Buddhist crisis Ngô Đình Nhu

in may 1963, buddhist crisis broke out after 9 buddhist protesters killed in huế while protesting ban on buddhist flag on vesak, birthday of gautama buddha. prompted buddhist majority stage widespread demonstrations against diệm, discriminated in favour of catholics, religious equality. movement threatened stability of family s rule. nhu known favor stronger line against buddhists. had made statements calling suppression of protests through english-language newspaper, times of vietnam. during time, wife madame nhu, herself catholic convert buddhism , de facto first lady (due diệm s bachelor life), inflamed situation mockingly applauding suicides of thích quảng Đức , others, referring them barbecues , while nhu stated if buddhists want have barbecue, glad supply gasoline .

7 july ninth anniversary of diệm s 1954 ascension prime minister of state of vietnam. american pressmen had been alerted buddhist demonstration coincide double 7 day @ chanatareansey pagoda in northern saigon. when buddhists filed out of pagoda adjacent alley, blocked nhu s secret police. when peter arnett , malcolm browne began taking photos, police punched arnett in nose, floored him, threw rocks , broke camera. browne took photos of arnett s bloodied face, , while police smashed camera, film survived. photos of arnett s bloodied face circulated in newspapers , caused further embarrassment diệm , nhu. saigon press corps officially protest nhu s open physical intimidation prevent covering of news feel americans have right know .

there persistent reports nhu seeking usurp real power diệm , attack buddhists. in media interview, nhu said if buddhist crisis not resolved, stage coup, demolish xá lợi pagoda, buddhists massing coordinate activities, , head new anti-buddhist government. news promptly published, although americans not sure if nhu serious.

on evening of 18 august, group of senior arvn generals met discuss buddhist crisis , decided imposition of martial law needed disperse monks had gathered in saigon , other regional cities , return them original pagodas in rural areas. on 20 august met nhu consultations , made request. of group involved in plotting against ngô family time. generals played on nhu s prejudices saying pagodas infiltrated communists , needed dispersed. hearing this, brothers agreed declare martial law effective on next day, without consulting cabinet. real purpose of generals request maneuver troops in readiness coup, , had no concrete plans use regular army raid pagodas. however, nhu took opportunity discredit army using tung s special forces , combat police attack pagodas.

with approval of diệm, nhu used declaration of martial law order armed men buddhist pagodas. nhu purposely chose time when u.s. embassy leaderless. frederick nolting had returned united states , successor lodge yet arrive. high command of arvn worked closely american advisers, nhu used combat police , tung s special forces, took orders directly nhu. men dressed in regular army uniforms, such paratrooper uniforms, in order frame army raids. nhu s motive shift responsibility violent operation anger vietnamese public , american officials onto army. in doing so, intended dent public , american confidence in senior army officers, plotting against him. nhu hoped buddhist majority , americans blame army raids , become less inclined support coup generals. in past, nhu s machiavellian tactics in playing generals against 1 had kept conspirators off-balance , thwarted coup attempts.

squads of special forces , combat police flattened gates of xá lợi pagoda , smashed way in @ around 00:20, 21 august 1963. nhu s men armed pistols, submachine guns, carbines, shotguns, grenades , tear gas. red bereted special forces joined truckloads of steel-helmeted combat police in army camouflage uniforms. 2 of nhu s senior aides seen outside xá lợi directing operation. monks , nuns attacked rifle butts , bayonets, , overpowered automatic weapons fire, grenades , battering rams. took around 2 hours complete raids because many of occupants had barricaded inside various rooms.

nhu s men vandalized main altar , confiscated intact charred heart of thích quảng Đức, monk had self-immolated in protest against policies of regime. however, of buddhists able flee pagoda receptacle remainder of ashes. 2 monks jumped wall of pagoda grounds of adjoining united states agency international development (usaid) mission, given asylum. thich tinh khiet, eighty-year-old buddhist patriarch, seized , taken military hospital on outskirts of saigon. military control, press censorship , airport closures enacted in saigon.

the violence worse in heavily buddhist huế. pro-buddhist civilians left homes upon hearing of raids defend city s pagodas. @ từ Đàm pagoda, temple of buddhist protest leader thích trí quang, government soldiers, firing m1 rifles, overran building , demolished statue of gautama buddha , looted , vandalized building, before leveling of pagoda explosives. many buddhists shot or clubbed death. determined resistance occurred outside diệu Đế pagoda in huế. troops attempted erect barricade across bridge leading pagoda, crowd fought back, , military took control after 5 hours, leaving estimated 30 dead , 200 wounded.

some 500 people arrested in city, , 17 of 47 professors @ huế university, had resigned earlier in week in protest against family s policies, arrested. raids repeated in cities , towns across country. total number of dead , disappeared never confirmed, estimates range several hundred. @ least 1,400 arrested. no further mass buddhist protests occurred during remainder of diệm s rule, amount little more 2 more months, in event.

government sources claimed @ xá lợi, Ấn quang , other pagodas, soldiers had found machine guns, ammunition, plastic explosives, homemade mines, daggers, , viet cong documents; these had been planted nhu s men. few days later, madame nhu said raids happiest day in life since crushed bình xuyên in 1955 , , assailed buddhists communists . nhu accused buddhists of turning pagodas headquarters plotting insurrections. claimed buddhist intersect committee operated under control of political speculators exploited religion , terrorism .

nhu s actions prompted riots university students, met arrests, imprisonment, , university shutdowns. high school students followed suit, , followed university counterparts jail. thousands of students saigon s leading high school, of them children of public servants , military officers, sent re-education camps. result further drop in morale amongst putative defenders of ngô family. in media interview, nhu vowed kill father-in-law (for publicly renouncing him), saying: have head cut off. hang him in center of square , let him dangle there. wife make knot on rope because proud of being vietnamese , patriot. in same interview, nhu claimed have invented helicopters , pioneered use in military combat.

on 24 august, kennedy administration sent cable 243 lodge in saigon, marking change in american policy. message advised lodge seek removal of nhus power, , alternative leadership options if diệm refused remove them. probability of diệm doing seen highly unlikely, message meant fomenting of coup. lodge replied there no hope of diệm removing nhu, , began make contact possible coup plotters through cia agents. voice of america broadcast statement blaming nhu pagoda raids , absolving army of culpability. lodge believed nhu s influence had risen unprecedented levels , nhu s divide , conquer tactics had split military 3 power groups.

one of recommendations of krulak mendenhall mission, stop american funding motion picture center, produced hagiographic films (propaganda) nhus. , pursue covert actions aimed @ dividing , discrediting tung , major general tôn thất Đính. Đính youngest general in arvn history, due loyalty ngô family. given command of iii corps forces surrounding capital , tung trusted officers , relied upon defend family against coup.

the mcnamara taylor mission resulted in suspension of funding nhu s special forces until placed under command of army s joint general staff (jgs) , sent battle. report noted 1 of reasons sending tung s men field because continuing support diệm . americans aware removing special forces saigon increase chances coup attempt succeed, thereby encouraging army overthrow president. diệm , nhu undeterred suspension of aid, keeping tung , men in capital. nhu accused americans of destroying psychology of our country , called u.s. ambassador, henry cabot lodge jr., man of no morality .

at nhu s request, tung reported have been planning operation under cover of government-organised student demonstration outside u.s. embassy. in plan, tung s men assassinate ambassador henry cabot lodge jr. , other key officials among confusion. target buddhist leader thích trí quang, had been given asylum in embassy after being targeted in pagoda raids. according plan, tung s men burn down embassy , stage riot provoked communists , other enemies of united states.

another notable instance of religious warfare perpetrated nhu s right-hand man in 1963. hugely oversized carp found swimming in small pond near Đà nẵng. local buddhists began believe fish reincarnation of 1 of gautama buddha s disciples. more people made pilgrimages pond, ngô family officials mined pond , raked machine gun fire, fish survived. nhu s special forces grenaded pond, killing fish. backfired, however, because generated more publicity — newspapers across world ran stories miraculous fish. arvn helicopters began landing @ site, , paratroopers filled bottles water believed magical.