Tensions rise in Binh Dinh as UBCV leaders prepare funeral for Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang

Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang in his open coffin with Thich Quang Do in the background (6.7.2008)

PARIS, 7 July 2008 (IBIB) – Mr. Vo Van Ai, Director of the International Buddhist Information Bureau strongly denounced government pressure on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) as UBCV Deputy leader Thich Quang Do and the UBCV prepare for the funeral ceremony of the 4th Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang who passed away on 5th July 2008. The funeral will take place at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh at 7.00am on 11th July 2008.

Yesterday, 6th July, UBCV Deputy leader Thich Quang Do, Thich Bao An, Thich Thien Hanh and hundreds of UBCV monks and nuns held a solemn ceremony to place Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang’s body in an open coffin, where it will remain until the funeral on Friday 11th July, according to Buddhist traditions. Suddenly, a senior official from the local Vietnam Buddhist Church, Thich Dong Quan arrived at the Monastery, and tried to tear down the poster at with the Funeral Programme, clearly marked with the name of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He shouted: “I forbid you to use the name of an illegal organisation, the Unified Buddhist Church, and the title of Supreme Patriarch”.

Thich Dong Tho, the Patriarch’s personal assistant, rushed out to the Monastery’s gate and told him to stop. The monk ran away, followed by a Policeman.

Announcement of Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang’s Funeral at the Monastery’s gate, marked “Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam”

The same day, the official TV Channel (VTV1) ran a programme ostensibly covering the ceremony. The speaker announced that the authorities had “foiled Thich Quang Do’s evil plot” to make use of Thich Huyen Quang’s death to “make public the illegal UBCV’ and “prevented Thich Quang Do” from laying the UBCV Patriarch to rest in his coffin. This ceremony had been led by the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church, not by the banned UBCV, they said. The programme ran an interview with VBC monk Thich Dong Quan and another VBC official. It showed footage of Sunday’s ceremony at Nguyen Thieu Monastery, in which fleeting images of Thich Quang Do, Thich Bao An and other UBCV monks can be seen. Yet it described the footage as “VBC monks praying over Thich Huyen Quang’s coffin” in accordance with the “wishes of Thich Huyen Quang”.

Mr. Vo Van Ai, Director of the International Buddhist Information Bureau denounced this “blatant disinformation in Vietnam’s State-controlled media” as a “grave violation of the right to press freedom enshrined in Article 69 of Vietnam’s Constitution and Article 19 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is state party. This is especially shocking from a country that holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council’. “Vietnam uses the media to deliberately deceive millions of people in Vietnam about an event that is happening on their own soil. It is an outrage that Vietnam even distorts images and facts on death of a revered spiritual leader. Fortunately, however, Hanoi cannot deceive all of the people all of the time”, he said, disclosing photos received from Vietnam that clearly show Thich Quang Do beside the UBCV Supreme Patriarch’s coffin, and presiding the service at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery.

Security Police vehicle containing telephone jamming device

Today (7th July), hundreds of Security Police arrived at Nguyen Thieu Monastery and are now surrounding the building. The phone to Nguyen Thieu Monastery was cut off yesterday and many cell phones are now jammed. Security Police have placed a jamming system in a vehicle parked outside Nguyen Thieu Monastery (see photo). Journalists in Vietnam report that access to IBIB’s website, which has given regular updates concerning Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and events at Nguyen Thieu, has been blocked.

Following Buddhist traditions, the body of Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang will lie in an open coffin until his funeral on 11th July so that people may pay their respects. He will then be buried in the Monastery’s grounds. UBCV Deputy leader Thich Quang Do told IBIB Director Vo Van Ai that he and the UBCV monks have been taking turns to recite prayers day and night since the Patriarch’s death on Saturday, and will continue to pray without interruption until the Funeral at 7.00am on Friday.

(From left to right) : Most Venerable Thich Bao An, Thich Thien Hanh, Thich Quang Do preside the ceremony on 6 July at Nguyen Thieu Monastery