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15: at the heart of the buddhist crisis (1963) the Buddhist crisis developed in early 1963 after an ill-advised move by the Diem government. The administration ordered enforcement of an old law stating that only national flags could be flown in public. In theory, the order meant that flags of Catholics, Buddhists, and other organizations could no longer be displayed to celebrate significant days or festive seasons, as had been customary in Vietnam for many years. In fact, the order came exactly at the time of year when Buddhists traditionally raised their flag1 to celebrate the birthday of Buddha. Thus, Buddhists saw the move as more persecution, another in a continuing series of discriminatory acts and policies against their community and religion. As a Buddhist myself, I was outraged by this arbitrary and offensive move. As a political supporter of the government, I reckoned it would do tremendous damage to our efforts to win over the people; the timing meant it targeted a religion practiced by more than 85 percent of the Vietnamese people. I felt that this was a major political mistake by President Diem, himself a Catholic from a prominent Catholic family and with a heavily Catholic administration.2 Moreover, enforcement would be just weeks after Catholics had been allowed to display Vatican flags. An aide brought a cable containing the order to my residence just as I was preparing to take a bath. I immediately called the president’s office and arranged a meeting with President Diem. Early the next morning a small plane arrived to take me to Saigon. “Mr. President,” I began when we met, “this ban against flags cannot and should not be enforced.” President Diem then began to explain the reasoning behind the order. “There has been widespread abuse of flying flags in this country by all religions, not only the Buddhists. We want to bring it under control in general and not just target the Buddhist community.” “Mr. President, unfortunately the timing makes it appear otherwise. We have already entered the celebratory season for Buddha’s birthday, and Buddhist flags are already being flown over temples and residences everywhere. No other religion will be affected immediately, so most Buddhists will regard it as a specific affront to them. I don’t know about other provinces, but enforcing this order will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for me to govern in Kien Hoa. I have enough to deal with there without coping with a situation that the government, which I represent , has created.” 186 vietnam labyrinth “You cannot carry out the order in a different way, one that will not create problems among the people?” the president asked. “No, Mr. President. I implore you to reconsider the order. Please do not make me enforce it in my province. It will hurt the province, it will hurt the people, and it will hamper me immeasurably,” I replied. Finally, after a long silence during which he toyed with a cigarette in a hand that trembled slightly, the president spoke again. “Well, every time you have a problem you should discuss it with me. This time seems different, however. You have spoken with such seriousness and sincerity that I can feel it very deeply. So I will leave you free to do whatever you can about the flags.” Thus, he didn’t say yes and he didn’t say no. I went back to the province and met with Buddhist religious leaders. To begin with, I asked them if it would be possible to restrict use of the flag to temples. They all said that it would not, because it was already being displayed in other public areas and at private homes all over the province. Removing the flag from all these places would create havoc. Finally, they agreed to fly both the Buddhist and national flags at temple entrances, but only Buddhist flags within the compounds. I decided that was the best I could accomplish, which was what the president had said I should do in his final words. So I told my staff to pass down the word that the national flag should be flown next to the Buddhist flag at entrances to pagodas, but there should be no interference with individuals who chose to display only the Buddhist flag. Elsewhere, however, Buddhists’ frustration and resentment grew. Buddhist demonstrations against the government became commonplace. The situation came to a head in Hué when officials refused to let the Venerable Thich Tri...

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