The corrupt mendacity of the leaders of the Buddhist Sangha in Cambodia

A Busy Week

Excerpt from Post on September 15, 2011 by chris
Originally posted at: http://blog.thecauseofprogress.com/

On Sunday, the Venerable Loun Sovath was evicted from his pagoda at Wat Onaloum. He removed the last of his materials from his room and walked away from the pagoda that has been his home for more than twenty years. A letter issued in April from the head monk in Phnom Penh, the Supreme Patriarch Non Nget, Tep Vong’s right hand man, had banned him from staying in any pagoda in Phnom Penh. A second letter released shortly afterwards, banned him from staying in any pagodas in his home province of Siem Reap, effectively forcing him into exile.

The decision to evict him is a politically motivated one, which is ironic and contradictory in itself given that one of the reasons for his eviction was that he is engaged in political activities that can harm the image of Buddhism in Cambodia. (A claim that the Venerable Loun Sovath has repeatedly denied.) So then what harm can this politically motivated eviction order do to the image of Buddhism?

He is being forcibly evicted because he helps communities that face forced evictions, and in particular his own Chi Kreng community (whom he has advocated on behalf of for more than two years) and the Boeung Kak lake community, whom he has offered spiritual guidance and support on several occasions. His outspoken activities have angered the senior monk ministers, who want no dissension amoung their ranks, and who seem to want only to be seen to reflect the rhetoric of the CPP.

However, while the Venerable Loun Sovath’s activities may not be appreciated by his superiors, he does have support from his fellow students and other monks that know of him. And it may even be this support that motivated Non Nget to have Sovath leave his pagoda for good. He has threatened to not only evict any monks that associate with Sovath, but also to evict all of the monks staying in the same house as him if he did not remove all of his belongings by Sunday.

It is depressing to see a monk evicted in this way, and it simply reflects the corrupt mendacity of the leaders of the Buddhist Sangha in Cambodia, but it is encouraging to know that his peers support his advocacy, and while few other monks will speak out publicly and support him, for fear of the retributions they would face, it is clear that the threats from the senior monks and monk ministers come from fear, a fear that they cannot maintain control forever. Why such a desire for control in the first place?

In a touching show of compassion, many of the women from Boeung Kak lake came to help Sovath remove his belongings.

Venerable Loun Sovath is Evicted from Wat Onaloum from Little Ease Films on Vimeo.

The next day, he flew to Ireland to attend a Human Rights Defender conference held by Frontline Defenders.

The Venerable Loun Sovath prepares to fly to ireland to attend a human rights defender conference. © Chris Kelly 2011.