[Buddha-l] Government fears funeral of Thich Huyen Quang, Buddhist patriarch and hero of religious freedom

[BP]

  *07/07/2008 13:30*
VIETNAM
*Government fears funeral of Thich Huyen Quang, Buddhist patriarch and 
hero of religious freedom*

by Nguyen Van Tranh

He headed the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, banned by the 
government. He passed away at the age of 87, half of which spent in 
prison, internal exile or under house arrest. For him religious freedom 
is also the basis of economic progress.

<http://www.asianews.it/files/img/VIETNAM_-_Thich_Huyen_Quang.jpg>

Hanoi (AsiaNews) -- The funeral of Thich Huyen Quang, Patriarch of the 
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), will take place this week. 
His Church is banned and government officials have accused it of 
planning to use the burial ceremony for political advantages

Thich Huyen Quang passed away last Saturday after months of illness; he 
was 87-year-old, half of which he spent in prison, internal exile or 
under house arrest. He led the UBCV for 16 years, becoming an outspoken 
proponent of religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam.

Born in Binh Dinh, southern Vietnam, in 1920, he became a monk at the 
age of 12. Quickly he got involved in the struggle against French 
colonial rule. During the Vietnam was he was active in the Buddhist 
pacifist movement, taking part in various international conferences.

After Vietnam's unification Thich Huyen Quang was arrested and sentenced 
several times as the government tried to eliminate religion.

In 1981 the authorities set up a Buddhist Church of Vietnam under the 
United Front in order to break UBCV resistance.

Together with another hero of religious freedom, Thich Quang Do (now his 
successor) he was sent into internal exile and placed in isolation. 
Similarly, on another occasion he was also kept under house arrest at 
the remote Quang Phuoc Pagoda in Quang Ngai Province.

He was adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience in 
1990, and declared a 'Victim of Arbitrary Detention' by the UN Working 
Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva.

Appointed head of the UBCV in 1992 he came under attack from the 
government. As some secret Communist Party documents reveal, the 
authorities sought to stop his "evil activities and those of his 
accomplices," calling on police and party members "not to spare any 
efforts in the struggle against Huyen Quang," nor refrain from "chopping 
off the arms and legs of the UBCV."

Monks and the faithful proved unwilling to bend to the party's will and 
were arrested by the hundreds. However, the UBCV, which is backed by 80 
per cent of Vietnam's Buddhists, has continued to spread the patriarch's 
message and views thanks to its network of solidarity. It has also 
organised the most important demonstrations in the history of united 
Vietnam involving tens of thousands of people.

As a result of Thich Huyen Quang's struggle for the religious freedom 
and UBCV autonomy, government's economic wrongdoing have been exposed 
for creating greater misery among the population.

"Vietnam's economic development has brought some improvements, but at 
the same time the level of poverty has risen. Not only is there a gap 
between rich and poor, but also between rulers and ruled," he wrote in 
his message for the Buddha's birthday, back in May.

"Vietnam's policies have produced a 'rich country with a poor 
population'; the very opposite of the prosperity the government's 
slogans claim. [. . .] In terms of human freedoms, we have nothing---all 
basic rights and liberties are denied. Religious communities cannot act 
freely, and as a result, social problems are persistent and increasing. 
It is impossible to bring enlightenment where poverty and lack of 
freedom prevail."