Followers of a world-famous Buddhist teacher say police and a mob of villagers have forced them out of a monastery in central Vietnam, ending their monthslong standoff with the communist authorities over religious freedom.
Followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnam-born monk who has popularized Buddhism in the West, said about 150 monks were forced from the Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province on Sunday, and about 230 nuns left on their own yesterday morning.
“The Vietnamese government has won,” said Sister Dang Nghiem, speaking by telephone yesterday from a monastery in San Diego, California, where Nhat Hanh was visiting. “Their ‘victory’ is that Bat Nha is completely destroyed. Everything is smashed.”
The dispute is a remarkable turnaround from four years ago, when Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam after 39 years of exile. His return made the front pages of state-owned newspapers, and many saw his return as evidence that the government was easing restrictions on religion.
Authorities originally approved of his group’s activities, but the relationship began to deteriorate about a year ago. The government has been trying to remove the monks from Bat Nha for several months, describing the standoff as a conflict between two Buddhist factions.
Nhat Hanh’s followers, however, said the government was cracking down because their teacher had urged it to end its control of religion and disband the religious police.
Authorities said the followers ignored requests to leave from the monastery’s abbot, Duc Nghi, a member of the official Buddhist Church of Vietnam, who invited the followers to settle there in 2005 but changed his mind last year. The followers, however, said Duc Nghi embraced Nhat Hanh as his teacher for life but was pressured by the government to renounce him.
Nhat Hanh’s followers said about 150 local residents and plainclothes police descended on Bat Nha early on Sunday, smashing windows, dragging monks from their dormitory and herding them into vehicles that took them to other locations in the province.
Nguyen Phuoc Loc, a follower from Ho Chi Minh City, said he helped relocate the nuns to a nearby pagoda early yesterday, leaving Bat Nha empty.
Reached by telephone yesterday morning, Huynh Duc Hoa, the head of Lam Dong’s provincial government, denied that anything had happened at the monastery and hung up without answering further questions.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RSS