Article about the the militant Buddhist Struggle Committees

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363-06976 to 363-06983.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-06976 to 363-06983

Title

Article about the the militant Buddhist Struggle Committees

Description

Keever's title: "Terror of the saffron robes worn by Buddhist Monks roils pacifists in Northern provinces", article about the militant Buddhist organization, Struggle Committees, holding political prisoners

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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

(Morgan Gandy) SAIGON, 16150, (UPIS)--The dissident Buddhist-inspired Struggle Committees in the [deletion: five] northern provinces have temporarily [deletion: kidnapped] seized at least twenty two political prisoners--[insertion: a] province chief, [insertion: aye] district chief and [deletion: village chiefs] civil servants--loyal to the Saigon government. [insertion: During the past week,] Some of these prisoners were [XXXX indicating deletion] politically intimidated; some [deletion: where] were beaten; [deletion: the borthe brother of] one [insertion: was] [deletion: province chief was] shot in the leg. [deletion: Some of the persons, once released, requested and received protection from the American Marines, American military advisors and the American Central Intelligence Agency specialists in the area, informed American sources disclosed.] “The whole American communist in Danang is in aye state of [deletion: panic] distress,” one [XXXX indicating deletion] American source explained. “They don’t know where this is going to lead us--and [deletion: certi] certainly the political turbulence [XXXX indicating deletion] is notrptnot going to stop. [insertion: There’s a total power vacuum up there now.] This last month of political disorder up there has set the American Marine-Vietnamese government [insertion: military-political] pacification program back at least six months.” (More--Miller--RD) first add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x six months x x x Danang (pop. 165,000), Vietnam’s second largest city situated [XXXX indicating deletion] three hundred fifty miles northve Saigon, is the headquarters of the Vietnamese first corps and of the [XXXX indicating deletion] [deletion: forty] forty eight thousand-strong American Marine contingent. The city, which Prime Minister Nguyen [deletion: Cah] Cao Ky said was in “Communist hands” two weeks ago, has been [deletion: the] aye rebel hotspot of anti-government strikes, shop lockouts, and demonstrations, [deletion: [illegible]] including some [deletion: with] in which central government civil servants, [deletion: politic] police and troops [deletion: in it. them.] participated. The new wave of political intimidation--called “the terror of the saffron robes (of the Buddhist monks)”--is considered as destructive as--and aye counterpart to--the [insertion: constant] political assassinations and terrorism of the Viet Cong guerrillas. (More--Miller--BD) second add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x viet cong guerrillas x x x Vietnamese government sources in Saigon believe the new wave of political intimidation by the Struggle Committees is Communist-influenced, if not Communist-inspired. Even though [deletion: some] numbers of non-Communists have joined the demonstrations, government sources believe they are “tools” of the Communist elements. Diplomatic sources believe the nucleus of the Struggle Committees [deletion: [illegible]] same corresponds to the same group that lead the National Salvation Committees in August-September of nineteen sixty four, when [XXXX indicating deletion] Catholic and Buddhist student mobs tossed the urban centers into anarchy with violent street fighting. At that time, the National Salvation Committees in the northern provinces burned the houses [insertion: and shops] of Catholic merchants in the coastal city of Qui Nhon and hanged aye Vietnamese anti-Communist with barbed wire [deletion: on] from aye tree in the center of Danang city. American sources at that time [deletion: called] termed the National Salvation Committees [deletion: as] Communist-inspired, but thus far [insertion: American] official sources have notrptnot condemned the current wave of terrorism and [deletion: [illegible]] intimidation. (More--Miller--BD) third add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x and intimidation x x x. One Vietnamese government [XXXX indicating deletion] official of aye branch bank in Danang explained [deletion: to aye friend,] the [insertion: new] wave of terror [deletion: [illegible]] there: “Citizens representing themselves as Struggle Committee members came to our bank and asked for donations [deletion: against the [illegible]] for their anti-Saigon campaigns. At first, we did notrptnot give them anything. Then the next day the Danang radio (in the hands of the Struggle Committee) started denouncing us--and we had nortpnot choice but to go along. The next thing they wanted was the government bank employees to join the demonstrations--not only the low-echelon people, but all the way to the top including the bank manager. They had norptnot choice but to go along with them. They went around to other big businesses, like Shell, and virtually forced their employees to march on the streets. All the government police, including their chief and some of the troops joined too--so who is going to protect me?” [deletion: Everyo] “All the anti-Communist government officials up there are scared and sick,” he told his friend. “I can tell you this is aye Communist tactic. I saw the Communist take over in North Vietnam (in 1954)--and this is exactly the same thing. I suppose one morning I’ll walk down the streets of Danang and see the red [insertion: and blue] flag (of the Communists) up over the [XXXX indicating deletion] government bank. Who’s going to protect me then!” (More--Miller--BD) fourth add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x me then x x x. This new wave of intimidation-terror is considered to be eroding the last vestiges of anti-Communist, pro-Saigon strength from within the government administration, civil services and army in the northern provinces, thus creating aye significant power vacuum in the rear base areas [deletion: we] where the American Marines are fighting. [XXXX indicating deletion] The Vietnamese corps commander of the five-province region, where American Marines are based in three enclaves, is considered “isolated” and without authority to give orders to stop the troubles. [XXXX indicating deletion] Lieut. Gen. Ton That Dinh, newly appointed to replace ousted [deletion: Gener] Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi and his successor, is [XXXX indicating deletion] “now aye nervous wreck and is [deletion: on] taking tranquilizers,” one informed source explained. “The officers under [deletion: him] Dinh are loyal to General Thi and they refuse to accept [deletion: his] Dinh’s orders,” the source said. The crucial province of Quang Nam, surrounding the city of Danang, has suffered worst [XXXX indicating deletion] in the area during the political disturbances. Dr. [deletion: Pham Ngoc] Nguyen Huu Chi, the province chief, was [XXXX indicating deletion] seized and detained for four days by [insertion: the] dissident committees. (More--Miller--BD) fifth add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x dissident committees x x x “Dr. Chi was held for four days and propagandized,” one American source explained. “He was notrptnot allowed to wash or change his clothes. The Struggle Committee people threatened to take him to Hue (the old imperial capital and center of the dissident movement) and if they had he’d have been killed. By the time the [deletion: [illegible]] an American official saw him, he was aye nervous wreck and scared to death.” [XXXX indicating deletion] The brother of the Quang Ngai province chief, (south of Danang) was [XXXX indicating deletion] seized and tortured by having his legs beaten, one informed source explained. The brother was aye prominent member of the ultra-nationalist party called Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, which has been in conflict with the Buddhist priests in the [XXXX indicating deletion] northern provinces. The province chief of Quang Tin reportedly submitted his resignation, according to American sources. The First (American) Marine Division headquarters is situated [deletion: there] in Quang Tin province. “So, of the five provinces in the first corps, the leadership of three [deletion: have] has either been terrorized or neutralized,” aye Western source explained. sixth add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x source explained x x x. Below the provincial level, Quang Nam is divided into nine districts. Six battalions of American Marines [deletion: battalions] have fanned out into an arc around the city of Danang in two of these districts to provide security for the [insertion: strategic] Danang airbase and the [XXXX indicating deletion] surrounding villages. The district chief of Hieu Duc district--in the American Marine area of responsibility--was seized by aye dissident Vietnamese Ranger battalion at eleven pppmmm on April tenth, taken from his district until eight ayem the next [deletion: mor] day and was given aye lecture, the gist of which was, [XXXX indicating deletion] “Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky is going to be toppled, [deletion: he’s] you’re backing the wrong [deletion: [illegible] a] horse and [deletion: he’d] you’d better switch sides against Ky and the Saigon regime,” an informed source explained. “That poor little Captain Huyen (the district chief) was very, very scared. He requested protection from the American Marines, the Marines granted it--but then in several days the incident blew over and he didn’t want the protection of the Marines.” (More--Miller--BD) seventh add--morgan gandy--saigon x x x the marines x x x. In the [deletion: two] three hundred square mile area protected by the American Marines outside of Danang, some of the pro-Saigon village chiefs fled into hiding when they heard about the [deletion: nearby] neighboring district chief being seized. “While the pro-Buddhist committees are seizing the [XXXX indicating deletion] pro-Saigon officials from within the government ranks, the [deletion: Viet Cong] Communist Viet Cong [deletion: terr] guerrillas have stepped up their terrorism right outside of Danang,” an American source explained. “In one night, in one village eight people were killed by Viet Cong assassination squads. These people were becoming sympathetic to the Saigon regime so they were killed. The next day, none of the people in the friendly villages across the river would even speak to the Marines. We know the Viet Cong guerrillas are re-infiltrating the villages secured by the American Marines,” the source continued. “They are taking profit from the political [deletion: tru] turmoil--and [deletion: some] from [insertion: the withdrawal] of the Vietnamese troops [deletion: withdrawn] from that area to take part in the civil disturbances. The whole war in first corps is at aye standstill--we’ve lost at least six months time.” (Endit-Miller--BD)

Date

1966, Apr. 16

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Buddhism and politics; Radicals; Religious militants; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Religious aspects--Buddhism; Terrorism; Political prisoners

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B188, F3

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

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