Buddhist World Youth League

South Vietnam, Buddhist World Youth League, 1967, Michel Nr. I-II; Ngô Đình Diệm actively discriminated against and persecuted Buddhist monks which led to permanent friction within society. In June of 1963 a monk with the name of Thích Quảng Đức immolated himself at a busy Saigon road intersection. The immolation was witnessed by the international press and the publication of the photos depicting him burning went around the globe. This increased the international pressure on Ngô Đình Diệm’s Government. This led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. However, the promised reforms were not implemented, leading to a deterioration in the dispute. As protests continued, the ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm’s brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, launched nationwide raids on Buddhist pagodas, seizing Quảng Đức’s heart and causing deaths and widespread damage. Several Buddhist monks followed Quảng Đức’s example, also immolating themselves. Eventually, a U.S.-backed Army coup toppled Diệm, who was assassinated on 2 November 1963. (Wikipedia). Diệm’s successor, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, was no friend of the Buddhist faith either and the favoring of the Catholic Church and repression of Buddhist monks continued under his regime albeit tempered by other factions within Government. Two stamps with nominals of 1.50D and 10D were prepared and printed celebrating the Buddhist World Youth League but were not issued after all as the topic was still deemed too politically sensitive. The un-issued stamps were sold into the philatelic market at a later time and are not particularly rare. The price of €120 for a mint set in Michel is well over the actual market price which usually is below $10 for the two stamps. The imperforate version of the stamps also became available and is a bit more rare than the perforated version.