Protests and raids in 1963 Xá Lợi Pagoda

a series of raids in response vietnamese buddhists protests civil rights in face of religious persecution government of roman catholic president ngô Đình diệm. squads of special forces, led lê quang tung , combat police flattened gates , smashed way pagoda @ around 00:20 on 21 august 1963, xá lợi s brass gong clanged warning signal of attack. nhu s men armed pistols, submachine guns, carbines, shotguns, grenades , tear gas. special forces joined truckloads of combat police in army camouflage uniforms. monks , nuns barricaded behind wooden shields attacked rifle butts , bayonets. gong of pagoda drowned out burst of automatic weapons fire, sound of exploding grenades, shattering glass , human screaming. 1 monk thrown balcony down courtyard 6 meters below. nhu s men vandalized main altar , managed confiscate intact charred heart of thích quảng Đức, monk had self-immolated in protest against policies of regime. 2 monks jumped wall of pagoda grounds of adjoining aid mission, granted asylum.

thich tinh khiet, 80-year-old buddhist patriarch of vietnam, seized , taken military hospital on outskirts of saigon. commander of iii corps of arvn, general tôn thất Đính, announced military control on saigon, canceling commercial flights city , instituting press censorship. across country, hundreds estimated have died or vanished, , more 1 thousand monks incarcerated.