Vietnam monk makes plea for democracy
HO CHI MINH CITY - A leading
dissident Buddhist monk has issued a
fresh call for democracy in
communist-ruled Vietnam and for the
restoration of a banned Buddhist
organisation.
Thich Quang Do, 72, an outspoken
critic of the government and
secretary general of the outlawed
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
(UBCV), said international donors
should reconsider unconditional aid
and loans to Vietnam as these served
only to strengthen the Communist
Party.
``What we need is freedom,
democracy and human rights, this is
more important for us than
international aid,'' Do said in a recent
interview.
``The Soviet Union collapsed in just
three days after existing for 74 years,
that is our hope.''
He said Vietnam's landmark reform
policies introduced in 1986 had been
limited to the economic field, and that
there had been no political change.
Do, who has spent much of the last
20 years under detention or in
prison, said his release from jail as
part of a broad amnesty last
September was a direct result of
protests from foreign governments
and the United Nations.
``Under house or pagoda arrest I
lost 10 years (1982-92), and in
prison the first time was two years
(1977-78) and the last time
(1995-98) three-and-a-half years,''
Do said.
Prior to his release Do had been
serving a five-year sentence for
offences connected with attempts to
send relief supplies to flood victims in
1994.
But he added that his newfound
freedom did not signify the party was
relaxing its stand against dissidents or
unofficial religious organisations.
About 10 Buddhist monks were still
imprisoned, he said.
Hanoi denies it detains and imprisons
people for the peaceful expression of
religious or political beliefs, as
charged by some foreign
governments and international human
rights groups.
Last month Do was detained and
questioned for six hours before being
ordered to return to the former
Saigon, after secretly travelling to
central Quang Ngai to meet UBCV
patriarch Thich Huyen Quang. The
patriarch has been held under
pagoda arrest since 1981.
Do said his telephone was tapped
and his home at the Thanh Minh Zen
monastery in Ho Chi Minh City was
under constant surveillance, but he
vowed to continue to speak out.
``People are frightened to come here
to see me because I am considered a
reactionary monk. But I see nothing
in myself that is dangerous, I only
speak the truth,'' he said.
He called for the restoration of the
UBCV, which had been banned and
replaced by the state-sponsored
Vietnam Buddhist Church in the
years following the end of the
Vietnam War in 1975.
``We are hoping for the situation to
change so that we can restore our
activities. As long as we live under a
communist regime we can't do
anything to restore the UBCV,'' Do
said.
The UBCV had been involved in
widespread Buddhist protests during
the 1960s against repression and
corruption from the former
U.S.-backed Saigon regime.
Do called for peaceful fundamental
political change. ``We don't want a
sudden revolution because that
means bloodshed,'' he said.
But he added he held no hatred
towards the Communist Party.
``I love them because I am a
Buddhist. I do not hate them, I am
only sad because they did not bring
happiness to the Vietnamese people.
They did not realise the idea of
freedom, democracy and happiness,''
he said.
Reuters - April 8, 1999.
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