Source: The Malaysia Star
Wire Service: AP
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/11/apworld/20100111202427&sec=apworld
A famous Zen master has accused Vietnam's communist government of hiring mobs of people to violently evict his Buddhist followers from two monasteries.
Thich Nhat Hanh, who helped popularize Buddhism in the West and has sold millions of books worldwide, has also called on Vietnam to lift restrictions on religious freedom and respect human rights.
Nhat Hanh made the comments in a letter to his Vietnamese followers in late December, days after they were pressured by a mob and government authorities to leave the Phuoc Hue temple in the southern province of Lam Dong.
"Our country does not yet have true religious freedom, and the government tightly controls the Buddhist Church machinery," Nhat Hanh wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
"The Buddhist Church is helpless, unable to protect its own children. This is a truth clearly seen by everyone."