Year Later: Viet Buddhists at It Again

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363-04755.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-04755

Title

Year Later: Viet Buddhists at It Again

Description

Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about Buddhist resistence to General Nguyá»…n KhÃ¡nh, page 6

Transcript

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- Page 1
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8.6
New York Herald Tribune
Monday, May 25, 1964
Year Later: Viet Buddhists at It Again
By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent
SAIGON.
South Viet Nam's Buddhists,
who helped bring about the
overthrow last November of
President Ngo Dinh Diem,
are on the political warpath
again to the embarrassment
of Premier Nguyen Khanh’s
strong-man regime.
The spectacular self-burn-
ings of monks, hunger strikes
and mass demonstrations
which shook the Diem regime
last year have not recurred.
But the Buddhist movement,
in diligently building
its religious and political
strength, is subtly under-
mining the strength of Gen.
Khanh's American-supported
government in the process.
up
The big question now-
one of the biggest for the
future of embattled South
Viet Nam-is whether the
Buddhist leadership will take
an anti-Communist, neutral-
ist or even pro-Communist
stand as Buddhist strength
continues to develop.
The Buddhists, who were
granted full religious equality
by Gen. Khanh May 15, have
been celebrating Buddha's
birthday-which occurs to-
with a series of
morrow
WAS JUST a year ago, on Buddha's
birthday, that a militant minority in South
Viet Nam began a dramatic protest against
the rule of Ngo Dinh Diem. The figure of a
burning monk became a rallying symbol
throughout the world, triggering the fall of
Diem last November. Tomorrow brings
Buddha's birthday again, and with it reports
of a new Buddhist militancy-this time against
the U. S.-backed Khanh leadership, which is
struggling desperately against the Communist
Viet Cong. Special Correspondent. Beverly
Deepe tells of the new development and what
it can mean to the grim Southeast crisis.
festivities and prayer meet-
ings. Multi-colored Buddhist
flags, banned under the
Roman Catholic President
Ngo Dinh Diem, and bright-
ly lit lanterns decorate the
windows of shops and homes
throughout Saigon.
Although Gen. Khanh has
gone out of his way to pla-
cate the Buddhists, current
Buddhist policy frequently
reflects an anti-government
line and a reluctance on the
part of many Buddhist lead-
ers to take an open anti-
Communist stand.
"The Buddhists have
adopted a wait-and-see atti-
tude," one high American
source said. "They are not
completely behind this gov-
ernment."
According to highly in-
formed sources, the principal
objective of the Buddhists at
this time is to expand and
solidify their strength. Bud-
dhism is the principal re-
ligion of South Viet Nam,
with an estimated 30 to 40
per cent of its 14 million.
people practicing Buddhism.
The Buddhist leadership
now is building and staffing
primary and secondary Bud-
dhist schools and higher-
level institutes, planning and
collecting funds for larger
pagodas and establishing
grass-roots support both in
the city and the countryside.
are
According to a Buddhist
spokesman, Thich Duc
Nghiep, the Buddhists
sending mobile teams into the
Vietnamese villages propagat-
ing the faith and telling the
population to be "good citi-
zens." He explained, however,
it is difficult for the teams,
totaling 50 men, to take a
direct anti-Communist line
for fear Communist guerril-
las would kill them.
Meanwhile, Buddhist pub-
lications are taking an anti-
government stand. Reliable
observers believe the Bud-
dhists can rekindle the anti-
Diem emotions of the popu-
lation by accusing the Khanh
government-or the "rem-
nants of Diem regime in the
Khanh government"-of be-
ing as oppressive against
them as President Diem was.
At the center of the Bud-
dhist establishment is the
Venerable Thich Tri Quang,
who plotted the strategic
moves of last year's crisis.
He is a small, frail bonze
(monk) with hypnotic hands
and intense eyes, whose title
is secretary (and hence
strongman) of the Institute
of Buddhist Clergy. His source
of power, however, is his im-
mense control of Buddhism
in the northern two-thirds of
Viet Nam, with his headquar-
ters in the holy city of Hue,
a center of Buddhist learn-
ing and of the most militant
Buddhist followers in the
country. It was in Hue that
the Buddhist revolt began
last May-a protest against
barring the Flying of Flags
on Buddha's birthday, in
in which nine persons were
killed.
The Diem regime accused
him of being a Communist,
and this charge is still circu-
lated by some factions. How-
ever, during the final stages
of the clash with the Diem
regime, he was granted politi-
cal asylum in the American
Embassy.
American officials here note
that "he has never made any
strong anti-Communist state-
ment." Even some fellow
Buddhist priests and lay lead-
ers consider him "headstrong
and fanatical."

Date

1964, May 25

Subject

Nguyá»…n, KhÃ¡nh, 1927-2013; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--Vietnam (Republic); Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Religious aspects--Buddhism; Buddhism and politics--Vietnam (Republic); Vietnam (Republic)--Politics and government

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Container

B4, F6

Format

newspaper clippings

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English

Item