Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
PARIS, 29 September 2006 (IBIB) – Venerable Thich Quang Do, second-ranking leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), paid a visit to UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang at the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) this afternoon, Friday 29th September at 4.00 pm. The UBCV Deputy was accompanied by a delegation of 20 senior UBCV dignitaries including Thich Thien Hanh (Hue), Thich Vien Dinh (Saigon) and leaders of the UBCV Representative Boards in the Central and Southern provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, An Giang etc.
In a telephone conversation with Vo Van Ai, International Buddhist Information Bureau Director and UBCV International spokesman, Thich Quang Do said that the UBCV Patriarch, 86, was feeling a little stronger after a night’s rest. Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang arrived by ambulance from the central province of Binh Dinh at Cho Ray Hospital yesterday evening (28 September) at 7.15pm. He was taken briefly into intensive care for examinations, then moved to a room on the 10th floor. This morning, many UBCV monks, nuns and Buddhists waited at the hospital to pay their respects to the Patriarch, but doctors insisted he must rest, and allowed only groups of 2-3 people to visit him. This afternoon, however, Thich Quang Do and the 20 UBCV monks were all allowed into his room. Thich Quang Do said that the UBCV Patriarch tried to sit up and greet all the monks, but they insisted he remained lying down. Thich Huyen Quang took their hands and spoke to each one of them. Although he was very tired, he seemed deeply moved by such a warm reception after so many years in isolation.
This is the first time that Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do have met since they were arrested in a government crack-down on 9th October 2003 and placed under house arrest respectively at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh and the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon. Thich Quang Do made several attempts to travel to Binh Dinh to visit the Patriarch, but was systematically arrested by Security Police and forcibly escorted back to his monastery each time.
The two UBCV leaders, who have been friends for decades and shared the same fate of imprisonment, internal exile and house arrest for their non-violent struggle for the right to existence of the outlawed UBCV, embraced each other warmly. Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do were both arrested and detained for 20 months in solitary confinement in 1977, then released due to international pressure. They were jointly nominated for the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. In 1982, they were both arrested for protesting the creation of the State-sponsored “Vietnam Buddhist Church” and placed under house arrest in internal exile, Thich Huyen Quang in Quang Ngai (Central Vietnam) and Thich Quang Do in Thai Binh (Northern Vietnam). Althought they hardly met over the following years, they both continued to peacefully oppose the Communist regime by launching appeals for democratic reforms, religious freedom and human rights.
