Religion: Buddha's 2,500th

Throughout the villages and cities of Southeast Asia, millions are preparing this week for a celebration that will be a landmark in their lives — the 2,500th anniversary of the death of the Buddha, founder of a religion followed by perhaps a fifth of the world's population.*

In Burma, almost the entire air time of the Burma Broadcasting Service was devoted last week to news of the celebration, and the air force was alerted to drop leaflet notices all over the country. The government of Buddhist Premier U Nu planned to reduce all prison sentences by six months to two years, and...