This Car & A Buddhist Monk Changed The World Forever.
On the 11th June, 1963, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc drove his car from Southern Vietnam to the city of Saigon. He got out of his car, calmly sat in the lotus position in the middle of the street, and set himself alight.
THE AUSTIN WESTMINSTER SEDAN
SELF-IMMOLATION
image: http://terebess.hu
THE PROTEST
Quang Duc was protesting about the persecution of Buddhists by the current South-Vietnamese government which was led led by Ngô Đình Diệm who was a Catholic. The photographs of this self-immolation circulated quickly around the world and brought to attention to the discriminatory policies of the Diệm government. Former President John F. Kennedy said in reference to a photograph of Đức on fire,
"No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one."
The picture resonated with people in countries all around the World and caused pressure to be put on the Vietnamese regime to address the Buddhist crisis which was occurring in the country.
Today, the car rests at Thiên Mụ Pagoda as a reminder to not forget the sacrifices of the past.
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The power of one.
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