HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An angry crowd disrupted a meeting Wednesday
between
European Union representatives and followers
of a famous Buddhist monk involved in a tense standoff with Vietnamese
authorities, a Swedish diplomat said Wednesday.
The
crowd of roughly 100 people forced the EU delegation to postpone its
session with followers of Zen master
Thich Nhat Hanh, who has popularized
Buddhism in the West and sold millions of books worldwide, said
Mary Louise Thaning, the delegation leader.
"They
were very angry, so it was not useful to continue the meeting," said
Thaning, the political counselor at the
Swedish Embassy in Hanoi.
Nhat Hanh's
followers say they are being persecuted because their teacher called
on Vietnam's Communist government to end state control of religion and
dismantle the country's religious police. The government says they
have failed to follow Vietnam's laws on religion and must return to
their home villages.
Wednesday's
meeting was at Phuoc Hue pagoda in Lam Dong province, where Nhat
Hanh's followers have taken refuge since being forcibly evicted from
the nearby Bat Nha monastery on Sept. 27.
The
EU delegation returned later Wednesday and succeeded in meeting with
the followers and the Phuoc Hue abbot,
Thich Thai Thuan, who has welcomed the monks
and nuns.
Members of
the angry crowd claimed to be longtime members of Phuoc Hue temple,
but an assistant to the abbot said he did not recognize any of them.
Nhat Hanh's
followers said they recognized several police officers in plainclothes
among the crowd.
Calls to
police in Bao Loc, the town where Phuoc Hue is located, were not
answered.
Nhat Hanh's
followers said the crowd returned after the EU delegation left
Wednesday and entered the abbot's office, where they were demanding
that he sign a statement requiring the followers to leave Phuoc Hue by
Dec. 15.
"They
are screaming that the abbot isn't worthy to lead this temple," Sister
Thuan Khanh, one of 192 monks and nuns
taking refuge at Phuoc Hue, said by telephone.
The
EU delegation was on a three-day fact-finding visit. They met with the
chairman of the local government on Tuesday and were to meet
representatives of the province's officially recognized
Buddhist church on Thursday. Vietnam only
permits state-approved religious groups.
Vietnamese-born Nhat Hanh has lived in exile since being forced out of
the former South Vietnam in the 1960s due to his opposition to the
Vietnam War. He was warmly welcomed by authorities during a homecoming
visit four years ago.
But
during a 2007 visit, he suggested to President
Nguyen Minh Triet that the government give
up its control of religion and consider dropping the word "socialist"
from Vietnam's formal name. Since then, relations have deteriorated.
Wednesday's events came two weeks after Vietnam's
Committee on Religious Affairs issued a
decree rejecting the offer of two monasteries to take in the monks and
nuns if they leave Phuoc Hue, according to Nhat Hanh's followers.
The decree
was issued Nov. 26, the same day the EU parliament passed a resolution
criticizing Vietnam's human rights record and mentioning the events at
Bat Nha.
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