Top Vietnam Buddhists seek to publish journal
HANOI - Thich Quang Do, a top leader in
Vietnam with a banned Buddhist church, said on Monday his
group had applied to publish a magazine to correct what he said
were distortions of Buddhism in official communist-controlled
media.
``They talk about Buddhist doctrine only with an aim of
destroying it, not building it. So we ask that we also have the
right to defend ourselves, that what they say is wrong about
Buddhist doctrine,'' Do told Reuters on Monday from his
monastery in southern Ho Chi Minh City.
``But I believe they will not give us permission to (publish) that.''
Private publishing in Vietnam is not tolerated, and all books,
newspapers and magazines have to be produced by state
bodies and licensed by the culture ministry.
Earlier this year, dissident and former top Communist Party
ideologue, General Tran Do lodged an application to publish a
private newspaper but was rejected.
Do said his three-page letter, which had been addressed to
Communist Party and government leaders, was sent on
September 22.
Former Nobel Peace Prize nominee Do, 72, served much of
the last 20 years in prison or under detention. He ranks number
two in the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and
heads its Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma.
Do, who was freed from jail last year, and a number of other
senior UBCV clergy have recently been subjected to
interrogations. Police told one of the monks that an order had
been signed to arrest ``all'' top UBCV personnel, Do has said.
The UBCV was formed during the Vietnam War in the former
South Vietnam. After the war ended in 1975, the communists
seized UBCV property, forcing many UBCV monks to work
or join the army.
In 1981 Hanoi created the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist
Church, which effectively outlawed the UBCV.
The International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB), the
UBCV's Paris-based office, in a statement on Monday said
Do's letter attacked the Communist Party for limiting freedom of
expression and violating the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
``The party and the government prohibit Buddhists and
followers of other religious denominations from denouncing or
criticising erroneous pronouncements on religion made by party
and government,'' the IBIB quoted Do's letter as saying.
Reuters - September 27, 1999.
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