Security Police
release Venerable Thich Quang Do after 40 Buddhist monks stage hunger strike in
Ho Chi Minh City Railway Station
Fri Feb 17, 4:29 PM (IBIB News)
Venerable
Thich Quang Do, deputy leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
(UBCV) was released late last night (16th February) after being assaulted by
Security Police and detained for more than six hours at the Railway Station in
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He was arrested along with a delegation of 11 UBCV
monks as they prepared to take the train to Binh Dinh province to visit the
detained UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang. Thich Quang Do, 77, is unhurt but
severely shaken. He is currently resting at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery.
Pressured by the growing crowds, Security Police decided to release Thich Quang
Do after several hours of increasing tension, during which 40 UBCV monks staged
a sit-in protest and began a hunger strike inside the station. The monks
declared that they would not move until Thich Quang Do was released.
In a phone conversation with IBIB Director and UBCV International spokesman Vo
Van Ai, Thich Quang Do said the Police had dragged him away from the other UBCV
monks and detained him in the Railway Station’s “security room”. The other monks
did not know his whereabouts.
“Four Security Police lifted me bodily and carried me away like a pig”, said
Thich Quang Do. “They did this in broad day-light, in a public place in front of
thousands of people. I am ashamed for my country and my people. Until we have
true freedom and democracy, ordinary citizens will continue to be treated like
animals in Vietnam”.
Thich Quang Do, who suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a heart
condition, said he fell unconscious after they threw him into the “security
room”. When he regained consciousness, he was surrounded by Security Police.
After detaining him for more than six hours, they hauled him into a Police van
and left the railway station by a side door to avoid being seen by the crowd of
Buddhists and monks on hunger strike. The Police forcibly escorted Thich Quang
Do back to the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, where he is under effective house
arrest.
Thich Quang Do told Vo Van Ai that he would not renounce his intention to visit
UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang, and would continue attempting to make the
trip. “It is part of our traditions and culture to pay our respects to our
elders in the Lunar New Year season”, he said. “Vietnam is a member of the
United Nations and it has a binding commitment to respect fundamental freedoms
and rights. It cannot expect to gain eligibility within the international
community if it continues to flagrantly violate its citizens’ human rights”.