Vietnamese Baha'is Receive Official Recognition

I was very pleased to notice that the government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam recently allowed the members of the Bahai community to elect a Bahai Administrative body for the first time. This is an important occasion for the Baha’is around the world because it was the first time in 33 years that the government had approved that such a gathering could take place.

The first Bahá'í in Vietnam was Shirin Fozdar, who arrived in February 1954, which was followed by periods of large growth for Bahai’ Faith in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1950 Shrin Fozdar (popularly known as Mommy Fozdar, and her husband volunteered, to go to Singapore, which at that time was part of the Federation of Malaya at the request of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, to expand the religion to South East Asia.

The first Local Spiritual Assembly, a Baha’i Administrative body in South East Asia was was formed in Singapore in 1952, exactly two years after Fozdar’s arrival. In February 1954, Mommy Fozdar went to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and then to Cambodia to establish the religion in those two countries. Later, Shirin Fozdar moved to Thailand to continue to spread the Faith in Thailand. I met Mommy Fozdar during early 70’s and I stayed with her for about two years in Yasothorn province and Bangkok in Thailand.

During the 1950s and 1960s the Bahá'í Faith spread rapidly in Vietnam. From 1957 to 1963 the Bahá'í community in Vietnam had more than tripled. But, with the arrival of communism the practice of the religion was banned. As communist rule spread in Vietnam after the Vietnam war, open practice of the Bahá'í Faith was banned from 1975 to 1992, and the number of believers dropped sharply during this time until in 2007 there were but 6880 known Bahá'ís. Thousands of Bahá'ís moved as refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to the United States during the 1970's. World Christian Encyclopedia estimated 300,000 Bahá'ís in Vietnam in 2000.

So, finally at a reception held in Ho Chi Minh city a few weeks ago, the Religious Affairs Department presented a certificate giving recognition to Baha’I Faith and activities.

Congratulations to all the members of the Baha’i community in Vietnam.

Beautiful Gardens surrounding the Shrine at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel

Baha'i temple in New Delhi, India

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