"Having An Audience With His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Not A Crime" By Woeser


High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on January 19, 2011 and posted on her blog on January 25, 2011.

This article follows on from Woeser's previous post titled "How I Met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Without A Passport" in which she recalled "meeting" the Dalai Lama via Skype on January 4, 2011.







I remember, ten to twelve years ago, I was an editor of “Tibetan Literature”, which belonged to the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles. One day Jamyang Sherab, a good friend of mine who has already passed away, told me that the next day the head of the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles was going to inspect the homes of all Tibetan staff and I should quickly hide my portrait of Gyalwa Rinpoche (the Dalai Lama), which I had standing in the Buddhist altar at home. Jamyang Sherab was the Vice-Chairman of the Writers’ Union and hence of course informed of this secret action to inspect the houses of Tibetans. The Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles employed about 70 staff, of which half were Han Chinese and half Tibetan, and reportedly, they were only going to check Tibetan people’s houses, not those of the Han. The initiator was the Vice-Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the famous author Ma Lihua.

Later, I wrote in an article: "That afternoon, in the dormitory of my work unit, the thangka, the sacred lamps, the Buddhist clay sculptures in the small home altar as well as the portrait of Gyalwa Rinpoche, which had been brought back from India, all these items, which have accompanied me so many times, are symbols of belief and artistic beauty. I had to hide them because they have given out the strict order that it is prohibited to keep any religious objects at home and the next day, they were going to go from house to house and inspect; yes, this one word: inspect! When I was hiding the thangka, the sacred lamps, the portrait and the small altar in paper boxes, I couldn’t help but feel deeply ashamed. When I left home early next morning, although my room was already completely empty, I never wanted to feel this humiliated again."

Not long ago, because of a video dialogue between Gyalwa Rinpoche and some Han Chinese intellectuals, I was blessed to be able to meet Gyalwa Rinpoche on screen, listened attentively to his advice, and wrote the article "How I Met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Without a Passport", which was broadcast in three dialects on Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan Programme. The Tibetan programme of Voice of America also reported on this and as I heard, it evoked great public interest.

A Tibetan wrote on the internet: “The internet made it possible to have an audience without a passport, when I had told this part of the story to my old father, he nibbled on his biscuit and had tears in his eyes.” I also received phone calls from Tibetans late at night telling me that they shed tears of excitement after they had heard the news, and that they took it as an encouragement. The significance of this does not solely lie in my own “sode chenpo” (great karmic reward), one comment on my blogpost revealed the heavy truth: “As everyone knows, some of our compatriots were put into prison or even tormented to death just because they had spoken some words of fairness and hidden a photo of the Dalai Lama.” Just like the 23-year-old Tibetan from Nagchu, Kesang Loten, who was recently sentenced to 2 years in prison, being accused of surfing foreign websites and saving a picture of the Dalai Lama in his QQ online photo album.

“All human beings are born free…”, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion…” – those two sentences are the ones that shook and comforted people the most out of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was announced to the world over half a century ago. But they are also the most fantastic ones. This is especially true with regards to today’s Tibet, we never know if we ever have the chance to sense the rights of these words that are directly linked to humans living in this world.  We do not have these rights. Like thunder piercing through our ears, day and night, we are forced to sense that everything is not allowed, not allowed, not allowed!

So, having an audience with Gyalwa Rinpoche, is that the worst crime one can commit before those who yield absolute power? In an interview with Dolkar La, a journalist with the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia, the Chinese lawyer, Teng Biao, who also engaged in a video dialogue with the Dalai Lama, stated very clearly: "For Tibetans, being arrested or sentenced because of owning a photo or symbol of the Dalai Lama, means brutally trampling all over their religious rights as well as their rights as citizens... Having a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, no matter what it is about, no matter how it is done, is clearly not violating any law.”

Hence, I wrote in my article: “In fact, today, many people from all over China meet with His Holiness and they have not at all lost their freedom; since we are all citizens of this country, Tibetans should also not be punished for having an audience with His Holiness.” This point is particularly important. This is also why I publicly talked about my audience with His Holiness and with this I want to tell this brutal power that controls our bodies and minds: “Tibetans having an audience with the Dalai Lama are not criminals! At the same time, I also want to let my compatriots know to be brave and keep going; and help bring the exiled Dalai Lama back home, including using the internet; and perhaps one day, His Holiness will be able to see the Potala Palace via video, which he has been separated from for so long.

Beijing, January 19, 2011

Lessons Learned: Remembering Lobsang Dhondup, Taking Action to Free Tenzin Delek

I was attending the World Social Forum in Brazil when the Chinese government executed Lobsang Dhondup and sentenced Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to death. I was checking my email in a small cybercafe in Porto Alegre, surrounded by activists from across the globe, when I heard the news. At first, I just sat there. Stunned. Moments later, I couldn’t fight it back, and I wept. Then, I resolved to fight. It was a defining moment for me as a young Tibetan activist.

Up until that moment, I had somehow been convinced that the Chinese wouldn’t go through with it. They hadn’t dared to execute a Tibetan in such an overtly political and high-profile way for nearly 20 years, not to mention the incredible amount of unwanted attention and government pressure the Chinese were facing as a result of the global outcry and campaign in support of the two men. I was sure it was helping. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

On January 26th, 28-year old Lobsang Dhondup was executed, likely with a bullet to the head, and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death sentence was upheld, with a two year reprieve. Lobsang’s relatives never got to see his body. Only his ashes were returned to them.

Looking back on that day now, I see how naive I was to think that the Chinese authorities didn’t have the stomach for the fight – that they would somehow be unwilling to risk the negative press and global condemnation – and therefore wouldn’t carry out the sentences. I guess at that time, despite all I knew of their cruelty, all of the horror I had heard about since I was a small child, I had to learn this lesson and never forget it.

Though the Chinese government proved me wrong in my judgment that day, I was neither defeated nor hopeless. In fact, their brutal and heartless treatment of these two innocent Tibetan men only increased my determination to work harder and my conviction in the justice of this fight. And fight we did. In the campaign to stop Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s execution in the years that followed, we did everything we could possibly think of – from street protests and direct actions at Chinese embassies & consulates, to online advocacy campaigns and government lobbying – to gain global public and political support, and to inspire people to take action.

In the end, on January 26, 2005, the Chinese government commuted Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s sentence to life imprisonment for what they said was “good behavior” while in prison. Call it whatever they like, we knew why they did it. And though we were not able to help Lobsang Dhondup, I truly believe we saved Rinpoche’s life. This is the most important lesson. We can make a difference. We must fight. We might not win every battle, but we must always try.

We did our best for Rinpoche then, and we must do it again now. And never ever give up.

Please take action and help us free Tenzin Delek Rinpoche:

https://secure3.convio.net/sft/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=778

"On Lies": A Poem by Tibetan Female Blogger Namtso

High Peaks Pure Earth readers may recall a blogpost called "These Kinds of People Should Stay Away From Us!" that was written by a feisty female blogger called Namtso and posted on her blog on November 14, 2010. The blogpost was one of two that made up our piece titled "Fish Speaking Back to Ichthyologists: Two Blogposts on Chinese Tourists in Tibet" that we posted on November 26, 2010.





This poem by Namtso called "On Lies" was posted on her blog on June 17, 2010. Namtso has a unique writing style and her blog is named after the Bhutanese film "Travellers and Magicians".


"On Lies"

The sun is black, the sky is green
The white crow stands on the purple tree branch
And the fox flaps its wings in the heavens

This is not a lie, I saw it with my own eyes, someone says impassionedly.

No, it’s not, it’s not like that
The sun shines brightly overhead and the ocean is reflected deep blue in the sky
The dark crow is black as night and the fox’s red coat is like a flame against the snow

Are your eyes blind? Has your brain gone faulty? someone says dumbfoundedly.

Sick, I’m sick, we’re all sick
Okay, okay, you’re right, you’re right
I was spouting rubbish, I was shooting my mouth off
In the aftermath I’ve learned to keep my trap shut!

Tibet News Roundup during President Hu’s US Visit

The world’s media was on hand last week to cover the historic state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, D.C. Human rights was a hot topic and Tibet was a central theme in the media’s coverage of China’s human rights failures.

Tibetan and their supporter also gave the media lots to cover with 7 protests over 3-days, including a coffin march around the White House and giant skeleton puppets symbolizing how Tibet is a skeleton in Hu Jintao’s closet.

News roundup of the protests in Washington, D.C:

President Hu Jintao’s ‘Skeletons’ Dance Outside White House in Human Rights Protest (ABC News): http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-hu-jintao-china-human-rights-record/story?id=12650071

Barack Obama risks China’s ire with human rights remarks (Guardian): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/19/barack-obama-china-human-rights

Obama publicly raises human rights with China’s Hu (Reuters): http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70C12520110119?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Reactions to Hu’s visit highlight a stark divide among Chinese Americans (Washington Post): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/19/AR2011011903925.html

China’s President Begins U.S. Visit (CBS): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7259576n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

US and China Agree Human Rights Dialogue (Sky News – watch first video for Tibet coverage): http://is.gd/aGom99

White House defends Hu state visit invite (AFP): http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110118/pl_afp/uschinadiplomacyrights_20110118193102

CNN Footage Captures Tibet Chants as Hu Arrives for State Dinner: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2011/01/19/vo.state.dinner.arrivals.cnn

Associated Press Footage of Protest in front of Chinese Embassy: http://video.ap.org/?f=AP&pid=Os0b6lLIYFwvhGDXAF2clBViwJ4WwMx4

International Campaign for Tibet’s Statement on U.S.-China Summit: http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/ict-statement-us-china-summit-positive-development-human-rights-and-tibet

Tibet Haunts President Hu in Washington, D.C.

Last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao was confronted by the skeletons in his closet.

Tibetans and their supporters dogged the Chinese leader everywhere he went during his 3-day visit to Washington, D.C. Giant skeleton puppets representing Hu’s failed leadership and decades of repressive policies in Tibet haunted him in the streets of the U.S. capital. 
Watch a video roundup and view photos of the colorful protests.

From implementing martial law in Tibet in 1989 to his ongoing crackdown against pro-Tibet protesters, Hu Jintao has pursued policies that brutalize and marginalize the Tibetan people. Read the press release by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) denouncing Hu Jintao’s failed leadership on Tibet and highlighting the Tibetan people’s enduring spirit of resistance.

SFT and TYC also jointly projected pro-Tibet images onto the Chinese embassy in D.C. during Hu’s visit.

On Wednesday, SFT’s Executive Director, Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor), spoke at a coalition rally in front of the White House alongside representatives from the Ugyhur, Taiwanese, Burmese, Chinese democracy and human rights communities. Each speaker echoed the call for long overdue change in Tibet and in China; Beijing must respect universal values of human rights and freedom if China is to be truly accepted as an equal among nations and a leader on the world stage.

Our Pressure is Working! Thanks to the consistent pressure on the Obama administration over the past two years, Tibet was raised as a central issue in the United States’ human rights agenda with China. President Obama pressed his Chinese counterpart to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his representatives.

Through our continued efforts, we can ensure that our government leaders collectively stand up to China and press for an end to its illegal occupation of Tibet.

In the coming months, Tibetans and their supporters around the world will take part in what has become an annual Lobby Day for Tibet. On this day we visit our elected representatives, update them on the situation inside Tibet, and ask for their support of the Tibetan people’s nonviolent struggle for freedom.

If you are interested in taking part in the Lobby Day events, please contact: grassroots@studentsforafreetibet.org and we’ll send you more information pertaining to your country.

Support SFT’s hard-hitting actions for Tibetan freedom:
https://secure3.convio.net/sft/site/Donation2?df_id=1345&1345.donation=form1