On the 11th November the Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio station broadcast this in-depth report on the critical situation in Bao Loc this week.
Here is the translation :
Followers of Buddhist Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnam have sought refuge at Phuoc Hue temple in Lam Dong province.
The abbot of the monastery has accepted the more than 300 nuns and monks after they had been violently evicted more than a month ago from Bat Nha monastery, about 15km from Phuoc Hue temple.
On 27th of September, armed bandits and plain-clothes police have assaulted the monastic grounds, beaten nuns and monks, destroyed all inventory including also numerous Buddha statues, and burned sacred scriptures of the Lang Mai community.
Tuan Khan, a young nun from the Sangha - which is how the community refers to itself, has witnessed all that and reports on the phone about what happened:
“In the morning of the 27th of September, the … [english report from Sr. Tuan Khan] bandits and police came and attacked us. They threw us out of the monastery, they were very violent. They beat us with sticks, and some of us were carried away on trucks. Some nuns and monks even were assaulted sexually, others just arrested on the spot.
Alle the others were told to lay down their monastic robes and go back to their home towns.
However, for the followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, life in the community is vital to spiritual life.
Practising as a Sangha is part of our way of life. If we had to leave our sangha and go back to our home towns, we would be destroyed as a community, we cannot practise anymore.”
The Vietnamese government denies to be involved in the incidents. According to a statement of the vice chairman of the committee of religious affairs, which was broadcast in government-controlled media, the violence should be seen as an internal conflict between different monastic communities. The spokesman of the people‘s committe of Lam Dong province claimed, Thich Nhat Han‘s followers didn‘t have the required permission by the official Vietnamese Buddhist committee, and thus no right of residence in Bat Nha monastery.
The monastic community however declines these accusitions and published all required documents and evidence on their web site, together with internal government documents having been leaked to the community, proving that the assault on the monastery on 09-27 was in fact initiated by the government.
Since 40 years, Thich Nhat Hanh lives in exile in France.
Because the Vietnamese government was striving to be removed from the blacklist of countries violating religious freedom, the world-renowned Zen master was allowed to travel to Vietnam in 2005 and 2007. He then showed slight optimism about the development in his home country
[Thay speaking]
“I think the government is willing to change and to open itself up. But there still is a lot of fear and mistrust. Because of that, they might not be able to open up as quickly as they woud like to, and there are still a lot of extremists, both communist and anti-communist fighting against each other, even though the war has formally ended.”
“I think the government is willing to change and to open itself up. But there still is a lot of fear and mistrust. Because of that, they might not be able to open up as quickly as they woud like to, and there are still a lot of extremists, both communist and anti-communist fighting against each other, even though the war has formally ended.”
After Thich Nhat Hanh‘s visit to Vietnam, the number of his followers increased rapidly. Many young people joined the Lang Mai community, more than one thousand in a short period of time. Thay Trung Hai, one of the elder monks of the community, who lives in exile in France since the beginning of this year, says that this might have alarmed the government:
[Thay Trung Hai]
“They don‘t want any free associations…. [...] something like that doesn’t exist in Vietnam. We are the only ones, we are a family, a community of spiritual practice. We obey the Vietnamese laws and follow the rules of the Buddhist Church of Vietnam, but they don‘t want to let us practice in our own way as a community. [...] …practice, stay with ourselves.”
Human Rights Watch points to an increasing number of violations of religious freedom in vietnam. “The violent eviction of Bat Nha monastics is only one of many incidents of this kind“, says Elen Pearson, Asian Director of the organization.
[Bell]
In Phuoc Hue temple, Thich Nhat Hanh’s followers are not safe from governmental repression, either. Witnesses and monastics say, plain-clothes police are everywhere inside the temple, the nuns and monks would be chased even to the bathroom by the government spies. In film published by the community on the internet, Thay Phap Kham, one of the elder monks of the community currently living in Hong Kong, says, there is fear for another attack:
“The government still wants to completely disband the sangha. The same people having attacked Bat Nha monastery on the 27th of September are also now at Phuoc Hue.They try to force our nuns and monks to leave, which is a violation of our religious freedom. In case they attack the monastery once again, our brothers and sisters have announced to close the gates, burn the temple, and immolate themselves.”
The abbot of Phuoc Hue temple who has given refuge to the Lang Mai monastics after they had been evicted from Bat Nha monastery has been urged by the police to turn away the Thich Nhat Hanh followers before the end of the month. Otherwise, they announced, means of violence would be used to enforce the law.
