Buddhist Against Empire

MARJU BRODER

Independent Researcher, Organizing Chair for International Conferences Buddhism & Australia, Perth Australia

This article introduces how Vello Vaartnou, a Buddhist leader from Estonia, came up with a proposal to create the first opposition party in the history of the Soviet Union, the Estonian National Independence Party, which acted as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and spoiled the communists’ perestroika plan to keep their empire. The article includes an interview with Vello Vaartnou and some comments from historians, politicians and journalists.

I. INTRODUCTION

In January 1988, the world was hit by the launch of the Estonian National Independence Party, the first political opposition party in the history of the Soviet Union, which aimed to restore a free and independent Estonia by working as an opposition party against Communist Party. The idea of the proposal came from the head of the Estonian Buddhist Brotherhood, Vello Vaartnou, who made this announcement at a press conference in Moscow. This news was broadcast all over the world, for example on 10.02.1988 Philip Taubman wrote in The NY Times about the proposal of 14 citizens to create the first political opposition party and mentions that this news has boosted Estonians’ national feelings and alarmed ruling authorities.

(Full story available via link below)