It is ironical that communist
Government of China, which views religion as potentially destabilizing and
contradictory to communist philosophy, has facilitated the organization of
Fifth World Buddhist Forum in the city of Putian in east China’s Fujian
province in October,2018.
The forum is
supposed to be Jointly proposed by Buddhist communities in Chinese mainland,
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao in 2005 and it is claimed that the World Buddhist
Forum was established as a platform for Buddhists to communicate and cooperate.
It was said that the objective of the Fifth World Buddhist Forum was to promote
positive roles of religious people in economic and social development, the Belt
and Road Initiative and the building of a community with a shared future for
mankind.
It is surprising and
even shocking that around 800 people including Chinese and overseas Buddhists
were reported to have participated in the so called World Buddhist Forum
facilitated by Chinese government, without realizing that Government of China
is committed to negation of established religious philosophies and has no
particular commitment to the philosophy and cause of Buddhism,
The fact is that
the approach and policy of the communist government of China is oriented
towards denial of individual freedom and liberty for Chinese citizens to follow
religion of their choice in variety of ways. The revised communist party
disciplinary rules demand that the party members who have religious beliefs
should undergo “thought education”.
Freedom of religion
in China is provided for in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China
with an important caveat the government protects what it calls “normal
religious activity” defined in practice as activities that take place within
government sanctioned religious organisations and registered places of worship.
Though China’s five
officially sanctioned religious organisations namely Buddhist Association of
China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self
Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association are afforded a
degree of protection, they are subject to restrictions and controls under the
State Administration for Religious Affairs. Unregistered religious groups –
including house churches, Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, underground Catholics and
Uyghur Muslims – face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment,
torture and forced religious conversion.
Several human
rights bodies have criticised such practice as falling short of international
standards for the protection of religious freedom.
It is well known
that the Chinese government has been suppressing the practice of Islam religion
It is reported that around one million Muslims have been held in Chinese
internment camps, according to estimates cited by the UN officials. It is
further reported that over the course of an indoctrination process lasting
several months, muslims were forced to renounce Islam, criticize their own
Islamic beliefs and those of fellow inmates and recite Communist Party
propaganda songs for hours each day.
Given such ground
reality, the communist China with a dictatorial regime is certainly an unfit
location for organizing this forum, which is claimed to be a platform for
Buddhists to communicate.
One can clearly see
that organization of Buddhist forum in China is a clever attempt by Chinese
government to give an impression that China is friendly towards Buddhist
religion, which is not fact and cover it’s misdeeds in the Buddhist country
Tibet.
China has
ruthlessly invaded Tibet, a deeply religious Buddhist country, massacred
thousands of Buddhists who protested against Chinese invasion and has been
occupying the helpless Tibet for several decades now.
The very fact that
the government of China refuses to permit any foreigner to visit occupied Tibet
clearly highlights the fact that China has lot to conceal with regard to it’s
militant administration in Tibet and the freedom suppressed conditions in which
Tibetans live. Certainly, any government committed to the cause of non violence
and truth, which Buddhism espouses ,cannot behave in such manner. Today, Tibet
is an iron curtain as far as Government of China’s Tibetan policy is concerned.
In this connection,
one may recall that a bill is before US Senate for passing for the” reciprocal
access to Tibet act”, which seeks to ensure the same access to American
diplomats and journalists to visit Tibet as the Chinese have to all parts of
US.
While India is the
birth place of Buddhism and several holy sites for Buddhists are in India,
Tibet under the guidance of the revered the Dalai Lama represent the heart and
soul of Buddhism, adhering and practicing the concept and philosophy of
Buddhism in letter and spirit and setting a Buddhist religious model for the
entire world. Chinese government suppressing Tibet virtually amounts to
suppressing Buddhism, with the respected the Dalai Lama now forced to escape
from the Chinese military and live in exile in India.
Buddhists all the
world should introspect about the role of Chinese government in Tibet which
resulted in slow suppression of Buddhist culture and practices in Tibet.
It is not clearly
known whether the Buddhists around the world have protested adequately against
the act of the Chinese government in facilitating the Buddhist forum meeting in
China and in the process trying to create a false image that China supports the
cause of Buddhism.
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