Local Authorities Stand By As Internecine Dispute at Bat

UNCLAS HANOI 000653

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL/AWH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF VM

SUBJECT: Local Authorities Stand By As Internecine Dispute at Bat
Nha Pagoda Turns Violent


1. (SBU) Summary: Post has received scores of calls from American
Buddhists, Congressman Peter Welch and former Ambassador Andrew
Young about ongoing mob violence against 400 monks from the Plum
Village Lang Mai order. The violence is the culmination of a
dispute that surfaced last fall and can be traced to overtly
political statements critical of the GVN on a Vietnamese language
website affiliated with the Plum Village Community. Local and
central government officials have refused to get involved and the
central organ of the Vietnamese Buddhist community - the Vietnamese
Buddhist Sangha (VBS) - has only recently engaged. Although the
violence seems to have subsided, the monks remain isolated at the
pagoda without power or water. The Committee on Religious Affairs
and the Ministry of Public Security have, to date, failed to respond
to our request to meet to discuss the situation. End Summary.


2. (SBU) There are three main pagodas that have a significant
number of monks and nuns affiliated with the Lang Mai order in
Vietnam - one in Ho Chi Minh City, one in Hue, and Bat Nha pagoda -
the largest of the three - in Lam Dong. The Bat Nha pagoda has
served as the central training facility for Plum Village followers
since Thich Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam approximately five years
ago. At that time, Thich Nhat Hanh struck a deal with the head monk
of the Bat Nha pagoda, Thich Duc Nghi, to allow Plum Village
followers to create a center of learning within the pagoda in
exchange for an $80,000 investment in the infrastructure of the
pagoda. The arrangement seems to have worked well until the end of
last year when Nghi (affiliated with the officially-recognized VBS)
decided that he did not want to Hanh's followers to continue to
staying at the pagoda. Nghi informed us that he felt pressured by
the central VBS and the Committee for Religious Affairs because
Hanh's previous statements could be interpreted as critical of the
Vietnamese government. Nghi was probably also influenced by a
number of controversial articles posted on website of a Thich Nhat
Hanh affiliate (http://phusaonline.free.fr/index.htm). While the
Plum Village community claims the site is not an official website of
the community, it prominently featured articles critical of GVN
policies on a number of sensitive issues - including bauxite mining,
border disputes with China, and the recent arrest of Le Cong Dinh -
mixed with information about the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. It
may also be that Nghi simply wanted to appropriate Lang Mai
facilities without compensation.


3. (SBU) The dispute culminated at the end of June when local
officials permitted Nghi's deputy to cut off power and water
supplies to the Lang Mai order at the pagoda. A large mob of angry
Nha Bat monks and local thugs stormed the facilities, burned the
homes of nuns, destroyed many of the Lang Mai facilities, and beat
several monks staying there. The police permitted the destruction,
but prevented the crowd from entering the common area in a dormitory
where Lang Mai monks and nuns sought refuge. The standoff continued
for several days, with the mob chanting angry slogans demanding that
those affiliated with the Lang Mai order leave the pagoda. The
angry crowd receded over the last week, but the Lang Mai monks and
nuns remain without power and water service. Followers have been
allowed into the dormitory to provide food and water.


4. (SBU) Last week, the Lang Mai order sent formal petitions to the
Southern VBS in Ho Chi Minh City asking for their intercession in
the dispute. On July 5, the Southern VBS called a meeting with the
Lam Dong VBS Central Committee and Nghi. Some Lam Dong VBS central
committee members, including the provincial VBS Vice Chairman, were
critical of the mistreatment of the Lang Mai order. Nghi pledged to
restore power to the Lang Mai order but has not yet done so. Local
authorities and the police still seem reluctant to intervene. On
July 10, the Vice President of the Central VBS stated that he
supported a cooling off period which would allow the Lang Mai order
to stay at Bat Nha pagoda until September or October. After that,
the monks and nuns would have to leave the pagoda and resettle to
pagodas in their home provinces if an agreeable resolution cannot be
found.


5. (SBU) Comment: The conflict at the Bat Nha pagoda involves a
long-simmering dispute over many issues not directly related to
religious freedom. The politically sensitive comments posted on the
pagoda's website no doubt contributed to increased tensions but do
not appear to have been the primary cause of the dispute.
Nonetheless, the local government's failure to play a constructive
role in mediating the dispute or indeed even to take action to
restore law and order when the dispute turned violent has clearly
had a negative impact on the ability of the citizens involved to
exercise their basic rights, including their freedom to worship.
End comment.

MICHALAK