against the planned demolition of a Hòa Hảo temple. The government-recognized Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church had supported the temple's destruction, but its defenders argued that it was still usable and sacred to them. According to the 2019 Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the local authorities in the province established barricades and police checkpoints to prevent the adherents of the unrecognized sect from celebrating significant religious holidays, such as the founder's birthday. On 27 November 2019, a Hòa Hảo Buddhist was given an eight-year sentence for critical social media statements about the government, according to An Giang, a Vietnam-based newspaper. Branches Hòa Hảo is divided into three branches referred to as 'sects': pure, neutral, and state-recognized, though all of the sects follow identical practices. A small number of Hoahaoists choose not to be a member of an established sect. According to Hòa Hảo sources, the state-recognized and pure sects have fewer than 400 adherents, while the others are the members of the neutral sect. Adherents of the pure sect are completely committed to the doctrines of Sổ; one of their core ideals is opposing the "dictatorship" and they intend to fight to reclaim their "lawful interest", whereas the adherents of the neutral sect are in line with the pure sect but don't want to have any problems with the authorities. Vietnamese Communist Party's members lead the state-recognized sect. According to The Vietnamese, formed by Vietnamese activists and reporters, the pure sect is an unrecognized religious organization, and its members are not permitted to hold their worshiping ceremonies publicly because just the organization's Central Executive Committee has the authority to arrange such events. Beliefs Doctrine Hòa Hảo's spiritual doctrine is essentially Buddhist. It has been labelled as an example of Buddhist protestantism; an amalgam of Buddhism, ancestor worship, animistic rites, and elements of Confucian doctrine, transformed and adapted to the mores and customs of the peasants of the Mekong Delta. It was also influenced by millennial aspects of Khmer Buddhism. Between 1940 and 1946, Sổ authored a series of booklets that outlined the doctrinal elements of pre-sectarian Buddhism and its application to peasant culture at the time. His main written texts were first compiled in book form in 1948, following his death. Sổ had emphasized that his intention was to return to the original teachings of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương doctrine. He was criticized for