Hoang Hung Protests Violence Against Buddhists

Left to Right: Hoang Hung, Paul Hoover, Bei Dao (2003)

Please take a look at the New York Times article of yesterday regarding the petition of Vietnamese poet Hoang Hung for an investigation of violence against 400 young monks at a renowned Vietnamese monastery, as described below.

"Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese-born Zen master who popularized Buddhism in the West, wrote a letter last week to President Nguyen Minh Triet in which he criticized the police who evicted nearly 400 of his followers from a monastery -- the first time the teacher has spoken out about the incident. His followers say a mob including undercover police descended on the Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province on Sept. 27, damaged buildings and forced the monastics out, beating some with sticks" (NY Times, 10/9/09).

The full article is at: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/09/world/AP-AS-Vietnam-Buddhist-Standoff.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Hoang Hung is a leading Vietnamese poet and translator. With Nguyen Do, he has translated the work of Allen Ginsberg for publication in Vietnam. His poetry is included in Black Dog, Black Night: Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry (Milkweed Editions, 2008), which I edited with Nguyen Do.

The following has a link to the petition, for those who wish to sign.
Author: Hoàng Hưng

RE: Bát Nhã Incident

Respectfully addressing all those who care for the fate of 400 young monks, nuns and aspirants living in Bát Nhã Monastery, Lâm Đồng, Vietnam.

On the initiative of a number of friends, on the 5th October 2009, a petition addressing the incident of the attack on Bát Nhã Monastery has just been sent to the office of the Chairman of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the office of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the office of the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This petition has the first 67 signatures, amongst them many leading scholars, artists and authors, from well known newspapers inside and outside of the country.

In order to ensure the quick passing of the content of the letter to the President, the Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the Parliament, in addition to following official channels, we have respectfully asked Bauxitevietnam website, Talawas blog, Diễn Đàn forum, and news channels BBC, RFI, RFA to broadcast it.

We are still continuing to receive additional signatures for this petition to add on to the petition we have already sent to the leaders of Vietnam. We may be contacted at this e-mail:

thinhnguyenbatnha@gmail.comHYPERLINK "http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/d?k=01ZyrSXs-rnDP7RZsSj482wQ==&c=Z7IJi0XGzLT912SlEAmBNsGb3ar3ysSwa5VHF_vaMF8="

We respectfully thank each and everyone for your attention to this petition and eagerly await your support.

On behalf of all those who signed first,
Hoàng Hưng