(8 of 10)
But most Vietnamese still maintain that Diem has shown a definite pro-Catholic bias. Unfortunately for Diem, the simmering Buddhist discontent boiled over at the worst possible spot—in Brother Thuc's diocese at Hue. At a church celebration honoring Thuc, Diem grew furious that in violation of a government edict, Catholic pennants were flying and no South Vietnamese national flag, ordered government officials to prevent similar occurrences. Three days later, government troops forbade Buddhists to unfurl their flags at a rally celebrating the 2,507th birthday of Gautama Buddha. When the Buddhists protested, the government soldiers stupidly shot down nine demonstrators. That was the beginning of the Buddhist protests, which in turn provoked more police repression.
Circle with Corners. The Buddhist demands center around freedom of assembly, abolition of real or fancied inequalities, above all—and most galling to Diem—public government acceptance of responsibility for the Hue tragedy. These demands seem oddly minor to create so much trouble, but they are merely a catchall for myriad often ill-defined grievances.
With her husband, Mme. Nhu is against yielding an inch to the Buddhists, for fear that backing down will be-interpreted as a sign of weakness and lead to new and more sweeping political demands. In a speech to her girl soldiers last week, she called Buddhist agitation "an ignoble form of treason," which reduced Buddhism to the "despicable rank of phariseeism." She called Buddhist leaders "eternal slaves, if not to others, at least to their own folly." Above all, she charges that the Buddhists are organized by the Reds. While U.S. authorities reject this accusation, it is true in a more general sense that many Buddhists are open to Marxist influences.
The grass-roots religion in South Viet Nam's villages, a branch of the easygoing Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) tradition of Buddhism, is a peasant potpourri of animism and ancestor worship, magic charms and chanted sutras. But the saffron-robed monks of Saigon and Hué are more sophisticated. Many Buddhists, says U.S. Scholar Holmes Welch, believe that Buddhism and Communism have many points in common. "They practice some things that the Communists so far have merely talked about—no personal property, a communal life, and devoting oneself to the service of the people and world peace," he says. "It may be true that Buddha differs from Marx, but such differences can be rationalized." As of last week, to Mme. Nhu's disgust, Diem seemed bent on letting the Buddhist situation calm down. "The President too often wants what the French call 'a circle with corners,' " she says scornfully. He would like to conciliate "as the Americans desire, smooth, no bloodshed, everyone shaking hands." But the Buddhist crisis could flare up again at any moment. U.S. officials in Saigon fear that government intransigence can only have a divisive effect in the war against the Communist Viet Cong, in which political unity is the key to victory.