Again, the Buddhists

By 6 a.m., a crowd of 50,000 Buddhist faithful had gathered for the sunrise service on the banks of the Saigon River. Packed shoulder to shoulder under a 120-ft.-high pylon put up with the help of army engineers, they were led in prayer by shaven-headed monks while a girls' choir sang hymns. Then down from a candle-laden altar was handed a glass case containing a small blackened object identified as the preserved heart of Thich Quang Duc, the first monk to burn himself alive during last year's Buddhist demonstrations.

The relic was placed on the lead float of a mile-long procession, which began a parade through the city while flocks of pigeons and sparrows were released from cages.* Also swirling overhead: thousands of round paper disks representing Buddha's "wheel of life," air-dropped by chartered Cessna. Lining the parade route, sustaining themselves on peanuts, soda pop and peppered fish sticks, were 250,000 spectators. As the Buddhists celebrated the 2,508th year of Buddha's birth and the first anniversary of their successful campaign against President Ngo Dinh Diem, they plainly showed themselves a growing force in South Viet Nam. Significantly, neither Premier General Nguyen Khanh nor U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge was present at the ceremonies -- a reflection of growing distrust of Buddhist aims.

Cowing Catholics. Ever since Diem's overthrow, the Buddhists have worked diligently to expand their influence. They have launched a collection drive to build up working capital, are constructing schools. Vietnamese Catholics complain that they are beginning to suffer the same discrimination by Buddhists that the Buddhists complained of under Catholic Diem.

Tension developed between the two religious groups recently when Buddhists demanded the execution of Catholic Army Major Dang Sy, who is awaiting trial for giving the orders to fire on Buddhist demonstrators in Hue last year. Earlier the Buddhists had insisted that no mercy be shown to Diem's jailed brother, Ngo Dinh Can -- who was executed even though Lodge privately pleaded with Buddhist leaders against the death penalty -- or to Can's aide, Lieut. Phan Quang Dong, who was shot before an enthralled crowd of 8,000 in the stadium of Hue.

In Major Sy's case, Catholics angrily argued that he had only followed superiors' directives to keep order, and Catholic army officers circulated leaflets warning of serious trouble if Sy was shot. Although the Buddhist hierarchy now speaks of leniency for Sy, fear of a clash persists. Khanh, a Buddhist, has taken pains to antagonize neither the Catholics nor the Buddhists. But he is angered by the Buddhists' lack of support for his regime.

Late in the Game. Of particular concern to the U.S. embassy--where he enjoyed asylum for several weeks last year--is Thich Tri Quang, a frail, hot-eyed monk who heads the Institute of Buddhist Clergy. Quang has managed to confuse everyone about his political loyalties, but he masterminded last summer's Buddhist strategy against Diem and is now thought to be a leader of the militant monks exhorting Buddhists to "assert" themselves. What worries the U.S. is the possibility that they will assert themselves for neutralism--and the question of why they have failed to assert themselves against Communism.

The speeches at last week's celebrations were masterpieces of ambivalence, saying nothing for or against Khanh, for or against the Reds. Aged Supreme Patriarch Thich Thien Khiet appealed enigmatically to Buddhists "regardless of their sects" to "achieve more union and to think of the danger faced by Buddhist law and the people." He added, equally mysteriously, that Vietnamese Buddhists "know how to approve of sound policies and resist nefarious ones."

Some observers believe that the Buddhists are still trying to make up their minds about what position they should take on Communism--pretty late in the game. Others suggest that the Buddhists want only to be independent of both government and Communists--which sounds like a neutralism of sorts. Moreover, Communist tactics being what they are, it would be almost miraculous if the Buddhists were not infiltrated by Red agents.

Whatever their aims, the Buddhists are stronger than last summer--a force now rivaling the Viet Cong in organization. Channeled against the Reds, they could quite possibly help win the war by galvanizing the apathetic populace. And, logically, they should want to do so, for their northern brethren have fared badly under Communist rule. But then logic has never been a noticeable spoke in the Buddhist wheel of life.

*Buddhist doctrine teaches that freeing caged birds is one way to earn virtue. As a result, one Saigon bird merchant has reputedly made a fortune by training his feathered charges to return to him as soon as they have been bought and freed by virtue seekers.

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