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The Buddhist Protests of 1963

Thich
Quang Duc had prepared himself for his self-immolation through several
weeks of meditation and had explained his motivation in letters to
members of his Buddhist community as well as to the government of South
Vietnam in the weeks prior to his self-immolation. In these letters he
described his desire to bring attention to the repressive policies of
the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government
at the time. Prior to the self-immolation, the South Vietnamese
Buddhists had made the following requests to the Diem regime, asking it
to:

1. Lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag;

2. Grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism;

3. Stop detaining Buddhists;

4. Give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion; and

5. Pay fair compensations to the victim’s families and punish those responsible for their deaths.