Chua Hamlet, Nghia Hanh
District, Quang Ngai Province
where he had been placed under house arrest.
On June 27, 2003, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do,
who had been under house arrest since June 2001, addressed to the
administration his demands for reforms and expressed his wish to make a trip to
Quang Ngai to visit the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang. who had still been placed
under house arrest.
During the two months, July and August of 2003, the
authorities of the central administration quickened stricter measures. The
Vice-minister of the Police Security Ministry Nguyen Van Huong, from Hanoi came
to Binh Dinh “to visit” the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang. The local
authorities came up with woos, entreating him to join the leadership of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist
Church. This high-ranking
official appeared to ignore the request of the Buddhist clergy and laity, which
is to create favorable conditions for
them to take care of the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang.
Police harassment continued in Saigon. From September 9, security police agents came to Gia Lam
Monastery at Go Vap to “work with” the Venerable Thich Thanh Huyen, warning him
of his cooperation with the Vietnam
Unified Buddhist
Church. On September 19, the Venerable Thich Nguyen
Ly was convoked to “work with” the security police. The monk was also warned
with threat of his cooperation with the Unified Buddhist
Church. On September 12,
the representative of the Section of Religious Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, on
a visit to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, entreated him to join the
leadership of the State-sponsored
Vietnam Buddhist
Church and to abandon his
trip to Binh Dinh to attend the Buddhist National Congress. Disagreement
persisted. On September 12, the delegation led by the Most Venerable Thich Quang
Do left for Binh Dinh and met no hindrance. Yet, their vehicle was stopped by
the security police, at Ru Ri Pass 10 kilometers north of Nha Trang in Khanh
Hoa Province.
All through September, the security police of Quang
Tri and Thua Thien-Hue caused troubles to the delegations from Thua Thien-Hue,
Quang Tri, and Saigon that came to attend the
Buddhist National Congress taking place during September 17-18. In Quang Tri,
the security police obstructed the Venerable Thich Hai Tang from leaving Long
An Pagoda, Trieu Thuong Commune. His
trip to Binh Dinh was canceled. He was convoked to “work with” the
authorities at the People Council’s office. He was interrogated about his
relationship with the highest dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist
Church, For ten days
after that the monk continually received threats from the security police. The delegation from Hue also met with difficulty. The Venerable
Thich Phuoc Vien and members in his delegation
were warned with treats against their intention to travel to Binh Dinh. Regardless
of obstruction, the delegation resolutely left for Binh Ding to take part in
the congress as planned. Until midnight
of September 17 could it hire a car. But, when coming to Hai Van Pass, the
driver was ordered through wieless telephone to come back to Hue. The delegation was left abandoned amid
thick forest. Quite by chance, they got several vacant seats in a bus and
arrived in time in late evening of September 18.
The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, in his letter of
protest to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, requested police obstructions against
the delegations be taken into consideration and the difficulties the
authorities caused to the clergy be explained. The request fell to deaf years. Stricter
security measures weretaken, instead. On October 9, the authorities placed
under house arrest the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, the Venerable Thich Thanh Huyen,
and the Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly, the three members of the Saigon
delegation, on charges of violations of national security and of intention to
destroy good relationship between the people and Buddhism. The penalty term was
two years, starting from October
11, 2003. These three monks had been freshly nominated to the
highest positions in the Institute for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith
of the Unified Buddhist
Church.
In his letter to the Congress of Buddhists at Nguyen
Thieu Monastery in Melbourne,
Australia, October 1, 2003, the
Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang stressed the perilous situation in which the Unified Buddhist Church
was facing. He appealed to the Sangha and laity, both inside the country and
overseas, to resiliently perform deeds in their daily religious life,
enlightening Buddha’s teachings on benevolence and self-sacrifice. To retaliate,
on October 10, the administration placed under house arrest the Venerable Thich
Dong Tho, the guardian monk at Nguyen Thieu Monastery, Binh Dinh Province. The order was issued several
days after the Patriarch Huyen Quang and the Mosr Venerable Quang Do and other
monks were inhibited to come to the monastery. The spokesman of the Foreign
Affairs Ministry specified that the security police had investigated into the “crimes
the monk had committed,” such as keeping materials of national secrets. Even
though, he had not been persecuted.
In a press conference, the spokesman of the administration
refuted all arguments from the Buddhist
delegation. He elaborated that both the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and the
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do were in good health and were doing their daily
jobs at Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh and then at Thanh Minh Monastery in
Saigon, respectively. Contradictorily, on the morning of September 9, 2003, on the way back to Saigon, the Buddhist delegation led by the Most Venerable
Thich Quang Do was stopped at Luong Son
near Nha Trang, and 11 members in it were forced to go back to Binh Dinh. Worse
still, by verbal order or some form of decision, they were all placed under
house arrest after coming back to their worship places. The Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang and the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do were no exception.
Requests followed. On April 19, 2004, the Venerable Thich Vien Dinh,
Secretary-general of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, Vietnam Unified Buddhist
Church, sent a letter to
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, requesting his visit to the Patriarch Thich Huyen
Quang be set up, and the progress of which be aired on the television. On April
27, the Unified Buddhist Church
also sent a letter to the highest authorities of the regime, requesting
immediate release from house arrest of the leaders of the Church. In his
letters to President of the State Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van
Khai, the Venerable Thich Vien Dinh stressed the tragic consequences resulting
from the repressive policy of the State against the Church. This totalitarian
regime had executed discrimination politics against the religions, forcing
their leaders to submit themselves into serving as slaves for it, immersing
them in misery, and depriving off themliberty. He specifically demanded the
President and Prime Minister to give
back freedom to the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and the Most Venerable Thich
Quang Do.
Silent protest continued all through the Lunar
Year’s Day and the days that followed January 2005, Unified Buddhist
Church pagodas in Saigon and Binh Dinh were under security police watch day
and night. On January 16, a delegation of monks traveled to Binh Dinh to visit
the Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and wish him a happy new year. Their car was nevertheless
stopped at the the place of departure. To denounce such an act of unlawful
obstruction, on April 5, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, who was under house
arrest, in his taped letter to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
called on international personalities and organizations to help end religious
persecution in Vietnam.
