From RFA
Vietnamese authorities have declared their intention to tear down a Buddhist temple and two Christian churches in southern Saigon to make way for a lucrative development scheme, drawing protests from religious leaders and local congregants, sources said.
Notre Dame Cathederal in Saigon, Vietnam. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
In response to the government warning, an Interfaith Council representing five Vietnamese Christian and Buddhist groups issued an online public appeal this week for support in blocking the confiscation of the buildings and the land in the Thu Thiem area in the country’s largest city.
Addressed to governments, international human rights groups, news outlets, and “all Vietnamese Compatriots,” the Sept. 15 petition, which gained almost 600 signatures in the first 30 hours of its posting, notes the government’s threat to close the Lien Tri Pagoda by the end of September.
“Many other religious institutions are under the same threat,” the petition adds, “including the Thu Thiem Catholic Church, the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross; not to mention already shuttered facilities owned by the Vietnam Evangelical Church and Mennonite Church.”
“The Interfaith Council of Vietnam urgently appeal[s] for your support and cooperation in protecting all religious institutions in Thu Thiem by cosigning the Council’s Statement Regarding Religious Institutions in the New Thu Thiem City Development.”
The notice to close the Lien Tri Pagoda was issued Aug. 18 by officials from Saigon’s An Khanh Ward, District 2, the petition noted, adding that the decision could be implemented at any time between the dates of Sept. 8 to Sept. 30.
Land clearance ‘an excuse’
Authorities have offered payment of VND 5.4 billion (about U.S. $274,000) in compensation for the pagoda and its land, resident abbot Thich Khong Tanh told RFA’s Vietnamese Service this week in an interview.
“I don’t want to accept the offer,” Tanh said. “But they said they will go ahead with their work according to the law, regardless of what I want.”
“We know that the government hasn’t liked Lien Tri for quite some time because we don’t belong to the government’s Buddhist church. We belong to the [outlawed] Vietnamese Unified Buddhist Church, so we have been isolated and cracked down on for many years.”
“Now, they are using this land clearance to eliminate us,” he said.
“The government will do whatever it wants.”
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