PARIS, 13th December 2007 (IBIB) - The International Buddhist Information Bureau is informed that UBCV Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang has rejected an invitation from the Ministry of Public Security to attend the “6th Nation-wide Congress of Buddhist Representatives for 2007-2012” (i.e. the 6th Congress of the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church, set up under Communist Party control in 1981) that opens in Hanoi today (13.12.2007). 2008 UN Vesak Day International Organising Committee in Hanoi abusively lists name of UBCV dignitary Thich Thien Tam: On the International Organising Committee (IOC) of the 2008 United Nations Vesak Day (Birth of Buddha) which has just been made public on the official website, Buddhists at home and abroad were deeply disturbed to see the name of UBCV dignitary Thich Thien Tam, Head of the Canadian Overseas UBCV’s Advisory Board Secretariat and Commissioner for Canadian Affairs of the new Overseas UBCV Office. In fact, Venerable Thich Thien Tam has never been invited to be an IOC member, nor informed that his name was being used. In a letter to Professor Le Manh That, Chairman of the 2008 Vesak IOC in Hanoi, Thich Thien Tam denounced the abuse of his name as a “dubious and unlawful move to create confusion and divisions within the Buddhist community in Vietnam and overseas”. He demanded that his name be immediately withdrawn. Thich Thien Tam deplored that the 2008 UN Vesak Day would be organised by the Communist authorities and the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church not to truly commemorate Lord Buddha’s Birth, but to parade an illusory “religious freedom” for international public opinion, whilst continuing to ruthlessly muzzle and repress the independent UBCV.   more »