SMALL BAHA'I AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES GROW IN HANOI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001636 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI VM SUBJECT: SMALL BAHA'I AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES GROW IN HANOI HANOI 00001636 001.2 OF 002 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Leaders of Hanoi's small Muslim and Baha'i communities say the religious freedom they enjoy is leading to a growth in their communities. They, like other faiths in Vietnam, in turn face greater pressure to find adequate facilities for their worshipers, leading to questions over land rights and current government possession of former houses of worship. The Baha'is say their relations with the GVN are good and getting better while the Hanoi Mosque is hopeful that when the Saudi Arabian Embassy opens in Hanoi in the fall that the local community will receive more funding to support schools for Muslim children. End Summary. MUSLIMS IN HANOI -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The only mosque in Hanoi is quietly tucked away in the old quarter of the city. The distinct architecture of the small building cannot be missed but blends in with the Buddhist pagoda located near by. It was originally built in 1890 by merchants from India and former soldiers of the French Foreign Legion who came from Morocco. Mr. Doan Hong Cuong, who took over as caretaker of the mosque after his father's death, was born in Hanoi of Indian ancestry. ¶3. (SBU) Cuong told Poloff that members of the Muslim community hold group prayer sessions every Friday afternoon, led by an Imam from Pakistan. Cuong said that during his 20 years as caretaker of the mosque, the government has never interfered in their right to worship and sometimes government representatives attended religious festivities - the community is free to celebrate all Muslim holy days and festivities. ¶4. (SBU) Cuong said that while passages of the Koran are read in Arabic, most of the services are conducted in English, a neutral language that everyone can understand. Currently the Hanoi Muslim community has 330 adherents, with about 300 believers coming from the diplomatic corps stationed in Hanoi, most from the Indonesian, Pakistani and Indian embassies. According to Cuong, the majority of believers in Hanoi are women and many Vietnamese women met their prospective husbands by working at foreign embassies and converted to Islam before getting married. ¶5. (SBU) Cuong said that while the Muslim faith is recognized by the Vietnamese government, they do not receive any funding except from individual believers and donations from a few embassies. He added that the Muslim community in Ho Chi Minh City is much more established, with more believers and better financing. Cuong said that in a few years time the Hanoi Mosque might need to expand beyond its current site and will need approval from the government. He is hopeful that when the Saudi Arabian Embassy opens in Hanoi in the fall that the local community will receive more funding to support schools for Muslim children. BAHA'IS IN HANOI -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Mr. Nguyen Binh, one of the representatives of the Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) of the Baha'is in Hanoi, told Poloff that the faith was recognized by the government in March 2007 but must go through a year-long probationary period before being given "official" status. The Baha'i Faith was first established in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City back in 1954 by Lady Shirin Fozdar, an Indian national who was born in Bombay and traveled throughout Southeast Asia before eventually settling in Vietnam. According to Binh, before the Vietnam War there were approximately 200,000 Baha'is throughout the country but currently the registered number is closer to 10,000 in 46 provinces throughout the country. ¶7. (SBU) Binh said Baha'is are encouraged to start LSAs where at least nine adult Baha'is are living and currently there are over 30 LSAs throughout Vietnam. The community hopes that once it receives official status in 2008, it will be able to register all 30 LSAs with the government of Vietnam. Baha'is from all over the country recently attended a three-day summer school event for adults and children, which included reading and deepening their knowledge of religious texts. BAHA'I DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN VIETNAM -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Ho Chi Minh City is home to the National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) of the Baha'is of Vietnam, which handles all national issues for the community such as government relations and administrative issues and reports directly to the Baha'i World Center located in Haifa, Israel. The Vietnamese Baha'i community will meet in Da Nang in October to hold their annual elections for nine NSA officers. HANOI 00001636 002.2 OF 002 Every April the Baha'is hold elections throughout the country at the local level in order to elect LSA members. ¶9. (SBU) Binh said relations between the government and the GVN are good and seem to be getting better. During a recent trip by Prime Minister Dzung to India, a delegation of GVN officials and the prime minister's wife met with Baha'is in New Delhi and toured the Baha'i Temple. Members of the Hanoi LSA are schedule to meet with the President and Prime Minister sometime after the National Day holiday. LSA representatives are in close contact with officials from the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and National Committee on Religious Affairs. ¶10. (SBU) Binh said Baha'is once owned several property sites but after the war the government took ownership. The Baha'is apparently have the titles of ownership in their possession and in one building Baha'i inscriptions are still evident in what is now a local government office. The Baha'i community plans to initiate a dialogue with the GVN on this issue with a view to reclaiming the sites in question. COMMENT: GROWING COMMUNITIES NEED SPACE -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Members of the Baha'i and Muslim communities continue to worship, educate their members, and observe holy days without government intervention. The question of land rights and the status of previous places of worship now in government possession, however, is an issue for these as well as other religious communities. With progress on religious freedom, the number of believers will likely continue to rise and congregations now forced to worship in small or interim locations will make more requests to the government to expand their property or challenge the government to return former houses of worship. MICHALAK