United Discord

A few issues remain unresolved in my mind. One is the lack of Indian support for the Tibetan cause – or rather their passivity. For example, the only shops to open during the local demonstrations against the Olympic Games were those which were Indian owned. When I asked directions to the Candle Light Vigil (in the Indian owned internet shop) I was told to “ask a Tibetan”. If the local Indian population support a Free Tibet for their neighbours, they appear to do so quietly.

Even more seeds of queries grew in my mind after I read a poster advertising a lecture entitled “New Realities in China and Tibet: after the Protest”. The 'protests' referred to were the demonstrations which broke out across Tibet last March. All that I knew from my own limited research were that the 'new realities' in Tibet were that the Chinese authorities had cracked down on movement, freedom of information and had began mass round up campaigns of ex political prisoners as well as men and boys under thirty years of age, meanwhile, China virtually closed all of it's international borders.

The lecture was given by a Tibetan Scholar, Robbie Barnett and sponsored by Tibet On Line. The audience was primarily international, and at a guess I would say composed of volunteers and long term residents, although there were also many smartly dressed young Tibetan women and men.

Robbie began his lecture by reminding the audience that the slide show he was about to present was of views from an 'outsider' and that he was aware that he was going to be “annoyingly antagonistic”. This was because he was trying not to show a purely sympathetic view of the situation by approaching his research from the point of view of a cynic.

He began with a quick lesson in political geography, reminding the audience that just like the definition of Occupied Palestinian Territories has a different definition for the Palestinians than it does for the Chinese, 'Occupied Tibet' also has a different reference point for the Tibetans than it does for the Chinese. For the Chinese State, the region referred to as the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) is centered around Lhasa and is much smaller than the area agreed to during the 17 point agreement between China and Tibet which the young Dalai Lama was forced to sign in 1951. The rest of occupied Tibet is now referred to as the Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures (TAP).

Robbie explained that the March 2008 protests against the Chinese occupation were unique in that the majority of the protests took place outside of the TAR. After the main riots began in Lhasa outbreaks spread around Tibet with the aid of cellphones and the underground Tibetan radio. Unlike the 1980 protests which were based in Lhasa and primarily lead by monks and nuns, the March 2008 protests showed a massive increase in peaceful protests organised by students. This new mobilisation reflects the growth of a new elite or middle class. However, the majority of the protests were comprised of monks, nuns and lay people. Not only this but more and more people from the rural areas and towns were becoming involved in the protests, which represents a massive increase from the past and a huge shift in demographic organisation.

Now, after the demonstrations, Robbie described Tibet as “a kind of shadow world, where we don't know really what is happening”. Access to reliable information has become incredibly difficult to ascertain after the crack down on foreign media, combined with the closing of the borders. Admittedly China invited the foreign media on a tour of Lhasa, which involved meetings with Tibetan monks who were briefed with what to say. The monks actually sabotaged the tour by refusing their scripts and instead chanting opposition slogans to China while trying to interact with the visiting media. Robbie speculated that the “normal fabric of everyday life is probably ok” but that the number of prisoners had soared, and sources suggested that both ex-prisoners, returnees and anyone found without Chinese identity cards had been arrested. Despite the Tibetan use of the electronic media to coordinate the demonstrations, the advances in technology also means that China now has the ability to monitor and if necessary cut access to modern channels of communication. Not only that but Chinese manipulation of the media has also improved. In contrast to 1987 China has began to publicly acknowledge revealed or exposed incidents by providing their own version, or even preempting the release of information and report their own simplised version. This shows that while electronic media is making information more accessible, China is also become more adept at controlling it. Moreover, China is using the media to exaggerate tensions between the Tibetans and Chinese. For example, the Chinese news channels repeatedly aired isolated scenes of Tibetans attacking Chinese migrations.

Alternatively, although it is true that these more frequent out lashes against the Chinese migrants are happening this in itself is reflecting a change in the kinds of protests, which are indeed no longer without violent outbreaks. Images of young monks throwing stones and rocks were replayed throughout the Chinese media. Internationally this has also began to change the way which Tibet is thought about – and this is the reality, Robbie argued – that Tibet is no Shangri-la and that monks may be Buddhists but they are also young men, who are even being denied a proper religious education and guidance. Robbie argues that this change in how Tibet is viewed is an extremely important one, as until Tibet becomes a 'serious' issue, Western politicians will not take it 'seriously'. This internal unrest despite the massive restraint on the Tibetan people to demonstrate freely, shows that something has to give. For a long time, the Dalia Lama, the exile community, foreign analysts and even Chinese Human Rights activists have been raising the issue of Tibet, but with the increasing tensions rising inside of Tibet, it is definitely time for Tibet to be put on the international agenda.

And why now? Why are Tibetans inside Tibet finally finding a voice – even if it is at a high cost? Robbie began by warning of the dangers of making generalisations but continued to highlight several recent developments as possible reasons.

Firstly Tibet and Buddhism have been inseparable for years. With low levels of education, and a feeling of persecution, the Chinese State are having problems breaking this link. However, ever since their invasion of Tibet, the Buddhist religion has remained under continuous persecution. The Chinese state maintain that there is religious freedom, and indeed there are still pilgrims, monasteries and festivals in Tibet, but the actual 'substance' of Buddhism – the active instruction, debate and development of its teaching is a shadow of its former self. This gives further explanation as to why 'monks' are portraying particularly un-monk like behaviour. Furthermore, monks and nuns are provided with a complementary 're-education' programme by the Chinese state. Not only this but 'Tibetan Buddhism' is actually being reconstructed by the Chinese as monasteries are being rebuilt and Chinese pseudo monks reinstated. The result is a superficial 'religious tolerance' and a deeper rewriting of Tibetan Buddhist history. Likewise, government employees and family members are requested to abstain from religious affiliation. However, this is not an 'official' line, and perhaps it would be easier to over rule if it was, but rather it is through cohesion and fear that government employees either worship in secret or not at all. In 1996 all photographs of Tibet's spiritual leader were banned – and once again although the official line was that this was only applicable inside monasteries, in reality, anyone 'caught' with a photograph of their spiritual leader came under immediate suspicion of being a 'splitist' and risked harassment at the very least and imprisonment at the most. Tibetan university students also risk persecution if they are 'found out' to be Buddhists, although Chinese students have much more freedom to express their spirituality. This of course creates tension amongst some Chinese students, who find it impossible to believe the testimonies of their Tibetan counterparts after not experiencing the same infringement of their Rights.

Another explanation which Robbie gave for the March protests was that of economic failure: In 1990 there were 500 Chinese business inside Tibet and yet by 2001 this number had grown to around 45,000. In an attempt to buy the support of the Tibetan elite (which is a very small minority inside of Tibet) any government employees have received an increase in salary. However, this has done nothing to stem the economic gap between the rural areas and the urban areas. Even within the urban areas, many Tibetan businesses are reliant on foreign tourists, which (due to Chinese restrictions) is a highly unstable market. Although the Chinese state continues to pour funding into Tibetan infrastructure, the 'average' Tibetan is not feeling the benefits. On the contrary the forced expansion of Lhasa has only fueled tensions between ethnic Chinese and Tibetans living in the capital. Tibetans are feeling mariginalied – they are offered lower wages even though they are usually second choice to Chinese workers who are flooding to Tibet in promise of employment. The rapid expansion and modernisation of the city has only accentuated fears of its cultural erosion. Shop signs, road signs and public information is all written in the Chinese language. Military bases surround the area.

There are also other more recent catalytic events – such as the opening of the 2006 railway from Beijing to Lhasa. This facilitated the movement of Chinese business men and Chinese workers into the area. In fact in 2006 there was actually a policy that there should be no limit on migration to Tibet. During the same period the Chinese state stepped up its resettlement programme of Tibetan nomads. As with many other indigenous populations, the Tibetan nomads have been forcibly instated in permanent houses. This is a geographic move which immediately changes not only their location but also their lifestyle and breaking their relationship with the land and environment. At the moment many are entirely dependent on Chinese subsidies in order to survive. The next step for their 'resettlement' into towns is likely to be voluntary: As soon as the subsidies stop then they will have no choice but to move into towns in order to survive.

Meanwhile, Tibetans inside Tibet have no permission to go to India. There is a ban on passports. With a combined effect of these factors it becomes easier to understand why frustrations are being to surface in a much more dramatic and even 'violent' way. The pressure inside Tibet is increasing both directly through persecution and indirectly through ethnic tensions and economic failure. The 'new realities' is that 'peaceful protest' is no longer the mode of discontent, and perhaps a change is what is needed to recapture the attention of the international arena after the Olympic Flame has faded.

Stolen Child

I am still trying to work out the dynamics of the Tibetan refugee community here here in Little Indian Lhasa. Such a large percentage of the population seem to be nuns or monks – which I guess should not be surprising since they are following the Dali Lama and because it is the nuns and the monks who China has specifically persecuted. According to Gu Chu Sum, there are currently about 150 nuns and monks currently held by China as political prisoners. This may seem strange considering that China's public stance is that Tibetans can practice their own religion (as long as they are not working for the government), but in reality the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) view Buddhism with superstition – as if it is a superstition rather than a faith, a system of Life, or philosophy. Moreover, they closely associate the Sanga (the religious community, which is adhered by Buddhists as one of its very cornerstones, or in terminology as one of the Three Jewels) with the Dalai Lama. Therefore in order to overcome this Catch 22, they allow Tibetan Buddhists to 'practice freely' as long as they disassociate themselves from their spiritual leader. This means that amongst the Buddhist vows which the Tibetan nuns and monks take when joining a monastery, the CCP have added to the list a public denouncement of the Dalai Lama. Even to possess a passport sized photograph of the reincarnation of Buddha of Compassion (the Dalai Lama), is a criminal offense.

Last night I watched a documentary about the Eleventh Panchen Lama. The documentary was entitled 'Stolen Child' and it was entitled 'Stolen Child' because the Panchen Lama was six years old when he was stolen by the Chinese State. That was in 1995, a few days after the boy had been identified by the current Dali Lama as the Panchen Lama reincarnate. The Panchen Lama is a central figure for Tibetans as traditionally he is the spiritual leader of the nation and the reincarnation of the Amitabha Buddha (Buddha of Light). The relationship between the Panchen Lama and the Dali Lama (the more 'secular' leader) is symbiotic. Each generation one is the teacher and guider of the other. When the body of one dies the other living Buddha helps to identify the new body, supervise his education and act as a spiritual mentor, and so the cycle continues. The disappearance of Tibet's Dali Lama is as politically strategic as it is spiritually.

China's persecution of Tibet's religious leaders of Tibet is political precisely because it is the Buddhist sect which heads its government prior to occupation and now in exile and moreover, because the Buddhist philosophy interconnects the Tibetan people. It does so through its very teachings and its practical application. It is this spiritual commonality which bonds the Tibetan people – inside the geographic area as well as among the diaspora. By denying a peoples a spiritual leader they are chipping away at Tibet's political and cultural structure and it is this structure which is a central source of identity and a communal bond between the Tibetan people.

As mentioned above, the Chinese government's official line is that everyone inside its legal and occupied territory has the freedom of religion practice: In the Constitution of the People's Republic of China Article 36, “Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.” However, the Law also states that government officials must be atheist. In practice this religious intolerance translates into the destruction of approximately 6000 Tibetan monasteries. Human Rights abuses towards nuns and monks range from murder, torture, rape to the removal of thumbs to prevent the passing of their malas. Ironically while denying the practical possibility of reincarnation, the government has done nothing but to reinforce the belief by capturing the Panchen Lama and by identifying another boy to take his place. Both the Tibetan and Chinese identified Panchen Lamas are being denied the freedoms of movement, speech, expression, education just to name a few, and (if they are still alive) they have now been imprisoned for over thirteen years.

This denial of the proper teachings (a twenty year spiritual education) will mean that even if the Panchen Lama is released he will be ill equipped to resume his role. Obviously one important question is: What will happen after the death of the Dali Lama? If the Chinese government attempts to chose an alternative, the boy will certainly not be accepted by the Tibetan community. However, the Dalia Lama remains undecided about whether he will choose reincarnation and if he does then his new body will most likely be born within the exiled community and therefore relatively safe from political persecution.

The stealing of the Panchen Lama raises a plethora of issues regarding the resilience of the Buddhist philosophy. It clearly reflects the government's confusion as to how break the faith and the loyalty of an occupied peoples to an exiled leader. It also raises significant questions about the future of the Tibetan government in exile, and how they will choose their future leaders if China continues to steal them as soon as they are born. The Tibetan public adherence to the cycle of reincarnation and its affirmation to the Dalai Lama's selection, demonstrates the extent to which the Buddhist faith is still firmly ingrained within Tibetan people. This is despite the superficial destruction of their objects of worship; including both monasteries and spiritual leaders. The ability of Buddhism to act as a tool to unite the people of Tibet, promote its cause throughout the world, and to provide Tibetans with a sense of identity is demonstrated by the very extreme reaction of the Chinese government. The fact that the Chinese government has shown that they will not only persecute the Buddha of Compassion, destroy thousands of years of dharma, imprison its Sanga but also steal child Buddha's which they do not actually even believe in. Ultimately, it could be argued that the Chinese government is actually providing the Tibetan people (both inside Tibet and in exile) with a new common bond through their persistent persecution. What continues to shine through here in Little Indian Lhasa is the sense of identity between Tibetans. The refugees who live here come from all over occupied Tibet, some where born here and others have just arrived, however, they are still able to unite and to associate with one another not just through their support of the Dalai Lama and belief in Buddhism, but also as refugees in exile, who are united as long as their Freedoms are persecuted.

Compassion

Yesterday the Tibetans left the streets of Mcleod Ganj. Every Tibetan shop, hotel, restaurant, cafe, Government offices, school and street stall remained closed. The streets were eerily quiet. Finding food was difficult, as the majority of cafes are Tibetan. Even the women squatting on the street corners, selling their four rupee circles of fresh bread never appeared. The Holy Cows wandered around with more room to maneuver and to graze. The zooming booming bursting cars, driven by Happy Hindi pilgrims had even more motivation to speed. Tourists walked around with nothing to buy but space just to stop. By the afternoon groups of local Indians had gathered to watch minstrels, talk, watch and I guess just to enjoy the temporary emptiness. Yesterday Tibetans left the streets of Mcleod Ganj so that they could fast and pray and do so together. They were going to begin a 12 hour fast in memory of the many Tibetans who have been martyred in the past few months. Tibetans who have died in prison, Tibetans who had been slowly tortured to death, Tibetans who were shot during the March demonstrations, Tibetans who stabbed themselves and hung themselves because they 'could not live one more hour under the Chinese Occupation', Tibetans who have disappeared.

Their 12 hour fast lasted from seven in the morning to seven in the evening. The fast did not take place hidden from view, within houses, or behind locked doors, but in the grounds of the Dalai Lama's Temple. They were joined by many tourists and by many foreigners who live here. I didn't meet any Indians who were fasting. As I walked to yoga at eight o'clock in the morning I walked through a river of robes: monks and nuns all drifting down to the Tsuglagkhang Complex. Small square cushions in their hands, and an almost jovial atmosphere in the air. In solidarity people gathered together, and it was the grouping of people acting peacefully, sitting in memory of friends, family and country wo/men who they may have never met, and taking a very personal action to feel they are 'Standing up for Tibet'. It was the 'communality' of the fast which really made an impression on me. In Oxford I had taken part in fasts for Tibet in the past – but I had done so on my own. Indeed, the 12 hour fast was called for by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee, and took place across the world. However, by sitting together and sitting publicly a statement was being made. I thought of all the people around the world fasting in silence, continuing their daily life, working, talking and thinking with few people to share their thoughts of Tibet, and few people to give them support. Yesterday, once again, demonstrated the strength and resilience of the Tibetan people in exile. While observing fasting, the Tibetan exiles and supporters simultaneously offered prayers for the wellbeing and long life of the Dalai Lama, world peace and, for freedom from oppression for all sentient beings but especially in China and Tibet. What was even more striking was the address made by the Kalon Tripa Samdhong Ringpoche; The Chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet stated that the aims of the fast was not a protest borne out of hatred and anger but an effort to strengthen the Tibetan commitment to non-violence and to create compassion in the minds of the oppressor. It was a statement which left me feeling amazed, and which continues to reverberate through my mind. A powerful thought.