Equality Claimed

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30219, 26 August 1963, Page 11

Equality Claimed

(N.ZP.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

NEW YORK. August 24. The main demand of the Buddhist majority of South Vietnam is that the Government grant them religious equality with the Roman Catholic minority, according to dispatches from “New York Times” correspondents.

However, before the demonstration this had not been strictly enforced. The Buddhists protested at the ofiiciaTs ruling. A demonstration broke out in which nine Buddhists were killed. The Buddhists claimed Government troops fired into the crowd. The

Government denied it. The Buddhists are still demanding that the Government take responsibility for the incident, which it has so far refused to do. Government spokesmen claim a

Communist guerrilla threw a grenade among the marchers. For the Government to admit the killings would mean a serious loss of face, a correspondent said.

The Hue demon straitions were followed by Buddhists' demands for Government permission to fly their flag from pagodas and shrines. This was denied under the existing law. However. the Government later acceded to the demand and on June 16 a truce was proclaimed while the Buddhists’ demands were investigated. President Diem admitted tha. some officiate might have been " insensitive” in their dealings with Buddhists. However, the truce was broken after * fortnight, when the Buddhists accused the Government of bed faith. Since then Buddhist protests, which conflict with Government policy of refusing to allow public demonstrations. have multiplied. Among the Buddhist demands are:

Tne right to buy and hold reel estate as freely as the churches of the Christian minority. The right to meet freely without special police licences. A better deal for Buddhists in the Government and Army. The Buddhists claim Roman Catholics

have privileged status, privileged status. The Buddhist leadership claims the official political ideology, which is enforced on the entire population, is derived from Roman Catholic philosophy. They cite restrictive social legislation, such as bans on dancing, contraceptives, divorce and polygamy, which runs counter to their customs and beliefs.

Roman Catholics comprise about 10 per cent of South Vietnam’s 15,000,000 people.