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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-04861 to 363-04862.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-04861 to 363-04862
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Title
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South Viet Buddhist Protests… Why?
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Description
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Article published in the New York Herald Tribune explaining the Buddhist protests, page 1 and 4
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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Viet Buddhist Protests... Why?
By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent
SAIGON.
South Vietnamese Buddhists and pro-Buddhist stu-
dents, in a carefully prepared campaign of political protest
against President Nguyen Khanh, yesterday staged a series
of anti-government demonstrations similar to those that led
do the overthrow last year of President Ngo Dinh Diem.
The biggest protest involved 30,000 Buddhists who
deliberately defled the regime by marching to services in
the holy city of Hue at 3 a. m., official sources said. The
marchers thus violated a curfew, due to end at 4 a. m.,
which is part of President Khanh's current state-of-emer-
gency regulations,
Stormy student demonstrations, in which President
More on BUDDHISTE-P4
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- Page 2
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SOUTH VIET BUDDHIST PROTESTS... WHY?
(Continued from page one)
Khanh was denounced as a dictator, also occurred in Hue,
Balgon, Tuy Hoa, Can Tho and other big towns.
Informed sources reported that small groups of students
were discussing burning themselves to death publicly-as
seven Buddhist nuns and priests did in the campaign
against the late President Diem. More demonstrations were
threatened for today.
"The Buddhists are back in politics again and anything
can happen," commented one reliable source.
The immediate goal of the Buddhists and their student
allies apparently is to influence the selection of members
of a new government that President Khank is forming.
Beyond that, they are thought to be aiming at the con-
struction of a massive, grass-roots religious organization
that would also be an effective political weapon.
Just how the Buddhist hierarchy might use such a
weapon-and specifically whether it might promote neu-
tralism or pro-communism-is an urgent question in
Saigon, but no one yet has the answer.
The revival of an organized political-religious protest
against the Saigon regime came on the heels of a shattering
government military defeat, in which four American mill-
tary advisers were slain. A nfth American was killed in a
separate action,
At least 120 South Vietnamese soldiers were also slain
in the bloody ambush Thursday in Kien Hoa Province,
50 miles south of Saigon. More than 60 government soldiers
were wounded, 14 were missing and many weapons were
believed lost to the Reds.
About two battalions of Viet Cong guerrillas-more
than 1,000 men-were estimated to have set the trap for
the 500-man government column that was moving to the
relief of Phu Tue outpost, which had been overrun by the
Reds earlier.
The engagement was thought to be the costliest single
action of the Viet Nam war for both the government
troops
and their American advisers, Viet Cong losses were also
presumed heavy.
"They put up a hell of a fight," said Maj. Gen. Richard
C. Stilwell, U. 8. chief of staff in Viet Nam
, of the four
Americans who were slain. The general, who visited the
battlefield yesterday, said one of the four, a captain,
had
fired his M-1 rifle till he ran out of ammunition
, then
hurled all his grenades and finally fought on with a
machine-gun wrested from a wounded South Vietnamese.
Gen. Stilwell said he expected all four dead men to be
recommended for posthumous military awards. A full list
of the casualties' names was not immediately released.
Neither was that of the fifth U. 8. fatality Thursday, a
Special Forces non-com alain in the Ashau area 370 miles
north of Baigoi.
east of Baigon.
Yesterday's demonstrations followed Buddhist lle-downs
Thursday that blocked a government armored column on
an anti-Viet Cong sweep near Tuy Hoa, 230 miles north-
The lie-down came on the first anni-
versary of the "pagoda raids" carried out against the Budd-
hists by the late
President Diem. He was overthrown and
slain last November
after months of popular unrest.
Student leaders promised more demonstrations today
and
said they will continue
until President Khanh "carries
out real democracy
and stops dictatorial actions."
Ignoring a current ban on publie demonstrations, 500
university
students in Saigon
marched in protest yesterday
to the President's office
after a rally at which speakers
called him "not worthy
of being the leader of the nation"
and "a great llar." The
denunciations concentrated on Gen.
Khanh's elevation of
himself from Premier to President in
a government reshuffle.
Gen. Khanh was at Cap St. Jacques for political talks.
Police
did not
intervene. Reliable sources said the march
was organized
by a coalition of several organizations. One
was the
Buddhist movement, with the power lying in the
hands the
Venerable Thich Tri Quang, strategist of last
year's anti-Diem campaigns. Another organization in-
volved
was a minor political party named Viet Nam Quoe
Dan Dang, which holds political strength in Central Viet
Nam.
In Hue, the opening demonstration was the violation
of curfew by the 30,000 Buddhists who went from pagoda
to pagoda for ceremonies marking the anniversary of the
"pagoda raids."
Later, 1.500 workers, school boys and girls marched to
the University of Hue campus and urged students of law,
medicine and letters to leave examinations. Government
sources indicated the university students joined the
demonstrators in demanding an end of "dictatorial"
government and removal of Brig. Gen. Do Cau Tri,
II Corps. commander, who aided President Diem last year.
The Buddhist leadership charges that "remnants of
the Diem regime" are still in the Khanh government and
must be removed. The Buddhist-supported students say
the government is "the Diem regime without Diem."
Much of their avowed support is focused on Maj. Gen.
Duong Van Minh, who led the first military junta that
overthrew President Diem. Gen. Khanh last Sunday took
over Gen. Minh's post as chief of state when a new
constitution was adopted.
Leaflets supporting Gen. Minh, who has popular support
from the population and some army officers, have recently
been found in Saigon and Hue. Young army officers are
known to be dissatisfied with the deposing of Gen.
Minh
and it is á question whether their low morale will seriously
affect the anti-Communist drive or the internal political
situation.
However, unlike the authoritarian Diem regime which
tightly controlled the military and administrative ma-
chinery, Gen. Khanh's weaknesses hardly justify the
charges of dictatorship, according to diplomatic sources
here. Although the new constitution makes Gen. Khanh
a dictator on paper, sources believe his basic problem is
that he is too weak rather than too strong, lacking control
over ministries and corps and some division commanders.
Even now he is known to be having difficulty getting rank-
ing officers to accept key positions in the new government
scheduled to be announced next week.
During the political-religious crisis last year, the
Buddhists attacked President Diem but not American
policy. This year, in their political protest, the Buddhists
and students are also likely to attack American policy.
Anti-American sentiments and propaganda are expected
to increase.
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Date
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1964, Aug. 22
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--Vietnam (Republic); Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Religious aspects--Buddhism; Buddhism and politics--Vietnam (Republic)
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Container
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B186
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Format
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newspaper clippings
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
