Dear Friends,
Please pray for the monastic brothers and sisters at Bat Nha Monastery right now Sept.27,2009. They are being physically forced to vacate the monastery.
Please inform the public, the news agencies, human rights group, or anyone who can influence this tragedy, especially if they are there right now in Vietnam.
Please intervene in anyway that you can!
LIVE REPORT:
WWW.PHUSAONLINE is giving updated information on the situation at BatNha.
12:20 p.m. (VN time, September 27, 09):
*they are breaking all the doors and trying to get all the sisters to outside of the building. It continues to rain here.
*Sisters lock themselves inside.
*The mob, led by the police, are moving towards the sisters’ hamlet “May Dau Nui” (Clouds on the Mountain).
*4 taxi are going towards the main gate; can’t tell who’s inside.
12:02 pm (VN time, september 27, 09):
*The monks are still being forced to sit outside in the rain, nothing to cover them. It’s still raining and very cold.
*Traffic police (in uniform) are controlling all the roads leading to Bat Nha Monastery. Police in civilian clothes are also on the scene to observe.
11:23 a.m. ((VN time, September 27, 09):
*A large construction truck is heading towards the monks’ building named, “the Beginner’s Mind.”
*The monks are sitting together in circles under the cold rain.
*The attacking mob continues to curse and yell without stopping.
*Bells, Sutra books, clothings, personal belongings… are in disordered piles under the rain.
11:06 a.m. ((VN time, September 27, 09):
*It’s raining in Bat Nha. The monks have to sit under the cold rain.
*The police is calling for large trucks to come and transport the monks away.
*All roads to the monastery are monitored. Lay friends try to come to help, but they are turned around from afar.
*The number of policemen present has increased. They have occupied all the monastic rooms; gathered all the monks to the field outside.
*The police has forced the monks to carry their backpacks outside and wait for trucks to come transport them away. Don’t know where they will be going.
*It’s still calm in the nuns’ hamlets.
10:50 a.m. (VN time, September 27, 09):
*The police have dragged Brothers Phap Hoi and Phap Tu outside (2 elder monks of the monastic community); they are dragging the monks by force like they would to animals.
*One Buddhist lay woman is being chased by the police; she is running and crying, calling out “We are in danger, dear teacher!”
10:30 a.m. (VN time, September 27, 09):
Our communication is having difficulties, but we know that right now:
*The attacking mob has told the Monastic community that they have to leave the monastery within 2 days.
*The monks have been forced to go outside of their dormitories; they stand outside, chanting in the corridor.
*Two monks are in their ceremonial robes doing sitting meditation in front of their room.
*All community and personal belongings of the monks have been thrown outside.
9:45 a.m. (VN time, September 27, 09):
*We are on the telephone with Bat Nha Monastery. The situation at the monastery is quite urgent and life threatening to the monastics.
*At the start of this current crisis, attackers gathered at 9:30am then began to destroy properties to this moment.
*Police in civilian clothes have been present the whole time, but they do nothing to intervene. It seems that they are there to direct the attack, and the attackers have been hired to do so?
*The monks are doing sitting meditation on the 3rd floor of their building, sending energy to the people who are blinded by ignorance, praying to the Bodhisatva of Deep Listening to cool the fire of ignorance in their hearts with the nectar of her compassion.
*We are hearing very loud banging sounds over the phone line.
*They are throwing meditation cushions outside the building.
*There are about 150 people attacking and destroying properties up to the second floor of the monks’ residence.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by william masdon. william masdon said: RT @batnha: New post, "Urgent! Help! Monks & Nuns, Physically Forced Onto Trucks" – http://tr.im/zS7q pray for these people. [...]
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We are trying to ask friends that may have connections in the EC, UN or NGOs to relay this information.
Thanks for your help and the English updates. We are chatting on Yahoo right now with our family in Bao Loc (our elder sister is a nun in BN).
I do not know what to do other than to share this information with all of my sangha, and pray for them. Thank you so much for the updates. Om Mani Padme Hum.
Updated report:
Translated from http://www.phusa.info
Updated: 16:33 PM
Time 16:33 PM Vietnam 27.09.2009
* The thugs hired by the Dongs monks (disciples) of Ven. Duc Nghi, under the directions of police and the government, are beating and pushing the nuns toward the gate of the Nun’s Clouds Over the Mountain Hamlet. The police are standing there videotaping.
* The venerables from Lam Dong Vietnam Buddhist Sangha called Mr. Le Thanh Phong (Vice-Chairman of Party’s Committee), Truong Van Thu (Vice-President of People’s Committee) and Ho Ba Thang (Chairman of Vietnam Fatherland Front ) to ask for help, but all three said no thing happens at Prajna monastery.
Time 16:30 PM Vietnam 27.09.2009
* The thugs pushed the nuns walking toward the vegetable garden. Some nuns fell on the stair and were beaten with umbrellas.
* The monks were beaten seriously,and were taken to somewhere.
* Listen to the voice of a nun
Time 15:29 PM Vietnam 27.09.2009
* The nun’s Warm Hearth Hamlet has been under attacked since 13:12, and the nuns still staying inside.
Time 14:57 PM Vietnam 27.09.2009
* Now there are 50 monks are standing under the rain, hungry and cold on the road in front of the Nuns’ Clouds Over the Mountain’s Hamlet
* One lay aspirant was beaten, bloods sprouted from the mouth.
* One novice monks was strangled and pushed into the car.
* About 30 monks are still stucked in the monk’s residence.
Time 14:48 PM Vietnam 27.09.2009
* The monks are pushed into cars, and beaten, they were driven to the gate of Clouds Over the Mountain Hamlet.
* The monks lay down on the road, so the police could not take them away.
* Many persons called Mr. Hiep, vice-director of Lam Dong Province Police Department, he answered “This is internal matter of the Buddhist. We do not interfere.” (?!) then hang up.
* At the same time, long-time followers of Ven. Duc Nghi called him via the number 097.548.4970. He answered: “This is the plan of General Tran Tu of Police Ministry. I am also a victim of this event”.
* Listen to the voice of Ven. Duc Nghi
* Calls to leaders of Lam Dong provinces through these numbers:
o Mr. Le Thanh Phong: Vice-Chairman of Party’s Committee, 091.386.5000
o Mr. Truong Van Thu: Vice-President of People’s Committee 091.386.5294.
o Mr. Ho Ba Thang: Chairman of Vietnam Fatherland Front 091.393.4718
Were answered with: “How could such violence happens. We will check” then they hang up.
Note: If you call from oversea, dial +84 then the number, without the first number 0.
Time 14:19 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* We hear clearly that from the morning until 14:19, the monks and not have not had any thing to eat and they have to stay under the rain, hungry and cold. Please inform western embassy in Hanoi, human right groups and the International Red Cross to ask for help and intervention. Thanks.
Time 14:01 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* Listen to the plea for help from a monk in Prajna
Time 13:21 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* Some one calls Mr. Son of Lam Dong Police Department to ask for help, but he said: “That is because of the violent crowd, I dare not interfere” then hang up.
Time 13:12 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* The thugs, under direction of the police, moves to the Warm Hearth Hamlet (Xóm Bếp Lửa Hồng), the second hamlet where the nuns stay. There are two dormitories in this hamlet.
* The nuns locks all the doors and stay inside.
* The police push the monks into 3 taxis and drop them off at the nun’s Clouds Over the Mountain Hamlet? For what reasons?
Time 12:39 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* The polices pushes the monks into the ben- truck. Do not know where they take the monks to?
Time 12:20 AM Vietnam 27.09.09
* · The polices pushes the monks into the ben- truck. Do not know where they drive the monks to?
Time 12:20 PM Vietnam 27.09.09
* 4 taxi enters the through the main gate, do not know who are inside the cars.
* The thugs, under direction of the police, moves to the Clouds Over the Mountain Hamlet (Xom Mây Đầu Núi), one of the two hamlets where the nuns stay.
* The sisters locks all the doors and stay inside.
* The thugs smash all the doors and push the nuns out to the yard.
Please, sign this latest petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-Bat-Nha
Many thanks
A quick translation from a phone interview with a witness who herself was brutalized last week. This article is in Vietnamese. If you can read Vietnamese, here is the source:
http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/Incident-happened-at-bat-nha-monastery-ttruc-09272009151924.html
Answer: They are beating on the monks and nuns. They’re grabbing the monks by the neck, dragging them to their vehicles and beating on their necks.
Nó đang đánh mấy thầy mấy cô, tội lắm, chảy máu chảy me đầy. Còn Ban Giáo Thọ, quý thầy Pháp Trụ, thầy Pháp Danh, thầy Pháp Trị thì bị nó bắt đi đâu rồi, không biết nữa. Còn mấy thầy nhỏ thì nó bắt, nó đánh, nó dẫn ra ngoài đường đó. Nó bỏ cho một đám côn đồ đánh mấy thầy, rồi nó chở xe taxi đi một khúc, 5 người nó bỏ một khúc, 5 người nó bỏ một khúc, nó không bỏ dồn người một chỗ đâu.
They’re still beating on the monks and nuns! A lot of blood! The teaching staff, like brothers Phap Tru, Phap Danh, Phap Tri, have been seized. No one knows where they are. Younger monks have been beaten up and dragged to the street. There a bunch of hooligans came to continue to brutalize them (the monks), then these monks were pushed on another vehicle and transported for a distance then pushed onto the street in small groups of 5.
Question: At what time did this happen and who are “they”?
Answer: They are the police and the monks who collaborated with the hooligans. There are province police, town police, village police. They also hired hooligans from the market!
Question: Please, calm down and answer us. At what time did this happen?
Answer: 9 AM. Brothers Phap Tru, Phap Hoi were meditating insuddenly they came and dragged them by the neck like they were dragging dogs. It was sunny with a bit of sprinkle until 2 PM, when taxis with 5 seats arrived and they started packing them with monks. They packed the taxis with monks and transported them to a place where hooligans had been waiting to beat them up.
Question: No one interfered?
Answer: No, it’s just their people around here. No one dared to enter the area.