200 ARRESTS IN SAIGON

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30231, 9 September 1963, Page 13

200 ARRESTS IN SAIGON

School Children Demonstrate (N.Z PA -Reuter —Copyright) SAIGON, September 7. South Vietnamese police today arrested more than 200 schoolgirls involved in an anti-Government protest strike and hauled them away, cheering and waving, in Army trucks.

The girls yelled “We are on strike” and passed around cards bearing the grim symbols of a burning monk, shaved head and a chopped-off hand. Police had heard about the strike and knew it was planned to begin this morning.

Police moved into three big girls’ schools in Saigon as students assembled outside. Many streets were blocked off.

The schoolgirls were protesting against the Government’s alleged religious discrimination and the mass arrests of Buddhists on August 21.

They decided yesterday to go on strike and refuse to attend classes at three schools: the Miarie Curie French School, where the students come from well-to-do families, the Gia Long School and the Trung Vuong High School. Police surrounded the schoolgirls at Trung Vuong when they announced their strike outside the school gates this morning. The girls, wearing white flowing tunics over their white satin trousers, cheered and yelled: “We are on strike,” as the police moved in to put them aboard Army trucks. They were still cheering and waving little handker-

chiefs as toe trucks sped towards Sholon, Saigon's twin city. The symbols on the cards the schoolgirls were passing around stood for past acts of protest against the Government —by monks who burnt themselves, by toe Foreign Minister, Mr Vu Van Mau. who resigned and shaved his head, and by a girl who tried to chop off her hand at a local pagoda. Most of toe girls at Trung Vuong School come from families who are refugees from North Vietnam. Boys Defy Troops At toe Vo Tuong Toan Boys’ High School, pupils kept police and troops at bay for two hours with a barrage of rocks, bricks, boards, tin posts and pans and anything else that could be thrown. About 10.15 a.m. a schoolmaster came to an upstairs window and talked with hand signals to police and military chiefs on the road bellow. The police chief told him to open the school gate. When he did, heavily armed troops and combat police entered. Within a few minutes, they had brought out more than 100 students including toe apparent ringleaders. They were carried away in utility vehicles. U.S. Criticised During the siege, pupils Shouted slogans in English against toe “cruel Ngo family” and criticised toe United States and President Kennedy for supporting the Government of President Ngo Dinh Diem. Among the slogans and banners were: “We went freedom,” “Soldiers, go and figlhit the Communists, leave us students ailone,” “Tell Kennedy the students don’t like President Ngo Dinh Diem," and "Police, go home.”

The students evidently were brought out without struggle, in the face of combat police, marines, special forces and plain-clothes police armed with all man-

ner of battle weapons, including machine-guns. Two reporters were htt by missiles thrown by pupils from toe front gate, but were not hurt, ft was toe first time since toe Buddhist ariaia began in early May that any demonstrators had turned against foreign correspondents. Observers considered this another indication of the evident turn in popular feeling agpinst toe United States since toe Government’s repression of toe Buddhasts and other opposition elements U.S. Failure Claimed The students said th« morning that toey were batter at what toey called toe United States Government's failure to take positive steps to counter toe policies of toe South Vietnamese Government. Today's school strikes and demonstrations were toe first public protests agaanst the Government for almost two weeks. They came as marital law restmctinns in Saognn were being relaxed The high srtuxils had only been reopened last Wednesday after several days of closure because of earlier demonstrations by university students and high school pupils. The official Vietnam News Agency reported that a number of Saigon hjjto school students this morning were “incited to refuse to enter toeir ctasarooms.” Viet Cong Blamed The news agency report said: "A certain number of students of mime Saigon ' high schools this morning were incited by toe Viet Cong (Communists) or political speculators to refuse to enter their classrooms. “After toe incident, responsible authorities declared it advisable that parents tell toeir children not to listen to provocations and threats of Viet Cong agents infiltrated into ths schoolchilriiren’s ranks. Those students who have been threatened are asked to notify toe authorities jmmediateiy.”