Monk Held Over Eviction Protest
2012-05-24
Cambodian authorities detain a prominent monk and send 13 women to jail over land eviction demonstrations.
Policemen force prominent monk Loun Savath into a car amid protests over a forced land eviction case in Phnom Penh, May 24, 2012.
Cambodian authorities briefly detained a prominent activist monk on Thursday after he joined protests against the jailing of 13 women over a long-running forced land eviction case.
Loun Savath had participated in the protests staged by several hundred people from the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh who were evicted from their homes, which are being torn down to make way for a residential development project.
Authorities accused the monk of "causing instability” by protesting against a court decision to jail 13 women members of the Boeung Kak community for their role in another protest earlier this week.
Police officers and monks from the Ministry of Cults and Religion forced Loun Savath into a car at about 10:00 a.m. and took him to the Wat Botum pagoda.
Loun Savath, who was not allowed to return home until late in the evening, said that the authorities locked him up for six hours.
“Today, I received massive pressure and I was locked inside a room. I couldn’t walk anywhere and the authorities didn’t allow rights groups or representatives of [foreign] embassies to see me.”
“They accused me of being a mastermind in leading villagers to protest,” he said. “This is not about Buddhism, it is a political issue.”
Thumbprint
Municipal monk officials threatened to have Loun Savath defrocked as a monk, but released him after he put his thumbprint on a statement assuring that he will not join future protests, the monk said.
“If I hadn’t agreed to not participate in the protests in the future, I would have been defrocked and sent to jail.”
“The authorities have violated my rights and freedom. They have abused and threatened me,” he said.
Loun Savath, the recipient of a prominent award from the New-York based Human Rights Watch last year, was banned in April from entering pagodas in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh after he participated in land protests
He was unfazed despite his detention, saying he would not stop his activism even though he was concerned about his personal safety.
Loun Savath had participated in the protests staged by several hundred people from the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh who were evicted from their homes, which are being torn down to make way for a residential development project.
Authorities accused the monk of "causing instability” by protesting against a court decision to jail 13 women members of the Boeung Kak community for their role in another protest earlier this week.
Police officers and monks from the Ministry of Cults and Religion forced Loun Savath into a car at about 10:00 a.m. and took him to the Wat Botum pagoda.
Loun Savath, who was not allowed to return home until late in the evening, said that the authorities locked him up for six hours.
“Today, I received massive pressure and I was locked inside a room. I couldn’t walk anywhere and the authorities didn’t allow rights groups or representatives of [foreign] embassies to see me.”
“They accused me of being a mastermind in leading villagers to protest,” he said. “This is not about Buddhism, it is a political issue.”
Thumbprint
Municipal monk officials threatened to have Loun Savath defrocked as a monk, but released him after he put his thumbprint on a statement assuring that he will not join future protests, the monk said.
“If I hadn’t agreed to not participate in the protests in the future, I would have been defrocked and sent to jail.”
“The authorities have violated my rights and freedom. They have abused and threatened me,” he said.
Loun Savath, the recipient of a prominent award from the New-York based Human Rights Watch last year, was banned in April from entering pagodas in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh after he participated in land protests
He was unfazed despite his detention, saying he would not stop his activism even though he was concerned about his personal safety.
“I won’t stop helping protect society from rights abuses. I will use my knowledge to advocate and help the people,” he said.
Chan Soveth, a member of the Cambodian rights watchdog ADHOC, condemned the monk’s detention, saying it was illegal.
“Police arrested venerable Loun Savath without showing any warrant. It is illegal. It is a surprise to the villagers,” he said.
“People cried” when they witnessed the police pushing him into the car, said Chan Soveth, who was at the scene.
The action was taken to threaten other villagers from taking part in future land eviction protests.
“Loun Savath was hit on his head and forced into the car,” Chan Soveth said.
“The police didn’t respect him as a monk, they didn’t respect the Buddhist robes,” he added.
Boeung Kak
A Phnom Penh court earlier Thursday ordered the 13 women jailed between one year and two and a half years. They were taken to the Prey Sar prison.
The hearing was held under tight security with more than 500 armed police officers surrounding the courthouse.
The women were among 20,000 Boeung Kak residents who were evicted from their homes or are at risk of losing them since a Cambodian-Chinese company was granted a 99-year lease in the area in 2007.
Residents have staged high-profile protests since the company suddenly began draining the lake in 2008.
Human rights group LICADHO’s senior investigator Am Sam Ath, who monitored the court hearing, said the conviction of the 13 women was not acceptable.
“This is injustice for the victims because they are accused of illegally encroaching on private property. They didn’t do that,” he said.
The villagers want to rebuild their houses on the eviction site because they have been waiting for a long time for a solution to the dispute, he said.
Reported by RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink
All begins with the monks, then the citizen and followed by the roler: (from the 16 prophecies of the Buddha, Jataka 77)
ReplyDelete“Four black bulls came together from the four directions with every intention to fight. A great crowd gathered to see them fight, but they were bluffing and dispersed. What will come of it?” The Buddha explained: “This was a dream of the distant future when rulers are stingy, citizens corrupt, the world upside down, and good is declining while bad is increasing. At that time, no rain will fall from the heavens, monsoons will forget their season, crops will wither, and famine will spread across the land. Immense clouds will gather, farmers will rush to bring in the rice they had spread to dry in the sun, workers will take their tools and hurry to repair the reservoir walls. Thunder will roar, and lightning will flash from the clouds. However, just as the bulls in your dream did not fight, these clouds will retreat without giving rain. This is what shall come of this dream. But this dream applies to the remote future. The brahmins only said what they said to profit and have their livelihood from it. What was the second dream, sire?”
2. “My second dream was about tiny trees and shrubs that burst through the soil. When they were only a few inches high, they flowered and fruited.” “Sire, this dream will be realized in future when the world has fallen into decay and the average human lifespan is short. Passions then will be so strong that even very young girls will live with men, get pregnant, and have children symbolized by the the flowers and fruit.”
ReplyDelete3.“I saw cows suckling from their own newborn calves.” “This dream will come when age is no longer respected. In the future young people will have no regard for parents or parents-in-law. They will handle the family estate themselves. If they please they will give food and clothing to the old folks but not if it does not suit them. The aged, destitute and dependent, will survive only by the favor and whim of their own children, like big cows suckled by newborn calves.”
ReplyDelete4. “Men unyoked a team of strong, sturdy oxen, and replaced them with young steers, too weak to draw the load. Those young steers refused to pull. The wagons did not move at all?” “In the future, in the days of corrupt rulers, unjust and stingy leaders will not honor wise leaders skilled in diplomacy. They will not appoint experienced, learned judges to the courts. On the contrary, they will honor the very young and foolish and appoint inexperienced and unprincipled judges to the courts. Naturally, these appointees, due to ignorance of statecraft and the law, will not be able to bear the burden of their responsibilities. Because of incompetence they will have to throw off the yoke of public office. When that happens, the aged and wise will remember being passed over. And even though they are able to cope with the difficulties, they will refuse to help, saying: ‘It is no business of ours since we have become outsiders.’ They will remain aloof, and the government will fall to ruins. It will be just as when young steers yoked instead of a team of sturdy oxen.”
ReplyDelete5. “I saw an incredible horse with a mouth on each side of its head being fed fodder on both sides. That dreadful horse ate voraciously with both its mouths.” “In the days of corrupt and irresponsible leaders, covetous people will be appointed judges. These despicable magistrates, blind to virtue and honesty, will take bribes from both sides. That is, they will be doubly corrupt, eating with two mouths at once.”
ReplyDelete6. “I saw people holding out a brightly polished golden bowl, which must have been worth a fortune. They were actually begging an old jackal to pee in it. Then I saw the repulsive beast do just that.” “In the remote future, when immoral rulers from royal lines mistrust the established administrators, preferring instead the low of the country. Because of the rulers’ blindness, nobles will decline and the low will be raised to the status of leaders. Naturally, the great families will give their daughters to them in marriage. The union of the noble with the ignoble will be like the urinating of the old jackal into the golden bowl.”
ReplyDelete7. “I saw a man braiding rope. As he worked, he dropped the finished rope at his feet. Under his bench, unknown to him, lay a hungry pregnant jackal kept eating the rope just as fast as he braided it.” “In far off days women will crave men, strong drink, extravagant clothes, jewelry, and base entertainments. In their profligacy these women will get drunk with their lovers and carry on shamelessly. In so doing they will neglect their homes and families. They will pawn household valuables, selling everything for drink and amusements, even the means of future earnings. Just as the hungry jackal under the bench ate the rope of the rope-maker, so these women will squander the savings earned by their families.”
ReplyDelete8. “At a palace gate there stood a big pitcher full to the brim. Around it stood many empty pitchers. From all directions there came a steady stream of people carrying pots of water they poured into the already full pitcher. The water from the full pitcher kept overflowing wastefully soaking into the sand. Still the people came and poured more and more water. Not a single person even glanced at the empty pitchers more in need of filling.” “In the future when the world is in decline, the country will grow weak, and its leaders will be poorer and more demanding. These rulers in their poverty and selfishness will make the whole country work exclusively for them. They will force citizens to neglect their own work and to labor for them. For the rulers’ sake they will plant sugar cane, make sugar-mills, and boil down molasses. For the rulers’ sake they will plant flower gardens and orchards and gather fruits. They will harvest the crops and fill the storerooms and warehouses to overflowing, but they will be unable even to glance at their own empty stores at home. It will be like filling and overfilling the full pitcher, heedless of the needy, empty ones.”
ReplyDelete8. “At a palace gate there stood a big pitcher full to the brim. Around it stood many empty pitchers. From all directions there came a steady stream of people carrying pots of water they poured into the already full pitcher. The water from the full pitcher kept overflowing wastefully soaking into the sand. Still the people came and poured more and more water. Not a single person even glanced at the empty pitchers more in need of filling.” “In the future when the world is in decline, the country will grow weak, and its leaders will be poorer and more demanding. These rulers in their poverty and selfishness will make the whole country work exclusively for them. They will force citizens to neglect their own work and to labor for them. For the rulers’ sake they will plant sugar cane, make sugar-mills, and boil down molasses. For the rulers’ sake they will plant flower gardens and orchards and gather fruits. They will harvest the crops and fill the storerooms and warehouses to overflowing, but they will be unable even to glance at their own empty stores at home. It will be like filling and overfilling the full pitcher, heedless of the needy, empty ones.”
ReplyDelete10. “I saw rice cooking in a pot but never getting done. By ‘never getting done’ I mean that it looked as if the cooking were going on in three distinct stages sharply delineated and separate from each other: One part of the rice was sodden, another part was hard and raw, and the third part looked like it was perfectly cooked.” “In days to come leaders will become corrupt. The administrators [noble caste] will follow the leader’s example and so will the elite educated class [brahmin caste]. The townspeople, the merchants, and at last even the laborers will become corrupt. Eventually, everyone in the country, the sages and even the devas of the land, will become immoral. Even the winds that blow over the realm of such a corrupt leader will grow cruel and lawless. Because even the skies and the spirits of the skies over that land will be disturbed, they will cause a drought. Rain will never fall on the whole territory at once. It may rain in the upper districts, but in the lower it will not. In one place a heavy downpour will damage the crops, while in another area the crops will wither from drought. The crops sown within a single country -- like the rice in the pot -- shall have no uniform character.”
ReplyDelete11. “I saw rancid buttermilk being bartered for precious sandalwood worth a fortune in gold.” “In the distant future, when my teaching is waning [note the Buddha's teaching was predicted to remain uncorrupted for 1,000/2500 (in some resources) years], there will be many greedy, shameless monastics, who for the sake of their bellies dare to preach the very words in which I have warned against greed! Because they desert the liberating-Dharma to gratify their stomachs, and because they sided with holders of various views, their preaching will not lead to nirvana. Their only thought as they preach will be to use fine words and sweet voices to induce lay believers to give them costly robes, delicate food, and every comfort. Others will seat themselves beside the highways, at busy street corners, or at the doors of rulers’ palaces where they will stoop to preach for money, even for a pittance! Thus these monastics will barter away my teaching that leads to liberation from suffering for food, robes, or coins! They will be like those who exchanged precious sandalwood worth a fortune in pure gold for rancid buttermilk.”
ReplyDelete12. “I saw dried gourds sinking in the water.” “In the days of unjust rulers, when the world is upside down, when leaders favor the low rather than the noble, the low will become great leaders, while the nobles will sink into poverty. In the leader’s court and in the courts of justice, the words of the low alone will be recognized. Like the dried gourds, they will be firmly established. In the assemblies of monastics it will be the same. Whenever there are inquiries about proper behavior, rules of conduct, or rules of discipline, only the counsel of wicked, corrupt monastics will be considered. The advice of modest monastics will be ignored. It will be as when the empty pumpkins sank.”
ReplyDelete13. “I saw huge blocks of solid stone as big as houses floating like dried gourds on water.” “At a time of corrupt rulers who honor the low, who become great leaders, while the nobles fade into obscurity. The nobles will receive no respect, while ignorant upstarts are granted honors. In the ruler’s court and in law courts, the words of nobles, learned in the law, will drift idly by like those solid stones. They will not penetrate deep into the hearts of people. When the wise speak, the ignorant will merely laugh at them with scorn, saying ‘What is it these individuals are saying?’ In the monastic assemblies as well, people will not respect the excellent elders. Their words will not sink deep but will drift idly by, just like those rocks floating on water.”
ReplyDelete14. “I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than miniature flowers, swiftly pursuing huge black snakes and devouring them.” “In future days when the world is declining, at that time human passions will be so strong that husbands will be thoroughly infatuated with childish brides. Men will lose all judgment and self-respect. And being completely smitten, they will place their infantile wives in charge of everything -- servants, livestock, granaries, gold and silver, everything in the house. Should the over-fond husband presume to ask for some money or a favorite robe, he will be told to mind his own business and not to be so inquisitive about property in her house. These abusive young wives will exercise power over their husbands as if their men were hired servants or slaves. It will be like the tiny frogs that gobbled up the big black snakes.”
ReplyDelete15. “I saw a village crow, a vile creature with all the ten vices,* attended by an entourage of Mallard ducks, beautiful birds with feathers of golden sheen.” “In the reign of weakling rulers there will be some who know nothing about governing. They will be fools and cowards who understand neither battle nor the art of leadership. Fearing that they may be deposed in a revolt or revolution, they will elevate even their servants, bath-attendants, barbers, and the like [that is, loyal but shockingly unqualified people] to positions of power. These rulers will ignore the real administrators. Cut off from favor and unable to support themselves, the real administrators will be reduced to kissing up like sycophants to the upstart rulers, as when the crow had regal Mallard ducks for a retinue. And, sire, your sixteenth dream?”
ReplyDelete16. “I saw goats chasing leopards and eating them. At the sight of goats in the distance, the leopards were stricken with terror and fled to hide in thickets quaking with fear. Such was my dream. What will come of it?” “This dream too will not have its fulfillment until the time of immoral rulers. The low will be raised to important posts and will become the favorites of the administration. Real administrators will sink into obscurity and distress. Gaining power in courts of law because of such favor, the low will claim the ancestral estates of the impoverished traditional leaders, demanding their titles and property. When the real owners plead for their rights in court, the ruler’s minions will have them beaten and tortured, then taken by the throat and thrown out with words of scorn: ‘That ought to teach you to know your place, fools!’ they will shout. ‘How dare you dispute it? The ruler shall hear of your insolence, then we will have your hands and feet chopped off!’ At this, the terrified nobles will agree that black is white and that their own estates belong to these upstarts. They will then hurry off and cower in agony and fear. Likewise, at that time, unprincipled monastics will harass good and worthy recluses until the worthy ones flee from the monasteries to the forest. This oppression of real nobles by the low and of good monastics by bad ones will be like the intimidation of leopards by goats. However, you have nothing to fear from this. This dream like the others only refers to the future.”
ReplyDeleteYou! Read carfuly! Don't think on others. You should read one more time and see your self in the story.
ReplyDeleteA corrupt society is simply because of you. You are the one who can change to a righteous life, watch over your own attention. Nobody else can do.
YOU! Only you are the one who is able to understand your own share on this situation. If you like to stop corruption you need to be a blameless sample and start by your self.
All you need is to start to be honest by your self, give up your attachments, give up your greed and look simply over your on tasks.
Appamada!
YOU, YES YOU! Nobody else is responsible for your life and your future. You can change future all the time with your present intentions. The history, this is gone and your karma will follow in any way. So do not struggle with the past, you would make it just more worse.
YES YOU!
Dear Hanzze;
ReplyDeleteI read all those pasting. I do agree with all those proverbs and comparison. But it can only apply with a certain situation.
Let look at the world of the larger scale: Ghandi and Martin had practiced like what you said to change the corrupt society?
Please, elaborate on this.
Dhammaduta
Ghandi had caused and still causes millions of deaths and India an Pakistan still fight each other. He was a hero for the moment, he was killed and he had caused millions suffering on his way of making peace to a politic of extortion. It's a matter if there is peace in the heart and not a matter of just physical acts.
ReplyDeleteThoughts at least intention makes causes. Its pretty enough to have an evil thought, a thought of dislike, a thought of "I like to have it like this" to bear the evil fruits out of it.
To see him as a sample of peace might be one for people who do not understand where action origins, wholesome as well as unwholesome things are coming from.
I guess you need to look a little deeper into history.
The same is with Martin Luther King, its all nice when you believe that things are not changing and have their additional causes. You need to look about the conditions off the people today and you need to watch carefully what really has changed. We know that there are much more problems and crimes in US as their is in Cambodia, we also know that Cambodia is still a peaceful land. If we look at US and their politic of hypocrite righteous politic, we also know that they lead the most wars on earth, and earn the most money with weapons.
There are many people who think that they do good, actually all think so, but as long as one self is corrupt, is not earnest and has no wisdom, he is just another leader into struggle fight and death.
If you like western heroes, christian heroes, even Muslim heroes, that their is no problem. The whole world do so, but do not call it Buddhist way or peacefully way.
Call it my way or my idea and but all identifications that could make Buddhas teachings of not-harming, non-violence, renunciation dirty.
Once again, what is your share of this corruption and as soon as you find something, pull it out of your self. There can be no corruption if you are not part of it and a leader is also not able to work without corruption is all people are corrupt. And that is why monks would give a good example if they would simply act in accordance with the Vinaya and they would be able to teach without corruption, without the thought "if I help him he will give me food and what I need and like" but starting with using money you are part of the corrupted world.
Just pull your share out of it. That is all you can do and it has real effects, longtime effects but maybe nobody will know you and nobody will call you a hero you might leave this world unknown by anyone.
Such people exist, and you should honor them and follow their ways.
And with that words, I pull my share out of the struggle and leave it up to you capacity to investigate a little more, what Buddha was talking about.
ReplyDeleteIt's not possible to make others understand if they do not put right effort into it.
With the wish every disciple of the Buddha would leave my "struggle" with your foolishness also end:
"May you find the right way to peace for your self with ease."
"May all beings find their ways to peace for themselves with ease."
May all develop faith in the awaking of the Buddha
_()_
Now, it is reasonable to say while Ven. Loun Sovath is serving the weak people by joining investigate their protest to release those jailed innocents.
ReplyDeleteYou have not expressed any sympathy towards him but condemn him serviously...so as every one can understand, you are the one who is serving the politics, serving those in power and condemn the monk who has not benefited or had any political involvement.
While you are talking good about the Dhamma but your intention and your mission is to use the Dhamma to serve the evils.
I will not waste my time talking Dhamma with you from now on, Mr.Hanzze.
Dhammaduta