VOICE OF THE MASSES
Letter from Ven. Thich Phuoc Vien to Leaders of VCP
Following is the translation of a letter sent by Ven. Thich Phuoc Vien to the leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party and its government to protest the harassment of Buddhist clergies in Hue after their attempt to visit the detained Patriarch of the Church on July 6, 2001. The letter also protests the pattern of actions taken by the Communist Government to weaken and use the Buddhist Church for its political purposes.
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Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
PETITION
Respectfully sent to:
Mr. Nong Duc Manh, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Mr. Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Also respectfully sent to:
Mr. Ho Xuan Man, Party Secretary of Thua Thien province Mr. Nguyen Van Me, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Thua Thien province
Dear Gentlemen,
I , undersigned as clergy citizen Le Hien a.k.a. Thich Phuoc Vien, had lived through 15 years of incarceration in prison camps Binh Dien in Thua Thien province, Xuan Phuoc in Phu Khanh, and Ba Sao in Ha Nam Ninh until my release in September 1995. I currently reside at the Chau Lam pagoda in Duong Xuan Thuong II village, Thuy Xuan ward, Hue city. I wish to respectfully present you with the following matter:
June 7, 2001 was the day Venerable Thich Quang Do, Head of the Hoa Dao Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), chose for all clergies and lay-Buddhists to visit Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the 83- year old Interim Head of the Tang Thong Institute of the UBCV currently in poor health and kept under solitary detainment at an isolated pagoda in Nghia Hanh district of Quang Ngai province. However, even before that date arrived, the clergies in Thua Thien and Hue, including myself, and a large number of members of the Buddhist Family were visited by the Public Security cadres and then summoned to the Ward People’s Committee for further questioning. The only purpose of these sessions was preemptive intimidation. However, out of our respect for our teachers and the Church, we simply could not turn down the trip. After that pivotal day of July 06, many more Buddhist clergies were summoned for questioning. On the 13th and 14th of July, it was my turn to report to the People’s Committee Office of Thuy Xuan ward to answer for my involvement [with this trip]. Again, more condemnation and intimidation.
The pattern of these actions [by the authorities] in the last 20 years have generated a chain of problems with the Buddhist Church, and caused all the Buddhists loyal to the Church tremendous pain, bitterness, and anger. I have raised this point at the "working" sessions. My interrogators and accusers, however, said [such matter] did not lie within their responsibilities. After a while, they suggested I write the issues down on paper so they would convey to higher authorities for answers or solutions. That is the reason for this petition.
Dear Gentlemen,
As a clergy citizen, I always take interest in religious issues, especially those involving Buddhism. As such, I have outlined below the issues pertaining only to the Buddhist faith.
The Reality of the Buddhist Faith in Vietnam:
1. It is well known that there currently exists no true Buddhist church in Vietnam. This is because the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), founded by the people and handed down from generation to generation, has been banned whereas the Buddhist Church of Vietnam (BCV), erected by the government and being a member of the Fatherland Front, is a political organization, not a religious one. This BCV is led by the Communist Party of Vietnam as stated in Article 9 of the 1992 Constitution: "The Vietnamese Fatherland Front and its member organizations are the political foundation of the People’s Government ... " Moreover, since various current publications of the Government have stated many times that the nature of Buddhism contradicts the scientific Socialism (see the letter of Venerable Thich Quang Do), it is clear that the Communist Party embraces religions for only one purpose; That is to use religions to appeal to the masses and to protect the Party just like [the Party’s Secretary General] Nguyen Van Linh openly declared in 1980. The ultimate goal is to mutate and eventually eliminate Buddhism [from Vietnam]. There has been no intention to allow this faith to expand.
2. In practice, ever since 1975, the Government has used every means of terrorization possible to break clergies and lay-Buddhists into agents for the Communist Party — as listed in the letters of protest from the Tang Thong Institute and Hoa Dao Institute of the UBCV and witnessed in Thua Thien and Hue recently. The Government has placed its "fake monks" in the ranks of the clergies to degrade their qualities, upset religious lives in the pagodas, and discredit the clergies in the eyes of the Buddhist followers and the general population at large.
3. The government has used the media outlets ostentatiously belonging to the Buddhist Church to spread the Communist Party’s policies on internal and foreign issues. The Party’s propaganda are largely wrong and negatively influence the views of the Buddhist followers. For example, the Government used the Giac Ngo (Enlightenment) Newspaper to spread its propaganda: opposing NATO and supporting Milosevic. These incidents mark a shameful period in the history of Buddhism in Vietnam. The pure teachings of Buddha is now twisted to serve immediate and short-sighted political aims.
4. The policy of taking advantage of religions for short-term gains did bring some results benefiting the Communist Party. For the long run, however, this policy is counterproductive and the Communist Party of Vietnam shall bear the unimaginable consequences of its shortsightedness.
Dear Gentlemen,
Having raised the above issues, I would like to make the following suggestions:
1. Let the Buddhist Church operates freely according to the wishes of the Vietnamese Buddhists and not to the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism, which themselves contradict the Vietnamese tradition and culture as evidenced by the 50 years of building socialism in Vietnam. Should the Communist Party wish to create a Buddhist organization of its own, that is within its right; however, it should not and must not turn all Buddhist organizations into Party’s organs.
2. Do not force clergies to engage in political activities such as being members of the National Assembly, local representatives, etc. [The clergies are not to] compete for secular power. Such activities simply cause conflicts and degrade the religious lives of these devoted souls.
3. Do not utilize Buddhist cultural, educational, and media facilities to serve political purposes and thus, distort the true meaning of Buddhist teachings.
Dear Gentlemen,
The strength of Buddhism lies in the spiritual and cultural realms and not in politics. Taking advantage of Buddhism and using it as political tools will bring only temporary advances. However, if and when such abuse is serious enough to totally change the characteristics of Buddhism, it will become a very dangerous secular power. Of course it will crumble and pull down with it all powers that have clung to it to exist. The Communist Party of Vietnam should heed this warning carefully. It should not be blinded by a few near-term successes and ignore the future disasters to fall on the communists themselves.
Best Regards,
Chau Lam Pagoda, Hue, 26/07/2001
(Signed)
Hien Le, a.k.a. Thich Phuoc Vien
Copies to be respectfully sent to:
1. Patriarch Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Interim Head of the Tang Thong Institute of the UBCV
2. Venerable Thich Quang Do, Head of the Hoa Dao Institute of the UBCV
3. League of Clergies of Thua Thien & Hue
** Translation Notes: The Vietnamese Communist authorities ambiguously call all forms of interrogative activities, from questioning to torturing, as "lam viec" (working) sessions.