Female monks fight back

Female monks on the left line up outside the Grand Palace after being barred from paying their respects to the late monarch. (Photo Courtesy Songdammakalyani Monastery)

A group of bhikkhunis, or female Buddhist monks, on Thursday petitioned a committee on gender discrimination to investigate authorities in charge of screening monastic personnel at the Grand Palace for blocking them from paying their respects to the late King.

The petition was filed by Kanjana Sitthikul on behalf of 72 female monks and novices who call themselves the “Thai Theravada Bhikkhuni”. The committee comes under Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development.

On Dec 9, the group, led by Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, the country’s first bhikkhuni, were blocked from paying respects to the King Bhumibol Adulyadej by a monastics screening centre overseen by the National Office of Buddhism and Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya, a Buddhist university.

Opinion : Female monks barred from paying respects

Asst Prof Teerapak Chaichana, a teacher at the religious university who is in charge of the screening, told them they had violated the Sangha Act of 1962 which does not endorse the status of bhikkhuni as a monastic entity, and therefore they were “illegally” in the saffron robes of Theravada Buddhist monks.

The petition said the rejection of the bhikkhuni amounted to discrimination against woman according to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, international laws on human rights and the country’s 2014 interim constitution.

Panida Hansawat, who sits on the gender discrimination complaints comittee, said the panel had accepted the group’s petition and would forward the matter to a committee if the matter was found to have violated the gender equality law.

Ms Kanjana said the group had to lodge the petition in order to make people understand that bhikkhuni are not illegal.

“We want to set a legal precedent that officials cannot violate the constitution which protects gender equality and religious rights,” Ms Kanjana said.

The group will file a complaint with the Dusit District Court on Jan 19.