Buddhist crisis

"The Buddhist Crisis? Well, that sounds more than a crazy idea when the government of South Vietnam became obsessed with discrimination of Buddhists between May 1963 to November of the same year. What? Are they darn crazy? Well, that's just ten times worse than when the Germans discriminated Jews back then in the 30s and the 40s, thanks to Hitler of course."

--Su Ji-Hoon, The Right Monk

The Buddhist crisis (Vietnamese: Biến cố Phật giáo) was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks.

The crisis was precipitated by the shootings of nine unarmed civilians on May 8 in the central city of Huế who were protesting a ban of the Buddhist flag. The crisis ended with a coup in November 1963 by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and the arrest and assassination of President Ngô Đình Diệm on November 2, 1963.