FW: [WTNN] World Tibet Network News -- March 15th, 2011
Alex Bunjes
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
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Issue ID: 2011/03/14Compiled by Nima Dorjee
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Contents
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1. Viewpoint: Dalai Lama's exile challenge for Tibet (Robbie Barnett)
2. Why the Dalai Lama¹s decision to step down was a wise one.
3. Tibetan parliament-in-exile has three options on Dalai Lama
4. Tibet parliament can turn down Dalai Lama¹s decision
5. Dalai Lama proclaims success of Tibetan democracy, hands over
government duties to elected Tibetan leader
6. TWA dedicates women's uprising anniversary to Tibetan women writers
7. Nepal Quashes Tibetan 52nd Uprising Commemoration
8. INTERVIEW: Tibetans share their uprising stories with the world
9. Flag Campaign: Tibet Initiative Deutschland (TSG Germany)
10. Rome¹s Mayor support His Holiness the Dalai Lama¹s call for fact
finding missions to Tibet
11. Canadian commemorations mark 52nd anniversary of Tibetan Uprising
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1. Viewpoint: Dalai Lama's exile challenge for Tibet (BBC))
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Robbie Barnett
14 March 2011, BBC News
As the Tibetan parliament-in-exile meets in Dharamsala to discuss the
Dalai Lama's decision to devolve his political role to an elected
official, Robert Barnett of Columbia University looks at what lies
behind the Tibetan spiritual leader's move.
The Dalai Lama's promise on 10 March to step down from his position as
head of the Tibetan government has already been described by the Chinese
government and his critics as "a trick".
It is true that for China and for most of us, we will not see much
difference in the short term if his plan goes ahead. The Dalai Lama has
said that he will continue travelling around the world as a religious
leader and will still speak on Tibetan issues, albeit in a personal
capacity.
So this is not a monastic vow of silence or an end to his role as the
figurehead of the Tibetan people and as the most powerful voice through
which their concerns will be expressed.
But the announcement is a serious matter for Tibetans. For one thing, it
is about much more than retirement. The Dalai Lama, now 76 years old,
declared this week not that he would retire, but that he would propose
amendments to the exiles' constitution, passed by the exile parliament
in 1991 and known as the "Charter of the Tibetans-in-exile", that would
"devolve my formal authority to the elected leader".
At the moment, he is formally described as "the chief executive of the
Tibetan government" and has the power to pass laws, summon or suspend
the parliament, appoint or sack ministers, and hold referenda. In
practice, he makes and confirms all major policy decisions. He is now
demanding that this function, the last remaining religious feature of
the Tibetan governmental system, be ended or at least reduced to a
merely symbolic role.
This demand comes after decades of gradual steps by the Dalai Lama to
push his followers into secular modernity. Four years after coming into
exile in 1959, he had made the exiles redefine his role as akin to a
constitutional monarchy with a religious leader. In 2001 he had them
hold direct elections for their prime minister, a figure known as Kalon
Tripa in Tibetan. This week he will attempt to get them to complete the
democratisation process.
All this is partly theoretical, in that the Tibetan administration now
has no state to administer and 20 years ago gave up its demands to have
one. But it is not insignificant: the Dalai Lama's demand is analogous
to the Pope insisting for 50 years that the Vatican State turn itself
into a secular, democratic institution in which he has only a symbolic
role at most.
If the exile parliament accepts the Dalai Lama's amendments at its
meeting this week, it would be making an unprecedented change to
centuries of Tibetan history.
Succession challenge
The statement has nothing to do with the question of who will be the
next Dalai Lama, an even more serious issue - China announced four years
ago that only its officials can decide which lama is allowed to
reincarnate or which child is the reincarnated lama. This ensures that
there will be major conflict once the current Dalai Lama dies, unless
the dispute has been solved by then.
But the statement does confirm who will be the official leader of the
145,000 or so Tibetans in exile: it will be the man whom the exiles will
elect as their new prime minister on 20 March. The new appointee will
face a daunting task - he will be a leader with no territory, no
military power, no international recognition, limited revenue and an
electorate riven by political, regional and religious rivalries.
There are three candidates, all of them men, fluent in English, and
moderate in their politics. The leading candidate, Lobsang Sangay, has
wide support because he is younger and assertive, with an academic title
from a prestigious American university. But he is without experience in
government, business or management, has spent only a few days in Tibet,
and knows no Chinese. The other candidates, Tenzin Tethong and Tashi
Wangdi, have years of experience as leading officials in the exile
administration, but are seen as conservative and reticent in their
approach to leadership.
None of the candidates are monks or lamas, and it will be hard for any
of them to maintain a unified community in exile. They will be unknown
to Tibetans inside Tibet, whose connection is to the Dalai Lama. And
China insists it will consider talks only with the Dalai Lama himself,
not with the exile administration, which it does not recognise. The
Dalai Lama is pushing exiles to confront these challenges whilst he is
still around to step in when there is a crisis.
Flawed system
Tibetans have experienced the best aspects of the Tibetan system of
religious monarchy: it is extraordinarily effective in producing
national unity and moral focus when it has a gifted, charismatic and
forward-thinking leader. But only three of the 14 Dalai Lamas ever
achieved that stature, and as a succession method the system is
disastrous, since it takes nearly 20 years to find, confirm, and educate
the next reincarnation. Tibet thus experienced long periods under
regents who had limited authority - one of the reasons why the former
Tibet was a weak state that was so easily absorbed by China 60 years ago.
Many Tibetans are thus likely to do their utmost to try to dissuade
their leader from stepping down, which they understandably see as more
than symbolic, even as catastrophic - probably one reason why the Dalai
Lama is trying to rush the issue through his exile parliament in the
next few days. This in turn magnifies the risk that Tibetans inside
Tibet, hearing limited news only from attacks on the Dalai Lama in the
Chinese media, might think their leader has abandoned them.
The Dalai Lama's statement thus carries a hidden but unsurprising
message: he is signalling to Tibetans that the resolution to their
conflict may not come in his lifetime.
If the exiles want an institution that can continue after he dies to
hold China to account over its record of poor and often abusive
governance in Tibet, they will need to build a system robust enough to
carry out that task without him. They are being reminded that soon they
will find themselves with no choice but to have to do that on their own.
Robert Barnett is the Director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program and
an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, New York
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2. Why the Dalai Lama¹s decision to step down was a wise one.
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The India site
By Patrick French
Patrick French is the author of Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a
Lost Land
Last week, the Dalai Lama stepped down as the political leader of the
Tibetan people. Nobody could blame him for wishing to retire. He was
chosen as Tibet¹s leader by a system of reincarnation when he was just
five years old, and it is understandable seventy years later that he
might want to stand down. When he was 15, he was obliged to assume full
temporal power during the Chinese communist invasion.
Tibetans and non-Tibetans have an emotional attachment to the 14th Dalai
Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, not only for his position but for his unique
personal charisma. That is not going to change with his retirement from
office. But it is important to detach our personal projections and
feelings for the Dalai Lama from the fate of the Tibetan people
difficult though that might be. For those in search of spiritual
guidance, he will always remain a beacon of compassion.
?Might it be possible, the Dalai Lama asked, for Tibet to gain freedom
through Gandhian methods of non-violent resistance? Alternatively, could
India help to bring about independence by some other means? Nehru was a
sympathetic listener; he gave asylum to the Dalai Lama and 100,000
fleeing Tibetans. But he made it clear that India could never start a
war for Tibetan independence, and that in his view, Œthe whole world
cannot bring freedom to Tibet unless the whole fabric of the Chinese
state is destroyed.¹ Although the CIA was giving support to Tibetan
rebels, Nehru with his long experience of international politics
thought American and European support for the Tibetan cause was not
sincere. In his view, Œall they want is to exploit Tibet in their cold
war with the Soviet Union.¹ If the exiled leader went to the West in the
hope of drumming up enthusiasm, said Nehru, he would be left looking
Œlike a piece of merchandise.¹
This was, over the decades, to become the Dalai Lama¹s dilemma.
It was not until 1979 that he was even permitted to enter the United
States. Cautiously at first, he tried to promote the cause of his
country¹s freedom and cultural identity abroad. It was only in the late
1980s after protests and riots in Lhasa that the Tibetan issue
acquired a popular sheen in Western countries. Politicians, singers,
movie stars and activists (myself included) became involved in a
vociferous campaign to influence the Chinese government to negotiate
with the Dalai Lama. This lobbying was not successful, and since the
early 1990s Beijing has shown little sign of entering into serious or
sincere negotiations with the Dalai Lama¹s exiled administration.
In retrospect, it seems that the last window of opportunity for a
constructive resolution of the Tibetan issue was during the Deng
Xiaoping era in the 1980s. The Chinese leadership at this time made an
active effort to secure a deal which would allow the exiles to return to
Tibet. Since then, he has been personally vilified by Beijing. It has
been apparent for more than a decade now that the chances of the Dalai
Lama making further progress with the Chinese government were very
remote. To pretend otherwise was a fiction promoted by pro-Tibet
campaigners because they could not find an alternative way forward, such
was the growing global economic power of China.
Inside Tibet, despite the practical and material advances, the Chinese
government has failed signally to win the hearts and minds of the
people. This impasse or deadlock flared up dangerously in 2008, when
protests spread across many parts of China where Tibetans lived, and
were brutally put down. Beijing¹s strategy has been to wait it out,
hoping that once the Dalai Lama passes away, the Tibetan issue will fade
from international consciousness.
For this reason alone, the Dalai Lama¹s decision to step down last week
was a wise one. He has, in fact, been trying to retire for several
decades. When he made an attempt in 2001, he did not get far. The
Tibetan refugee community elected a Kalon Tripa or chief minister, who
promptly suggested the Dalai Lama should retain all executive power. ŒI
would now like to request His Holiness to rescind this decision,¹ the
Kalon Tripa said, Œand continue to exercise his traditional
administrative responsibilities.¹
The problem is that as far as most Tibetans are concerned, the Dalai
Lama is literally irreplaceable. No other culture has such reverence for
its leader, who is usually referred to in Tibetan simply as Œthe
Presence¹. Roman Catholic respect for the Pope or Hindu reverence for
sages and babas is simply not comparable. This devotion can be found
equally among Tibetans inside Tibet and among those in exile. I remember
while travelling in a remote part of western Tibet in 1999, meeting a
young woman whose reverence for me was profound, simply because she
heard I had been in the presence of the Presence. And the Dalai Lama had
left Tibet before this woman was born.
If the future of the Tibetan people is to be secured even in a messy
and compromised form it is vital the Dalai Lama does not renege on his
decision to step down. He has already been pressed by Tibetans living in
exile to reconsider. (It is harder to know what Tibetans inside Tibet
are thinking, since the restrictions on them communicating with the
outside world are severe, and they have no objective information about
their own politicial situation.) The Dalai Lama has made the decision to
step down in his lifetime because he knows it is in the long-term
interest of the Tibetan people.
The exiles now have to elect a leader who can promote a more modern and
pragmatic course of action. There needs to be a generational shift, and
a new approach. They have to generate alternative sources of patronage
and political impetus. They have to make sure that if, in the future,
Beijing recognises or creates a new Dalai Lama, this ŒChinese¹ Dalai
Lama is not seen as a plausible alternative. They have crucially to
find original mechanisms to reach out to the Chinese people and to the
Chinese government.
Ideally, the Tibetan exiles need to rally around a single person who can
articulate their grievances and ambitions. The most plausible candidate
for this elected role is Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard Law School graduate
in his early forties. His selection would provide an opportunity for a
fresh strategy. Like most exiled communities, the Tibetans have many
internal splits regional, personal, political and religious which
will need to be put aside in pursuit of a larger historical ambition. If
this does not happen, the cause the Dalai Lama has long espoused will
end up as a footnote to history.
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3. Tibetan parliament-in-exile has three options on Dalai Lama
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Sify News
2011-03-14
Dharamsala: The Tibetan parliament-in-exile has three options before it
while deciding on the issue of the Dalai Lama's wish to shed political
authority.
The matter is to figure in the session on Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Penpa Tsering told reporters that the parliament has
three options.
'First, we would again request His Holiness that we don't want any
changes and he should continue to take political responsibilities.'
'Second possibility would be to accept the suggestion of His Holiness
and make changes accordingly. If members say that we agree with the
Dalai Lama's proposal, then separate committees would have to be formed.
Then there would be a long process, something that cannot be done within
the period of this house because the 14th parliament is also coming to
an end by May and new parliament and cabinet would come into being by
June.'
'The last possibility is to try to find a middle-way wherein the elected
representatives can take responsibility for executive affairs with the
Dalai Lama in charge of the political leadership,' the speaker said.
'If suggestions from majority of the members opt the middle-way, asking
His Holiness to continue the political leadership, then committees will
have to be formed to make necessary amendments in the Charter and other
regulations,' he added.
The Dalai Lama, 75, announced his decision to retire from his political
role March 10, the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising.
The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile is not recognised by any country,
including India. Some 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, over 100,000
of them in various parts of India. Over six million Tibetans live in Tibet.
The budget session would continue till March 25.
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4. Tibet parliament can turn down Dalai Lama¹s decision
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VARINDER BHATIA, Indian Express
Posted online: Tue Mar 15 2011, 02:31 hrs
Dharamsala : The Tibetan parliament-in-exile may reject the decision
taken by the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso ‹ the temporal and spiritual head
of the Tibetans ‹ to quit as political authority, according to sources
close to the top leadership.
While The Tibetan parliament adjourned its proceedings on the first day
of its Budget Session on Monday and announced that a detailed discussion
on the spiritual head¹s retirement decision would be held from Tuesday,
the members of parliament are holding meetings to pursue the Dalai Lama
to reconsider his decision.
Article 31 of the Charter of the Tibetans, which governs the entire
Tibetan establishment, empowers parliament to ³transfer all powers of
Dalai Lama to a special committee² and reject his decision.
Article 31 says: ³For the larger interest of the national and public, if
3/4th majority of the parliament agrees, in consultation with the
Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, all the powers of His Holiness can
be transferred to the Desi Lhentsok (special committee). If there is no
other option, His Holiness¹ (Dalai Lama) powers can be transferred to
this committee.²
The special committee comprises three members, who can be elected
unanimously or through election in the House. For constituting the
committee, even the cabinet ministers have a right to vote, which they
do not have otherwise.
It is not for the first time that the Dalai Lama has refused to continue
as the political head. When he had expressed his wish to retire two
decades ago, in 1991, the Tibetan Parliament had decided to remove
Article 31 from the Charter. At that time, Dalai Lama was the one who
insisted that Article 31 must be included in the Charter.
³If such a situation arises, Parliament can invoke Article 31 and refuse
to accept His Holiness¹ decision on his retirement. But, at the same
time, we have to take care of his sentiments too,² says Karma Yeshi,
member of parliament, Tibetan government-in-exile.
³We are the elected representatives of the people, who are not at all
ready to accept His Holiness¹ decision. There is nobody who can take his
place. We shall be discussing this in house, but everybody will
definitely vote for asking the Dalai Lama to take his decision back,²
says Dawa Tsering, another MP.
³Dalai Lama is the only person who represents Tibetans inside and
outside Tibet. His decision of stepping down will affect the people
inside Tibet much more, than those living in exile,² says Urgen Tenzin,
former MP and presently Director of the Human Rights Centre of Tibetans.
³It is definitely a very grave situation for us. It is not the question
of one man¹s relationship with the Tibetan Parliament. It is about the
relationship of the Institution of Dalai Lama with the Tibetan
government,² said Dolma Gayri, another Tibetan MP.
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5. Dalai Lama proclaims success of Tibetan democracy, hands over
government duties to elected Tibetan leader
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March 9th, 2011, ICT Press Release:
Amidst the Tibetan people¹s annual commemoration of the 1959 Tibetan
National Uprising against the Chinese Communist occupation of Tibet, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama has proclaimed a victory for Tibetan democracy
by announcing his desire for the full devolution of his responsibilities
in the Tibetan exile government to the elected Tibetan leader or Kalon
Tripa.
³As early as the 1960¹s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a
leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people to whom I can devolve
power. Now we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect.²
For the full statement, seewww.dalailama.com.
In his statement, the Dalai Lama cited appeals he has received from
Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile that he not step back from political
leadership. He implored them to understand his intention, support his
decision and allow it to take effect. ³As one among them, I am committed
to playing my part in the just cause of Tibet,² he said.
³In contrast to those long-serving autocrats who have been much in the
news, the Dalai Lama is the rare visionary who is willingly divesting
power to his people,² said Mary Beth Markey, ICT President. ³His
decision, based on the maturation of Tibetan democracy in exile,
deserves both accolades and support.²
As a young leader in Tibet the 14th Dalai Lama had visualized
³far-reaching² reforms in the governance of what he called a ³New
Tibet,² but it was not until he escaped that he was able to freely
develop representative government. In 1959, the Dalai Lama established
the Tibetan government in exile, officially the Central Tibetan
Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (CTA).
In his first March 10 statement, delivered from Dharamsala, India, in
1961, the Dalai Lama called for reforms, telling Tibetans that ³the task
and responsibility lies upon all of us.² Two years later, on March 10,
1963, the Dalai Lama introduced a draft democratic Constitution for a
Future Tibet that provided Œfor effective participation by the people
and for securing social and economic justice.² Although the Constitution
was meant to come into force when Tibetans regained their freedoms in
Tibet, it guided the CTA for almost 30 years.
In 1990, a Constitution Redrafting Committee instituted by the Dalai
Lama prepared a draft Charter for Tibetans in Exile. On July 14, 1991,
following its circulation for popular comment, the Tibetan parliament in
exile voted unanimously to approve the final Charter. Two weeks later,
the Dalai Lama added his consent, and so it was duly approved by the
elected representatives of the Tibetans in exile and by their spiritual
and political leader.
The Charter is a working constitution modeled on similar documents in
liberal democracies. To date, the only contentious provisions of the
Charter have been those limiting the power of the Dalai Lama, which he
proposed. When the parliament pressed for the withdrawal of these
provisions, the Dalai Lama responded: ³The two clauses exist not as
decorative pieces of the Charter but to drive home the difference
between a system that pays lip service to democracy while holding on
firmly to power, and one that is serious about implementing democracy.²
The Dalai Lama summarily exercised his authority to limit his own power,
overriding the parliament¹s objection.
The Dalai Lama¹s stated decision to fully devolve his formal authority
to an elected Tibetan authority will again require a legal response
within the Tibetan democratic system. ³During the forthcoming eleventh
session of the fourteenth Tibetan Parliament in Exile, which begins on
14th March, I will formally propose that the necessary amendments be
made to the Charter for Tibetans in Exile,² he said.
³No one can dispute the relevance of the Dalai Lama as the natural
leader of the Tibetan people,² said Tsering Jampa, Executive Director of
ICT-Europe, ³but now we will see how the Tibetan leaders in parliament
respond to a significant step for the Tibetan people in the democratic
process.²
A spate of comments from Chinese officials dismissing the authority of
the Dalai Lama and directives limiting foreign travel in Tibet indicate
that the Chinese government is nervous about what the Dalai Lama would
say on March 10 and its effect on stability in Tibet. In March 2008, a
wave of demonstrations began in Lhasa on Tibetan National Uprising Day
and spread across the Tibetan plateau. The Chinese government responded
with a massive security crackdown, and its tight restrictions remain in
force.
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6. TWA dedicates women's uprising anniversary to Tibetan women writers
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Phayul[Monday, March 14, 2011 12:05]
New Delhi, March 13 - The Tibetan Women¹s Association dedicated the 52nd
anniversary of the National Tibetan Women¹s Uprising Day to honor the
indomitable literary spirit of the Tibetan Women inside Tibet with an
exclusive literary event, ³Honoring the Literary Spirit of Tibetan Women
Inside Tibet² here Saturday. The event held at the Deputy Speaker Hall
of Constitution Club of India featured the launch of a book A Sequence
of Tortures; A Diary of Interrogations by a noted Tibetan woman writer
from inside Tibet Jamyang Kyi, and a panel discussion attended by Gyari
Dolma, Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile; Jaya Jaitley,
Former president of Samta Party and Social Activist; Nafisa Ali, Social
Activist and Actor and Nilanjana S. Roy, Journalist and Literary Critic.
The discussion was chaired by Swati Chopra, New Delhi based writer and
author of Dharamsala Diaries and Women Awakened: Stories of Contemporary
Spirituality in India.
Jamyang Kyi is one of the most important voices writing from Tibet,
according to the Tibetan Women¹s Association¹s Dhardon Sharling. ³The
writer has been jailed, and interrogated on many instances and continue
to be under heavy scrutiny for her writing demanding more freedom in
Tibet. As a writer, singer and blogger she continues to speak for her
people at great peril of her life under the Chinese authorities,² says
Sharling. Her book originally written in Tibetan has been translated
into English and Chinese by TWA which will distribute the books worldwide.
Lauding Kyi for painstakingly outlining the physical and psychological
torture that she endured, Swati Chopra observed that Kyi¹s book
addresses bigger issues that the Chinese authorities are trying to
comprehend out of it. "A ray of hope runs through the book and Jamyang
Kyi is a believer in truth," said Swati.
Honoring the brave women of Tibet, Gyari Dolma lamented, ³while we are
living in exile because of the consequences of oppression and occupation
by a brutal force, the women inside Tibet are under fear because of
oppression.' She commended Kyi¹s grit and perseverance saying ³it's
amazing that even in her fear, we see strength.²
Jaya Jaitley pronounced that the event is about honoring women who are
expressing themselves. She proclaimed that ³the chakra for Indian
freedom fighters is the pen for Tibetan people². "Book lasts longer that
we do and this book brings out the struggle in women, therefore let us
honor the writing of Jamyang Kyi as an effective tool of non-violent
protest," Jaitley said.
Nafisa Ali saluted the courage of women like Tsering Woeser and Jamyang
Kyi, their cause and their mission. Ali said that the world should let
China and Tibet get the reform that is required. " If the dictatorship
gives way for a peaceful benefactor, then we will have a wonderful place
in South East Asia."
Nilanjana S. Roy quoted an expression by Jamyang Kyi : "Chinese are
allowed to write articles but we Tibetans are not even allowed to create
them." She expressed her adulation for the writer and said that 'the
fluency with which Jamyang Kyi remembers everything of her 21 days in
prison is amazing.' Nilanjana affirmed that the book makes for a
poignant reading and reflects many voices of women around the world.
While thanking the TWA for bringing out the book, the speakers vented an
affirmative tone in saying that the book makes for an excellent example
of 'oral narratives of oppression that ends on a note of hope.'
The TWA president Kirti Dolkaer Lhamo said that while it cannot be
ascertained whether anything like Kyi¹s book will ever appear again, the
fact remains that this writing represents a complete sequence of
interrogations, which had gone undocumented. ³The publication not only
lays bare the true situation of Tibetan people but also explores the
harsh conditions under which individuals still continue to suffer. More
importantly, it exposes a government that combines the characteristics
of guile, deceit, and coercion,² said Lhamo.
³We the Tibetan women in exile pay paeans to these brave women of Tibet
whose literary spirit, resilience and fearless acts have taken the
Tibetan struggle notches higher and whose indomitable courage is
exemplary of female fortitude and has encouraged women around the
world,² added Lhamo.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Nepal Quashes Tibetan 52nd Uprising Commemoration
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Monday, 14 March 2011 13:37
Carly Selby-James, The Tibet Post International
Dharamshala: Thousands of authorities in the Nepalese capital,
Kathmandu, have used undue force to intimidate and disperse over 3000
members of the Tibetan refugee community in the country as they gathered
on March 10 to commemorate 52nd Tibetan National Uprising Day.
The day marked the 52nd anniversary of the brutally supressed peaceful
demonstrations against Chinese rule held in Lhasa on March 10, 1959,
which left thousands dead and many more injured by communist government
forces, who had invaded Tibet ten years earlier.
Thousands of Nepalese police officers decked out in riot gear showed up
at Tibetan schools and monasteries at around 3am Thursday to prevent the
Tibetan community, and in particular its students, from gathering and
showing solidarity with the Tibetan cause. Police interrupted
proceedings including a reading of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's
Uprising Day speech and only withdrew under repeated calls from local
human rights monitors.
Video footage posted on Euronews.net and on the UK Telegraph's website
clearly shows unarmed Tibetan demonstrators being kicked and beaten by
Nepalese officers, with reports claiming at least 20 were injured and 15
detained by authorities.
Mr Jamyang Tenzin, a Tibetan journalist who is currently living in the
country told The Tibet Post International that "a great abusive actions
including physically harmful beatings taken by Nepal police against a
peaceful gathering of over 3000 Tibetan refugees at the Boudha stupa to
commemorate the uprising day."
In a statement issued the day before the incident, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of
Jurists warned Nepal against breaches of its own domestic law and its
international obligations, namely "preventive arrests and policing
restrictions on demonstrations and freedom of movement that deny the
right to legitimate peaceful expression and assembly during
anniversaries and festivals marked by the Tibetan community."
Nepal has come under fire recently for its treatment of Tibetan
refugees, amid claims that immigration officers have been accepting cash
bribes to turn refugees over to Chinese authorities, and the accusation
that the Nepalese government has been taking orders from the Communist
regime of China.
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8. INTERVIEW: Tibetans share their uprising stories with the world
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsewang Dhondup and Lobsang Thupten, both of whom were involved in the
2008 Tibetan uprising, tell the ŒTaipei Times¹ about being shot and
fleeing from Chinese authorities. They hid in the mountains for more
than a year before escaping to India. Now they are traveling the world
to tell their story
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Taipei Times
Mon, Mar 14, 2011 - Page 3
For many people around the world, the massive uprising against Chinese
rule in Tibet and other areas of China inhabited by Tibetans in March
2008 might have been just another example of Tibetans voicing their
resentment toward Chinese rule. However, for Tsewang Dhondup and Lobsang
Thupten ‹ two Tibetans from peasant families in the remote mountainous
village of Tehor in Sichuan Province¹s Kardze Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture ‹ it was an event that completely changed their lives.
Born in 1970 and raised in the Chinese-controlled Tibetan autonomous
region, Tsewang and Lobsang know all too well that China¹s propaganda
about ³improving the lives² of Tibetans and ³respecting Tibetan culture
and religion² is all lies because of what has happened to their fellow
villagers and themselves.
³If the quality of life has really been improved and modernized, why
don¹t we have basic things, such as a decent elementary school in our
village?² Tsewang said in an interview with the Taipei Times yesterday.
³From first to fourth grade, we didn¹t have paper or pencils or even
classroom furniture,² he said. ³We sat on the ground, each of us was
given a tree branch and we wrote on the dusty ground. There were four
teachers at the school and the one with the best education had graduated
from the same elementary school and remained as a teacher because he
could not pass the entrance exam for middle school.²
Education wasn¹t something that villagers valued either because they
knew that Tibetans did not enjoy the same opportunities as Chinese, even
if they had the same education background, Tsewang said.
Since school was mandatory, many Tibetan children from farming villages
were forced to go to school.
³Traditionally, many Tibetans were farmers, but when we are in school,
we learned nothing, while at the same time we lost our skills to work on
the farm because we had to stay in school instead of helping on the
farm,² he said. ³Thus, when we get out of school, we became nothing ‹ we
were just wasting time at school.²
³It¹s not that I didn¹t want to learn ‹ I always wanted to learn more,
but I didn¹t have the chance to,² Tsewang added.
Originally, his village was self-sustainable, having always grown
potatoes and other crops, ³but since the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]
took control, they forced us to plant useless things, such as thistles
and thorns, to -intentionally make us dependent on the outside,² Tsewang
said.
Resenting the Chinese government for his whole life, Tsewang finally saw
what he thought could be an opportunity to overthrow Chinese rule on
March 24, 2008.
Tsewang said he was helping to build an aqueduct for a local monastery
along with more than 100 other villagers, when he heard what sounded
like chanting and gunshots.
³We knew what happened in Lhasa, so when I heard it, I was quite excited
because the uprising was finally happening in our village,² he said.
Without anyone giving orders, all the villagers working on the aqueduct
dropped their tools and rushed to the scene of protest.
In front of the local police station, Tsewang saw hundreds of people ‹
monks and ordinary villagers ‹ chanting slogans including ³We want the
Dalai Lama back² and ³Tibet must be free.²
Police officers tried to arrest the protesters, Tsewang recounted, but
whenever a protestor was taken by the police, others would rush and
clash with the police and try to free the protester.
Then gunfire erupted from the police station and many people were
wounded, including a monk named Konka.
³I saw that Konka was shot. He tried to get up, but then fell to the
ground right away and yelled very loudly: ŒI was shot,¹² Tsewang
recounted. ³I was very saddened by the scene, as we Tibetans respect
monks a lot.²
Saying prayers in his mind, Tsewang ran to Konka despite the gunfire and
miraculously arrived at the monk¹s side safely.
³I helped him up with Rinzin Karma, a monk from a local monastery, but
as soon as I held Konka up, I could feel immediately that I was shot in
the waist, but I didn¹t say anything. I kept on trying to get Konka out
of there, but then, a few seconds later, I was shot again in the arm,²
he said.
Seriously bleeding after the shot in the arm, Tsewang said he knew he
couldn¹t hold on anymore, so he shouted for help before he passed out.
It was at this point that Lobsang and four other people from his village
‹ who Tsewang knew, but was not close friends with ‹ came to help him.
Tsewang¹s new friends immediately took him to another village nearby on
motorcycle and from there they carried him up to hide in the nearby
mountains on a self-made stretcher using branches and a piece of cloth.
³I couldn¹t go to the hospital because I was on the wanted list and the
local police would give a 150,000 to 200,000 yuan [US$22,800 to
US$30,000] cash reward to anyone who could give them information on my
whereabouts,² Tsewang said.
However, none of his friends betrayed him.
They hid him in the mountains, took turns staying with him and brought
him food.
He could not sit or stand because of the wound to his waist and without
proper care, the wounds festered and even became rotten with worms.
Without any medical equipment, his friends could only scrape away the
rotten part of the wounds with razors, drain the puss by sticking small
pipes into the wounds and disinfect them with liquor.
³For the first six months, I could not move at all and I had to lie
there all day long. We couldn¹t cook either, since the smoke might have
attracted attention, so my friends always tried to keep the food warm
when they brought it to me, but they all ate cold stuff,² he said. ³At
one point, I thought about committing suicide, but my friends told me
that I had to live on to tell the world what the Chinese did to
Tibetans,² Tsewang added. ³They also kept all sharp items out of my reach.²
His friends¹ words might have reignited Tsewang¹s will to live on, since
once he became determined to tell his story to the world, he began to
recover.
It was after one year and two months of hiding in the mountains that he
felt well enough to escape to India.
³One day, when it was Lobsang¹s turn to look after me, I told him I
wanted to go to India and I asked if he would go with me,² Tsewang said.
³He agreed right away without any hesitation.²
Lobsang drove Tsewang to Lhasa on his motorcycle ‹ a trip that took them
10 days and 10 nights since they had to avoid checkpoints along the way.
From Lhasa, they found a guide to take them to India and reached
Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, in May 2009.
Lobsang did not tell his family, leaving behind his mother, who is in
her sixties, his two young kids, ages six and eight, as well as his
pregnant wife.
Tsewang too, has a wife and four kids ‹ including one who was not born
yet when he fled.
³My family should understand it,² Tsewang said. ³I didn¹t escape to find
my own better life. I did so because I wanted to tell the world what¹s
happening to Tibetans.²
Lobsang, on the other hand, said ³the pain of having to leave my family
is nothing compared to the suffering of the Tibetan nation.²
Both will attend a candlelight vigil at Liberty Square in Taipei tonight
at 7pm that was initially meant to remember those who died in the 2008
uprising, but has been subsequently changed to pray for the victims of
Japan¹s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Flag Campaign: Tibet Initiative Deutschland (TSG Germany)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Release for March 10, 2011,
52nd commemoration of the Tibetan National Uprising
³A Question of Integrity²
1150 Mayors fly the flag for Tibet!
Number of participants as of March 8, 2011 (12 p.m.) 1150 towns and
cities
1150 cities, municipalities and counties all over Germany are raising
the Tibetan flag on March 10 at town halls and public buildings and
displaying it on their websites, including the regional capitals
Bremen, Hanover, Magdeburg, Potsdam, Saarbruecken, Stuttgart and
Wiesbaden. By doing so, they affirm on behalf of thousands of citizens
the Tibetan people¹s right to self-determination and protest against
the violations of human rights and the destruction of the Tibetan
people's culture, religion and national identity. Every year since
1996, Tibet Initiative Deutschland (Tibet Support Group Germany) calls
for this nationwide action.
The ever growing number of participants on one side clearly
demonstrates that the issue of Tibet is still regarded as unresolved,
on the other side it signals that Beijing¹s permanent assertions of
everything in Tibet being at its best have lost their credibility.
Beijing¹s Tibet policy has obviously failed. Three years after the
protests of 2008 the region is still closed to journalists and
representatives of international organisations. But a country which
suppresses others is not a free country itself.
China¹s ³Death Watching² the assumption that once the Dalai Lama is
gone the issue of Tibet will fade away will not work out. The
Chinese leadership should abandon its rigid attitude and finally
consent to hold meaningful talks with the Tibetan side. Afer all, it
would be to its own advantage. There is no guarantee at all that after
60 years of repression the Tibetan people, without the moderate
influence of the Dalai Lama, would accept the alternative of autonomy.
It seems that the Tibetan leader¹s willingness to compromise is seen
as weakness.
Flying the Tibetan national flag under these circumstances is a
commitment to global responsibility also in politics. ³If Germany¹s
interests are defended at the Hindu Kush why should the rights of the
Tibetans not be defended from within Germany?², said Monika Deimann,
the campaign¹s coordinator. ³It is imperative to perceive the Tibetan
people as an acting subject in politics. It¹s overdue that our
government talks directly to the Tibetan people. It should welcome the
Dalai Lama as legitimate representative of his people and be willing
to engage with representatives of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. On
March 20 a new Tibetan-Government-in Exile- will be democratically
elected by the Tibetan diaspora. However important the dialogue with
China might be, it¹s unacceptable to keep on talking with the
occupiers about the occupied.²
The flag campaign on March 10 is not a matter of human rights¹
violations or of foreign policy it is a matter of justice and
injustice. An injustice that the Tibetan people have endure for
decades up to the present day and which we should not accept if we do
not wish not to violate our own democratic values. This year, one of
the participating mayors put it in a nutshell: ³To fly the flag for
Tibet is a question of integrity².
Tibet Initiative Deutschland thanks the heads of cities,
municipalities and counties for supporting the Tibetan cause and for
their commitment to the universality of democratic values.
For the current list of participants 2011, messages of support as well
as background information about March 10 and the flag-campaign please
refer to www.tibetflagge.net. There is also a digital Tibetan Flag
available for download.
Participants 2011(as per 7 March): Baden-Württemberg 175, Bavaria 188,
Berlin 4, Brandenburg 27, Bremen 12, Hesse 157, Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania 19, Lower Saxony 117, North Rhine-Westphalia 131,
Rhineland-Palatinate 115, Saarland 33, Saxony 82, Saxony-Anhalt 56,
Schleswig-Holstein 22, Thuringia 10.
In 1949/50 the sovereign Tibet was illegally and in violation of
international law occupied by the People¹s Republic of China and in
1951 it was annexed. On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa stood up
against their Chinese occupiers. According to official Chinese figures
87.000 Tibetans lost their lives in the following crackdown. On March
17, 1959 the Dalai Lama fled into exile to India to evade the
stranglehold of the Chinese.
For further information and requests for interviews please contact:
Monika Deimann-Clemens
Flag campaign¹s coordinator /Tibet Initiative Deutschland (TSG Germany)
Tel. +49 - 6047 7816
Mobile: +49 - 174 789 63 36
Email: tibet...@web.de
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Rome¹s Mayor support His Holiness the Dalai Lama¹s call for fact
finding missions to Tibet
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rome, 11 March: The Mayor of Rome Mr. Giovanni Alemanno endorsed His
Holiness the Dalai Lama¹s call for independent international fact
finding missions to access the true situation in Tibet.
The Tibetan Community in Italy organised the 52nd Anniversary of the
Tibetan National Uprising Day at Ara Pacis Auditorium in Rome yesterday.
Over 20 Tibet related organisations including the Tibet Group in the
Italian Parliament supported in organising the event. The City of Rome,
Provincial and Regional Government of Rome were the Patrons of the event.
The Mayor¹s Diplomatic Counsellor read the Mayor¹s address. The Mayor¹s
wife Mrs. Isabella Rauti also addressed the gathering as the
Vice-President of Inter Group for Tibet at Lazio from central Italy.
Also Mr. Matteo Macacci, the President of the Tibet Group in the Italian
Parliament addressed the gathering.
³It is an honour for me to participate in this event to commemorate the
52nd Anniversary of the peaceful uprising in Lhasa. This was the
beginning of the long exile of the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen of
Rome from February 9, 2009,² said the Mayor.
He also said that the present situation in Tibet is deteriorating and
repression on the Tibetan people is constant.
³As His Holiness addressed today (in Dharamsala), it is important to
send international independent delegates and representatives of the
European Parliament to access the true condition in Tibet,² said Mayor
Alemanno.² We must fully support this.²
He called on the Italian Government to support the dialogue between the
Chinese and Tibetan representatives to achieve mutually satisfactory
solutiona that respects China¹s sovereignty and a genuine autonomy for
Tibet and its people.
In his conclusion remark, the Mayor said ³I want to assure you today
that Rome will continue to give voice to the Dalai Lama and our Tibetan
friendsŠ Finally, I extend my sincere greetings to the Dalai Lama and
our Tibetan friends: know that you can always count on Rome.²
The Mayor¹s address also welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama¹s
Representative Mr Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa to Rome.
Mr. Chhoekyapa thanked the Mayor for his support and said, ³Today we are
commemorating a sad but a very important event in Tibetan history.²
³We Tibetans are not against the Chinese government or people. What we
are against is the Chinese government¹s policies that undermine the
Tibetan religion, culture and language,² he said. ³We must resolve the
Tibetan issue through dialogue which brings mutual benefit to the
Tibetans and the Chinese people.²
In the morning, the Tibetan Community in Italy organised a rally in
front of the Chinese embassy in Rome. Young Tibetans living in Milan
drove seven hours at night to take part in the rally in the morning and
returned the same night.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama¹s 10th March statement was read by Mrs.
Kalsang Dolker, the President of the Tibetan Community in Italy in front
of the Chinese embassy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Canadian commemorations mark 52nd anniversary of Tibetan Uprising
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Montreal, 10 March 2011) The Canada Tibet Committee(CTC) wishes to
honour the phenomenal service of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as he
prepares to pass his political responsibilities on to the soon-to-be
elected Kalon Tripa and Tibet parliament-in-exile.
In his statement commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan
National Uprising, the Dalai Lama announced: ³As early as the 1960s, I
have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by
the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power. I will formally propose
that the necessary amendments be made to the Charter for Tibetans in
Exile, reflecting my decision to devolve my formal authority to the
elected leader.²
(To read the full statement visit:
http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/news_releases/242)
³Few leaders have shown such commitment to non-violence as has the Dalai
Lama,² said CTC¹s Executive Director Dermod Travis. ³Words will never
express the CTC¹s appreciation for his tremendous sacrifice, passion and
fervent belief that even the most divisive of human conflict can be
resolved peacefully.²
Tibetan-Canadians and their supporters will also have an opportunity to
express their appreciation at rallies across Canada today being held to
commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising.
(For a list of events visit:
http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/upcoming_events/133. Note: the CTC¹s
Executive Director will speak at the Vancouver rally).
³Today¹s commemorations take place at a time of new hope for the Tibetan
people,² said Travis. ³Just as apartheid gave way to democracy, as the
Berlin Wall fell, Ben Ali fled and Mubarak shown the door freedom is
coming to Tibet and freedom is coming to China; the only question
remaining is the day.²
On Monday, as more and more Tibetans assert their identity and culture
through videos, songs, poems, and literature, Chinese authorities were
forced to restrict foreign travel to Tibet.
³This decision puts a lie to the myth perpetrated by Chinese authorities
over the past months that the resistance of the Tibetan people had been
successfully suppressed following the 2008 uprising,² said Travis. ³The
Chinese government can try and blame cold weather, but what really
scares them are thousands of witnesses who would attest to the courage
of the Tibetan people as they honour those who have perished since 1959.²
On March 10, 1959, Tibetans rose up against the Chinese administration
as a result of the oppression and systematic brutality they were
experiencing under military occupation. Thousands died and many
thousands more were forced into labour camps following the uprising.
The Canada Tibet Committee is an independent non-governmental
organization of Tibetans and non-Tibetans living in Canada, who are
concerned about the continuing human rights violations and lack of
democratic freedom in Tibet.
- 30 -
For more information:
Dermod Travis
Executive Director
der...@tibet.ca
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For Immediate Release
2011 "March for Tibet's Independence"
Contact: Ngawang Norbu (ngaw...@yahoo.com; 781-572-5611) or Larry
Gerstein (ran...@aol.com; 317-506-2249)
FISHERS, Ind. - On this 52nd Anniversary of China's illegal and brutal
occupation of Tibet, the International Tibet Independence Movement
(ITIM) announces it will once again lead a 90+ mile "March for Tibet's
Independence" beginning from Orleans (Cape Cod), Massachusetts at 9am on
July 19, 2011. The walk will conclude with a demonstration at 1pm in
front of the Massachusetts State House (Park & Beacon Streets) in Boston
on July 24, 2011.
A group of 15-20 Tibetans and others from different parts of the United
States will complete this walk. The Tibetan Association of Boston will
assist with the coordination of this walk.
This is the 16th major 'March' or 'Bicycle Ride' for Tibet's
independence organized by ITIM since 1995. ITIM walkers and bike riders
have compiled greater than 3,7590 miles in more than 360 days!
According to Ngawang Norbu (ITIM Board Member), "We are walking in
Massachusetts this year because of its significance in the history of
the United States. In the 17th Century, the Pilgrims fled England aboard
the Mayflower to escape unthinkable religious persecution. On December
11, 1620, they landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Cape Cod,
Massachusetts. Their landing represents the initial founding of the
United States. Like the Pilgrims, we Tibetans in exile escaped
persecution to obtain our freedom. Unlike the Pilgrims, however, we will
return to our native country by reestablishing our freedom in an
independent Tibet. This year we will walk through Plymouth,
Massachusetts mindful of the extreme suffering and courage of the
Pilgrims and the Tibetans inside of Tibet that have given their lives
for Tibet's independence."
Why does ITIM continue to organize yearly walks for Tibet?
1. Because Tibet is still not independent;
2. To give voice to the Tibetans inside of Tibet who desire their
freedom and experience unthinkable conditions on a daily basis;
3. Because Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, The Panchen Lama, is still missing;
4. Because Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and other Tibetans continue to be
imprisoned;
5. To promote a Boycott of China's Goods;
6. Because a democratic system of government needs to exist in China; and
7. Because Eastern Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Taiwan also should
be independent countries.
ITIM was co-founded in 1995 by Taktser Rinpoche (His Holiness The Dalai
Lama's oldest brother) and Professor Larry Gerstein to obtain Tibet's
independence through non-violent methods. While ITIM is headquartered in
Indiana, there are over 10,000 supporters of this organization worldwide
(www.rangzen.org).
Released on 3/10/2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Clear view of China from Tibet
Jerry Large
Seattle Times staff columnist
"Tragedy in Crimson" is about China and Tibet, but has lessons for us.
The book by journalist Tim Johnson is subtitled "How the Dalai Lama
Conquered the World but Lost the Battle with China." Johnson believes
the way China deals with Tibet says something about how an increasingly
powerful China may deal with its close neighbors and even the United
States.
"China's ruling party has a give-no-quarter style on minorities,"
Johnson told me over lunch this week. And its relationship with Tibet
and the Dalai Lama is, he said, emblematic of how China treats opposition.
The book recounts repression of voices of dissension inside China and
the pressure that leadership there brings to those outside who want to
do business with China.
When the Dalai Lama visited Seattle in 2008, the Chinese consul in San
Francisco wrote to then-University of Washington President Mark Emmert
urging him and the university not to engage with the Buddhist leader.
The UW did host the Dalai Lama but steered clear of the Tibet question.
Johnson was in Seattle to speak to the World Affairs Council, which
provides opportunities for people in this area to learn about the rest
of the world.
Johnson's maternal grandparents were Methodist missionaries in China in
the 1920s, and his mother was born there. Johnson spent his early years
in Thailand, and he doesn't ever seem to stop moving around.
I've known him for a decade, since we were Knight Fellows at Stanford
University.
He's been a foreign correspondent for 20 years and is Mexico City bureau
chief for the McClatchy Newspaper group.
The book grows from the six years he spent in China, 2003-2009. He
watched the country grow at hyperspeed ‹ at one point he counted 13
construction cranes within three blocks of his apartment building.
Chinese leaders have embraced capitalism, but not Western-style
democracy. China is taking no chance that democracy protests like those
erupting across North Africa and the Middle East will flourish on its
soil. It moved quickly to quash calls for protests, and this week
security agents assaulted journalists who tried to cover rallies.
The Chinese are good at keeping a lid on. On one occasion, Johnson and
two other journalists got around restrictions on media visits to Tibet
by slipping in as tourists.
When they eventually were stopped, their questioners showed them a log
of every taxi ride they'd taken, including what they'd discussed and who
they'd visited on the journey.
Despite government restrictions, Johnson was able to interview numerous
Tibetans and Chinese from nomads to the Dalai Lama. One of the strengths
of the book is that the politics and history he writes about are
leavened by his portraits of people and their lives.
He describes sitting with a nomad family in a hut warmed by a yak-dung
fire, watching DVDs of Tibetan singers on an old TV. The family and
their neighbors have a relationship to the land and to their animals
that is a fundamental part of their identity.
China has a resettlement program it says is bringing nomads into the
modern world; the nomads worry that their culture is being lost.
Sometimes each side has a point, but rarely does either acknowledge that.
In the book, Johnson keeps returning to the Dalai Lama, who is a man of
tremendous influence, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the
Congressional Gold Medal, a frequent visitor to world leaders and a
favorite of Hollywood celebrities. And yet he can do little for Tibetans.
Johnson says the Dalai Lama will turn 76 in a few months. He is waiting
for the authoritarian government in China to fall, and the Chinese
government is waiting for him to die.
In the meantime, younger Tibetans are growing more restless. China
encourages the settlement of ethnic Han, the majority population in
China, in Tibet, where they have already transformed the cities. They
run the businesses. They give streets Mandarin names. Han already
outnumber Mongolians in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. How soon
will that happen in Tibet?
The one clear thing is that China will not back down or compromise. Is
that how China will exercise its increasing power in the rest of the world?
Johnson's book is a good primer on how China wields its power.
Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at
206-464-3346 orjl...@seattletimes.com.
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