Glang Anak / Translated by Jasmine Tran (Danlambao) - On
5 February 2014, in Geneva, the Universal Periodic Review process on
the status of human rights in Vietnam took place. Here, a representative
of the Vietnamese Government Committee for Religious Affairs asserted:
“The Vietnamese government consistently respects, ensures and creates
enabling conditions for all people to exercise the freedom of religion
and belief. The new Constitution has recognized these rights.”
Another talk occurred on 29 January 2014 between EU institutions and the
human rights defenders of the Civil Society Organizations from Vietnam.
Here, a representative from Italy put forward a question: “How do human
rights abuses, harsh rules, and suppressions affect ethnic minorities,
and other powerless and vulnerable people?”
Blogger Nguyen Anh Tuan strongly contended that such people are the most
affected by human rights violations from the government. The examples
he gave were the Hmong cases and Central Highlands ethnic minorities.
Today, we express concern regarding another violation to the freedom of
religion and belief of an ethnic community, occurring on their ancestral
homeland. We contemplate the possibility of “returning the Temple
Towers to the Chams and their high priests, to allow them to fully
practise their religion and administer these Towers”.
All religions have their sacred sites to worship and exercise ceremonial
rituals. If Buddhists have Buddhist Temples, Christians have Churches,
so the Balamon Hindu Chams (or Brahmanic Hindu) should have their Towers
too. This belief originated at the time Champa was an independent
empire, and its religious significance continues to this day.
However, due to recent events the Balamon Hindu Chams cannot freely
visit their towers to practise their rituals and beliefs, as all the
Cham Towers are now under government management.
For the Chams, “the Tower is a sacred place that opens its doors only on
days of ceremonies or festivals. Every year, according to the calendar
of the Chams, the Ahier Chams celebrate the ‘Open Door Ceremony’ led by
Po Adhia, Po Bac, Basaih, Ong Camnei, Muk Pajuw, and Ong Kadhar. The
ceremony can only proceed once all these high priests are present, then
the Tower’s door will be open.”
Prior to 1975, under the Republic of Vietnam government, the Cham Towers
were all managed by the Cham high priests, who organized religious
ceremonies following strict traditional rituals.
After 1975, all the Cham Towers were taken over by the government, who
granted tourist companies administration rights and the opportunity to
exploit the Towers as tourist destinations. The Cham high priests and
Cham people wishing to practise their religion in the Towers must apply
to the government for permission; the task requires very complicated
paperwork. In addition, to pray in a Tower, the Cham people also have to
buy entrance tickets.
What happened at the Po Klaong Garai Cham Towers on 4 February 2014
proved that the Ninh Thuan government violated the Chams’ right to
freedom of religion and belief. On that day, when the group of high
priests gathered at the main Tower to start the “Open Door Ceremony”
(Peh Ba-mbeng Yang), the Tower’s main door was already opened for
tourists on the Lunar New Year occasion. This was despite the Balamon
Hindu Committee already having completed procedures requesting the
government to leave the doors closed until the sacred ritual had been
done. The ritual lasts only an hour. Even more pertinent, the high
priests were very distressed seeing “tourists in inappropriate clothing
with uncultured manners posing for pictures at the sacred Towers, and
carelessly wandering around the ceremonial site”.
The Tower’s door was wide open before the ‘Open Door Ceremony’ was completed
The Chams believe “the event reflected an uncultured attitude that
insulted the Cham traditional religion, offended the local heritage
rituals, and was not accepted by the Cham community”.
Cham ritual at the Tower
A Cham writer has expressed in pessimistic anger: “with events
throughout history, Cham people have lost everything. All they have
today are the Cham Towers for them to worship, to conduct traditional
religious practices fulfilling their duty to their ancestors. But those
who take advantage of these Towers show themselves as uncultured and
ungrateful people. While they collect hundreds of millions of dong by
selling entrance tickets, they are not concerned at all by the requests
of the Religious Committee and of the notable Abbot of the Po Klaong
Garai Tower, by allowing a few hours for the Chams to conduct their
ceremony.”
Ong Camnai discussing with the Tower’s
guard as a request letter was already sent, but the Tower’s door was
already open before the Cham ceremony.
Justice must be brought back, and Freedom of Religion and Belief be respected for the Chams:
1. If the Buddhist Vietnamese can go the Buddhist Temples, the Christian
Vietnamese to the Churches, so the Cham must have the right to visit
their Towers - without having to buy entrance tickets.
2. If the Buddhist monks, nuns, and the Buddhist followers have the
right to manage and conduct their Temples, if the Christian priests can
manage their Churches, so the Cham Towers must be returned to Cham high
priests to be managed, looked after, and conducted suitably to the Cham
religious beliefs and rituals.
3. If the government seeks to exploit these Towers for the tourism
industry, they must arrange the process with Cham dignitaries and the
Cham people. However, the respect of traditional ceremonies must be
prioritised.
4. If the Hanoi government continues to “force” the Cham Towers to be a
primarily tourist destination, as they are doing, they are violating
sacred Cham worship sites. In doing so they are preventing and abusing
the right to freedom of religion and belief of the Chams, and thus, the
government has violated human rights.
5. The Local Religious Committee and local government where the Towers
are located must have the responsibility to solve this problem and to
give back the right to freedom of religion and the right to manage the
Towers to the Cham high priests.
The fair requests and suggestions above from the Cham people
contribute to building a more equal, free, and democratic society in
Vietnam.
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