A Reason to Hope: My Interaction with His Holiness in Los Angeles
On May 4th, Amnesty International honored His Holiness the Dalai Lama at its 50th anniversary event in Los Angeles. During the presentation, I had the opportunity to represent SFT and ask a question on stage.
As His Holiness exited with his entourage, he stopped to speak with a few of us. I held out a khata (traditional greeting scarf) and as I greeted him, he held my hands and said, “Don’t give up; you all must continue your work. Never lose hope, because change is definitely coming.”
He went on to say that in light of the increasing pace of change in China, it is important to work with the Chinese people – writers, intellectuals, artists, the opinion-makers of society.
The previous day, I had spoken at a conference bringing together Chinese dissidents, Tibetan activists, Mongolians, Uyghurs, and Taiwanese to discuss opportunities and develop strategies for advancing our respective struggles for freedom, democracy, and human rights.
I explained to His Holiness that our global network was engaging in strategic Chinese outreach by connecting with key democracy advocates, writers, artists, students, lawyers and intellectuals. He assured me our efforts will make a difference and that change is imminent.
In that moment, I felt the immensity of the work ahead of us, but also had the distinct feeling that victory was inevitable.
With your help we can bring about freedom in Tibet. Please donate today to support SFT’s work.
http://sft.convio.net/site/Donation2?df_id=1345&1345.donation=form1
As we build new and strategic alliances, we must continue to challenge China’s abuses in Tibet at every turn. I was reminded of this minutes after His Holiness left, when I joined Lobsang, the official videographer for the award ceremony.
Lobsang is from Ngaba, the county in Amdo, Tibet that is under attack by Chinese security forces. His 15-year-old cousin, Norbu, was shot dead by China’s armed police on March 16th, 2008 for taking part in a peaceful protest for Tibetan freedom.
Three years after the day Norbu was shot, Phuntsok Jarutsang, a 20-year-old monk, lit himself on fire in an act of protest against China’s repression, and troops have since laid siege on Kirti monastery.
Right now, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, are meeting with Chinese officials in Washington, DC. Urge the U.S. Administration to raise Tibet and human rights during this week’s U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.
Together, we can ensure that one day soon, people like Lobsang – and all Tibetans – are united with their families and homeland.
Please support SFT today: http://sft.convio.net/site/Donation2?df_id=1345&1345.donation=form1
Thank you for all you do for Tibet,
Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor)
Executive Director
Stand-off in Ngaba: Tibetan monks need your help
Tibetan monks at Kirti monastery in eastern Tibet are in danger – and need your help.
As Beijing intensifies its sweeping crackdown on dissent, Chinese troops in Tibet are on the verge of “disappearing” hundreds of monks.
Tibetan monks in Dharamsala, India have received an urgent call for help from Ngaba County (Chinese: Aba County). They are reporting that Chinese troops attempted to storm Kirti monastery this morning. According to reliable sources, residents fear Chinese authorities are planning to forcibly remove all monks between the ages 18 and 40.
Local Tibetans, being alerted to the troops’ arrival, rushed to block the monastery entrance. The armed police and soldiers tried to break through the crowd by beating the Tibetans and setting police dogs on them. In spite of the violent attacks, the Tibetans stood their ground and the troops failed to enter the monastery’s inner gates. As of now, the standoff continues.
Tibetans fear Chinese authorities are planning to transfer the monks from the monastery into local prisons where they will be subjected to China’s repressive political “reeducation”.
Tension in Ngaba has been high since the self-immolation of Phuntsok Jarutsang (pictured right), a 20-year monk from Kirti Monastery, on March 16, 2011. Chinese forces have been stationed around Kirti Monastery for weeks and more than a dozen monks have been arbitrarily arrested.
According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy as of yesterday, troops had completely sealed off the monastery. The monks’ dwindling food supplies are prompting fears of starvation in the monastery. The lives of many Tibetans are at stake.
Take Action: Let the Chinese authorities know the world is watching
- Sign the petition and demand an end to the siege.
- Organize a solidarity rally at the Chinese consulate nearest you or at a public landmark in your community. Find details of protests here. Send information about your protest to grassroots@studentsforafreetibet.org so we can alert others.
- Spread the word. Forward this email to friends & family. Update your Facebook and Twitter status to “I stand with Tibetans in Ngaba”.
For more ways to take action, visit: http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/ngaba
Let’s work together to end the siege at Kirti monastery, and to protect the monks and local Tibetans who are defending the monastery.
For more information, read the reports & articles below:
Chinese armed police cordon Ngaba Kirti Monastery, 2500 monks face food shortage (TCHRD)
http://www.tchrd.org/press/2011/pr20110411.html
Security step-up in Kirti monastery likely to starve monks (Phayul News):
http://is.gd/iaQ7tN
Ngaba Kirti Monastery Under Lockdown (Voice of America):
http://www.voanews.com/tibetan-english/news/Ngaba-Kirti-Monastery-under-Lockdown-119696874.html
More information about the incident on March 16th self-immolation:
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2306
"Three Provinces of the Snowland, Losar Tashi Delek!" By Woeser
Woeser's blogpost is timed to coincide with Losar, Tibetan New Year. This year, there has been much discussion amongst Tibetan netizens on the regional variations when it comes to celebrating Losar, as well as the conflict in celebrating Chinese New Year when the timing does not coincide with Losar. For more on this topic, see the previous posting here on High Peaks Pure Earth titled "One Tibet, Many Tibetan New Years".
A few days ago, some people I had just made friends with made their way from Chengdu to their hometown somewhere in eastern Tibet to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. I asked them if they celebrated both Chinese New Year and Losar or whether they just chose one. They said that the people just like to celebrate Losar whereas their work units placed more emphasis on Chinese New Year. People in their hometown rely on livestock and also agriculture to make a living and it is hence different from places like Amdo and Kham; and with regards to New Year celebrations, they by no means have to celebrate Chinese New Year.
In the past few years, there has been a lively debate among Tibetans on the internet about the displacement of New Year’s celebrations. One of the opinions is that “the displacement of New Year’s celebrations in Amdo (Gansu, Qinghai) and Kham (Tibet) was caused by the historically, geographically and climatically transformed environment, but that the actual atmosphere of the celebrations has become more Tibetan”. I have always believed that since we know that our New Year has been somewhat displaced, we should try to gradually replace it; yet, after engaging in profound discussions and thus gaining a more comprehensive understanding, I now think that it is not really a question of displacement and replacement, but whether the choices we make are imposed or natural.
Over 90 years ago, the Minister for Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, stationed in Tibet, Zhao Erfeng, instigated a brutal massacre in the Kham region, killing many Tibetan monks, thus promoting the system of “Liuguan”; he regarded the transformation of Tibetan folk customs as extremely important, calling it the “opening-up of a culture” and the “reformation of old habits”, which included forcing Tibetan disciples to study Mandarin and making Tibetan families take on Han Chinese family names. As a result, in today’s Kham region we find many people with Han Chinese surnames, of which many originate from that period. It also included making people celebrate Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival as well as putting an end to sky burials, instead burying the deceased in the ground. In the Amdo region, the 40-year-long reign of the Ma Bufang Hui nationality warlord family forced Tibetans to intermarry and to change their religious beliefs; it also spread and popularised Chinese New Year as well as other festival traditions, including dragon, lion and lantern dances.
The forced changes back then have turned into more soft changes today; it seems that they are better at capturing people’s weaknesses. For example, two years ago, the Tibetan Losar and the Chinese lunar New Year happened to be at exactly the same time, which meant that people could celebrate them together and it saved them from the problem of having to choose. But this year, both festivals are one whole month apart and as far as I know, Kardze Prefecture gave people 7 days holiday for Chinese New Year, but only 3 days for Losar. Not to mention that this is already a differentiation, they even decided to add those 3 days to the 7 days of Chinese New Year vacation, leaving 10 days of vacation around Lunar New Year and none for Losar.
This decision was in favour of those people who wanted to have a long holiday; my family in Dartsedo, for example, were happy to use those 10 days to go to Chengdu and enjoy themselves. It also didn’t matter to them that when it came to Losar celebrations, they were busy working and no festive emotions or atmosphere came up. In fact, many people, I am referring to those living in the cities and towns, already entertain an indifferent attitude towards the meaning of Losar. Yet, the above-mentioned decision has certainly let to the fading away of Losar. No matter whether intentionally or not, this is bound to weaken Losar, making it much less important than Chinese New Year.
However, on the other hand, as we can see on the internet, there are some young Tibetans who believe that incorporating some customs of Chinese New Year into Tibetan people’s lives is not at all inappropriate. For example, those triple antithetical couplets written in golden letters on red background are originally simply an imitation of the Han Chinese couplet, neither fish nor fowl; yet, it’s not simply about “likeness”. It is important to know that all the loss is first reflected in the details; every single detail embodies a little bit more loss until in the end, everything is lost.
I am not a narrow-minded nationalist. I realised that on this year’s Chinese New Year’s Eve, among the Happy New Year Messages I received, most of them were from Tibetans from Amdo and Kham; and there were not only MMS containing Tibetan songs and dance, there were also some SMS from monks reciting prayers and the classic scriptures. This admittedly conveyed a “pure Tibetan atmosphere”, but at the same time, it felt somewhat peculiar. Just like Wang Lixiong jokingly wondered, how is it possible that Tibetans are even keener on Chinese New Year than Han Chinese?
It is reported that the people of Kham, Batang, and Litang regions, whose customs and habits had been transformed long time ago by Zhao Erfeng, have in the past two years increasingly given up celebrating the Lunar New Year and have resumed celebrating Losar. Amdo is home to Chentsa County, which is rich in Tibetan cultural heritage and this year people started neglecting Chinese New Year, instead picking up Losar celebrations again. Perhaps the people of these regions really do not care about the restoration of those festivities. Maybe the celebrations will negatively affect local agricultural production. Or perhaps, in reality, there is no negative impact at all because the people who grew up on this land emanate the wisdom of their land and hence can make their own decisions based on this close relationship with their homeland.
Chengdu, March 1, 2011
Martial law in Xinjiang
Al Jazeera update: Urumchi flooded with troops – there is no indication things will return to normal anytime soon.
Tibetan Monks Sealed in Sichuan Monastery Request Permission to Pray for Chinese Quake Victims
Currently based out of Dharamsala, India, friend-of-SFT and Producer of Pacifica/KPFK’s The Tibet Connection radio show Rebecca Novick posted an amazing story to The Huffington Post. Relatively inexperienced at this blogging thing, I hope I’m not breaking any rules by simply re-posting it in full here:
Tibetan Monks Sealed in Sichuan Monastery Request Permission to Pray for Chinese Quake Victims
Tsering, a monk living in exile in Dharamsala, India, received a static-filled call from Tibet at 10:30 at night on May 15th. On the other end was a monk from Kirti Monastery in Sichuan, the province where China’s devastating earthquake took tens of thousands of lives.
The monk told Tsering that the monastic community of Kirti had requested that the Chinese authorities to allow them to perform prayers for the Chinese people who had suffered in the disaster.
Since March 6th, Kirti monastery has been surrounded by large numbers of Chinese security forces. The local Tibetan community has not been allowed access after large public demonstrations — in which thousands of the monks participated — resulting in mass arrests. For a few days, Kirti became a temporary morgue for fifteen Tibetans who eye witnesses claim were shot and killed by Chinese police while protesting non-violently. Scores of other protesters were reported to have been killed in the ensuing crackdown.
Two weeks later, after photographs of those killed in the protests were leaked to the outside world, the People’s Armed Police and Public Security Bureau officials stormed the monastery and searched the rooms. During the raid, they defaced pictures of the Dalai Lama — an unimaginable offense to Tibetan monks. (Photo courtesy of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy.)
It was in this atmosphere that the monks of Kirti made their quiet request to do prayers for the Chinese quake victims. Since March, the monks of Kirti have not been allowed to conduct their usual Buddhist rituals, but on May 15th, they received special permission to make an exception. The monks began the day with a prayer offering ceremony and collected cash donations from among their members. They also wrote letters of condolences to the bereaved families.
The monks of Kirti monastery, located in Ngapa county in Amdo, also conveyed the following message to the Chinese people:
As monks of a Buddhist Monastery, we unwaveringly follow the nonviolent path shown by Buddha and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We practice the Buddhist teachings of loving compassion to all sentient beings. We are all one human family. Therefore the monks of Kirti monastery offer their prayers to the Chinese victims of this disaster.
We want our Chinese brothers and sisters to know that we Tibetans are not against them as the Government has tried to claim through the state run television after the March 14 unrest in Lhasa. This has been creating a rift and hostility between Tibetans and Chinese. The monks from Kirti monastery confidently represent the Tibetans by clarifying that the Tibetans are against the unjust policies of the People’s Republic of China and not against the Chinese people themselves.
We wish to express to the Chinese people that we have never harbored any anger towards them. Our only wish is to find a solution to the Tibet issue. Tibetans and Chinese have a deep history of cultural relationships, and it’s a fact that Tibetans and Chinese have to live side by side. Therefore, we urge the Chinese people to join us to try to find a solution that will allow us to remain friends rather than enemies.
That solution may presently seem out of reach, but its sentiments like these that could bring it closer.
Burmese monks support Tibet
The ‘International Burmese Monks Association’ called on the Chinese authorities yesterday to stop using violence against Tibetan monks and people who are staging protests in Tibet. [...]
The statement of Burmese monks said they are concerned about the security of their fellow Tibetan monks, their freedom of expression and freedom of religion in Tibet.
The Thai based Burmese monks association Vice-Chairman Ashin Pyinyar Tharmi said, “The persecution unleashed by the Chinese authorities insults Buddhism. We demand that the Chinese government stop it. They beat up Tibetan abbots and monks, and imprisoned them. We cannot accept these things for any reason. [...]“.
Ashin Pyinyar Tharami said that raiding and sealing monasteries by the Chinese authorities in Tibet are identical to the activities by the Burmese junta in Burma.
This reminds us of an article by a Tibetan writer, “A Lesson From Our Burmese Brothers and Sisters,” which came out during the pro-democracy demonstrations in Burma last September. It predicted many of the parallels we are seeing right now between the Tibetan and Burmese demonstrations.
The Burmese and Tibetan peoples are both suffering under brutal, repressive regimes; in both cases, the road of oppression leads directly to the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing.
(Protests in Burma, top, and Tibet, bottom)
From SFGate “Message in the Ice”
Ethnic Tibetans write a Tibetan prayer for good fortune on the surface of a frozen river in Yushu, China. A human rights group accused China of actively trying to undermine the Tibetan language in an effort to assimilate the region’s unique culture.
Original post here
This is What Resistance Can Look Like
The International Campaign for Tibet has posted new photos from Lhasa and Labrang, showing Tibetans thronging to offer incense and light fireworks to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s Congressional Gold Medal.
This despite intense warnings and intimidation from Chinese authorities, who are revealing themselves to be increasingly powerless to stop concerted actions by the Tibetan people.
The Tibetan people see that the Chinese emperor has no clothes. China’s apparatus of terror and control in Tibet relies on people being intimidated and afraid. When enough people refuse to be intimidated and afraid, the whole system of control can unravel.
More photos can be seen here.
- polo shirts
on NEW PHOTOS, NEW PROTESTS, AND A NEW GENERATION
- NYC Summer Lhakar Actions « Lhakar Diaries on SFT in DC
- Jurmedth Khampa Lotay
on “Ngapo Ngawang Jigme: The Death of an Historical Figure” by Woeser
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