Huế Phật Đản shootings
| Huế Phật Đản shootings | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Buddhist crisis | |
A memorial to the victim of the incident near the Trường Tiền Bridge, Huế (top) Images of the victims to the shootings on an altar in Từ Hiếu Temple, Huế (bottom) | |
| Location | Huế, South Vietnam |
| Date | May 8, 1963 |
| Target | Buddhists and protesters |
Attack type | Massacre, war crimes |
| Deaths | 8 – 9 Buddhists |
| Perpetrators | Army and security forces of the government of Ngô Đình Diệm |
| History of Huế |
|---|
| Vietnam portal |
The Huế Phật Đản shootings were the deaths of nine unarmed Buddhist civilians on 8 May 1963 in the city of Huế, South Vietnam, at the hands of the army and security forces of the government of Ngô Đình Diệm, a Roman Catholic. The army and police fired guns and launched grenades into a crowd of Buddhists who had been protesting against a government ban on flying the Buddhist flag on the day of Phật Đản, which commemorates the birth of Gautama Buddha.
Diệm denied governmental responsibility for the incident and blamed the Việt Cộng, which added to discontent among the Buddhist majority. The incident spurred a protest movement by Buddhists against the religious discrimination perpetrated by the largely Catholic Diệm regime, known as the "Buddhist crisis", which led to widespread civil disobedience among South Vietnamese.
After six months of tension and growing opposition to the regime, leaders of the army, supported by the CIA, conducted a coup on 1 November 1963, including the arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm the following day.