Our March Coordinators Finally Released

Last night, the 3 leaders of the March to Tibet who remained in detention days after all the other marchers had been released, were finally freed. A huge group of us went to welcome Tenzin Tsundue, Tenzin Choeying, and Lobsang Yeshi home. It was an emotional reunion with lots of hugs and cheers of "Bhod Gyalo" (Victory for Tibet). But it was a bittersweet victory. I could see in my friends' eyes that being stuck in a government guest house for the last 15 days, with limited access to news, unable to contribute to our work, was very frustrating and depressing. Although Tsundue has been jailed in Tibet, I think this was harder for him than the others. His every breath and waking moment are dedicated to fighting for his country, that having his hands tied behind his back for 15 days seems to have left him upset and shaken. But today all three are back at work, making up for lost time with dedication that I truly admire.

Crackdown in Tibet, China's Racist Leaders, and the Lighting of the Olympic Torch

Reports of protests have dwindled in the past few days, as Chinese troops have poured into Tibet and the ethnically Tibetan areas of China. There has been a lot of scary photos of massive troops amassing in Tibetan cities and towns. In Lhasa, police have been going door to door, removing people who were involved in the protests, and reportedly, even those who didn't have identity cards. Sounds a lot to me like how the SPDC were removing people in Burma, with no concrete evidence that they were actually protesting.

We found this footage of the crackdown in Lhasa this weekend:

Yesterday, the Sunday Times released a report with short biographies of 3 Chinese decision-makers who are responsible for the crackdown: Wang Lequan, Zhang Qingli, and Li Dezhu.

Wang... heads the party in Xinjiang, which, like Tibet, is a vast, remote and resource-rich region troubled by separatism. [He] sits on the powerful politburo in Beijing and has assumed overall direction of policy in both places. He devised the model that has stifled Muslim culture in Xinjiang, staged political trials and executions, poured in millions of Chinese settlers and extracted mineral and energy resources to feed the economy. On March 10th, he told China Central Broadcasting: “No matter what nationality, no matter who it is, wreckers, separatists and terrorists will be smashed by us. There’s no doubt about that.”

His henchman... is Zhang Qingli [the Communist Party Secretary in Tibet]. Zhang is the man who called the Dalai Lama “a wolf in monk’s clothes, a devil with a human face”. He rose up the hierarchy in Xinjiang and was transferred to Tibet in 2005 as a reward for his loyalty. He accelerated campaigns against Tibetan culture and religion, brought in more settlers and stepped up the commercial exploitation of Tibet’s huge reserves of raw materials. Zhang is on record as saying that “those who do not love the motherland are not qualified to be human beings”.

The third most influential figure is Li Dezhu, the party’s racial theoretician. Until recently the head of its innocuous-sounding Ethnic Affairs Commission, Li wrote the textbook on destroying independent cultures and disintegrating religious minorities by promoting materialism. In 2007 he elaborated the theory of what he called “cultural security” for China in an article in a party journal called Seeking Truth. In it he unfolded a radical change in Chinese policy, stating that its aim was no longer to preserve minority cultures such as the Tibetans but to refashion them.

These three men make me sick. They are nothing more than modern day nazis with disgustingly racist ideas of why and how to wipe out an entire culture.

On a normal day, this article would have been so discouraging. But today was the day the Olympic torch was lit in Greece, and Tibetans and their supporters gave China an earful. Tenzin Dorjee, the Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet, confronted IOC President Jacques Rogge, asking for a meeting to discuss the situation in Tibet and proposed torch relay through the area. And then, during the torch lighting ceremony...

The reporter in the closing of this video said it best:

"The entire event was overshadowed by the political controversies surrounding these games."

This is what we do!

Tears for Tibet

I broke down in tears for the first time since the protests started in Tibet. We received images about one hour ago of the bodies of Tibetan protesters, beaten and bloody with wounds from bullets and things I couldn't even identify.

We've been working so hard here, with hardly a moment to relax, so there has been no time to emotionally deal with the stories we've been hearing. But seeing the images of 5 dead men, and being reminded of the fragility of human life, made all my emotions erupt. These were breathing living people who gave their lives fighting for their freedom. People all over Tibet are ready for this sacrifice, but China continues to coldly stand by, telling lies and playing games.

China is blaming the Dalai Lama for instigating the protests, asserting that only 10 people have been killed and denying that troops and police have used any force against the protesters. For now, they have been able to largely block the flow of information and have been attempting to portray Tibetans as violent agitators, while Chinese civilians, shop owners, police, and soldiers are portrayed as victims.

However, we've seen that despite China's information blackout, reports and photos of events inside Tibet have continued to emerge. It will only be a matter of time before we receive more details of China's brutality in Tibet.

Watching the tension mount here in Dharamsala and seeing how it is affecting people here makes me worry. Already there have been people fainting at demonstrations and so much tangible anger, it feels like a bomb with a fuse that is burning quickly. Judging from how my colleagues and I reacted to the disturbing photos tonight, and knowing how much resentment is buried in so many Tibetans here, I am worried how the community will react when these photos come out. It could be the last remaining millimeter of the already short fuse. If these photos circulate in Tibet (or any of the horrible images that are undoubtedly out there), I can only imagine that it will similarly ignite the anger and resentment that we have begun to see coming to the surface. It only takes so much provocation.

Uprising in Tibet

Stories from friends and families inside Tibet are filtering out. The army has surrounded the three largest monasteries near Lhasa: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. There are monks on hunger strikes, refusing to sleep, trying to commit suicide.

The people have begun to join in. They are burning police cars and businesses and buildings owned by Chinese. In some places, the police are running away because there are not enough of them to handle the crowds! Times Online published a photo of the smoke that can be seen over the central part of Lhasa. There are reports of gun shots and bomb blasts. One 16 year old girl has been shot and killed. In Amdo (near Labrang) there are reportedly 5,000 protesters and 10,000 in Lhasa. Some are even carrying Tibetan flags!

Here in Dharamsala, there will be a candle light vigil to support the protesters inside Tibet and the marchers who remain under detention. We've hear that last night's check stops have become a full-fledged shut-down of the town. Only those with foreign passports are able to come and go.

Marchers Arrested

Yesterday morning at 6:30am, my phone rang and before I reached for it, I knew what the call was about. The marchers had been arrested. Friends on the frontline were calling with details of how Indian police were forcibly removing the marchers one by one and placing them on buses. The marchers non-violently resisted by sitting down, linking arms and chanting prayers. I raced to the office only to find that there was no internet service. There was no service anywhere in town – coincidence or conspiracy theory? Despite the major set back, we managed to get out a press release and photos from our roving photographer.

The international media coverage throughout the day was mind-blowing. Everyone covered the story. It has been some of the best coverage of the Tibet issue that any of us have ever seen! (Check the links on the side for some examples of the stories filed.) In the evening, the marchers were taken before the district magistrate and were sentenced to 14 days detention for nothing more than peacefully walking along the road. At least their being put up in a government-run guest house!! It’s like the Indian government doesn’t really want to harm the marchers, but that they are under a lot of pressure from China to shut down the March. They must really want to stop it: at the end of the day, we received news that there were checkpoints set up around Dharamsala with police looking for protesters. Wow.

And amidst all the developments with the march, news keeps coming out about more protests in Tibet. From Lhadon’s blog:

Unprecedented protests continue for a third day inside Tibet and are getting so much attention that even the Chinese have to admit they are happening. The Times Online describes the authorities laying “siege to at least three monasteries in Tibet today, leaving monks trapped with dwindling food supplies, as the biggest anti-Chinese demonstrations in nearly two decades intensified.” The Guardian reports monks “on hunger strike as protests spread” and the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed piece describing this week’s global protests as “a timely reminder that China’s rights violations aren’t likely to go away any time soon.” Even as I write this RFA is reporting a new story about “Tibetan monks in critical condition after attempted suicide.”

China has even sent in tanks to shut down one of the monasteries where protests have been held. It normally tries so hard to hide the fact that they are oppressing the Tibetan people, but China’s brutality has once again become so blatantly obvious. So much for apolitical Olympics!

Anxiously Watching the March as Monks Protest Inside Tibet

Yesterday, the Marchers defied the Indian police’s restraining order and continued on their way. Throughout the day, intelligence agents and plainclothes police were following the March, but let them continue on their way. This morning, the Marchers set off again after refusing to submit their Registration Certificates – their sole identification as refugees – to the Indian police. While the Marchers are not expected to reach the boundary of Kangra District until tomorrow, the situation remains tense with the possibility of the March being stopped at any time.

As we anxiously await news from the Marchers, RFA continues to release reports of monks protesting inside Tibet. The protests started on March 10th with as many as 300 monks marching 10km from Drepung monastery towards Lhasa, calling for the release of the protesters who were detained in October when His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal. The Guardian is calling it “the biggest protest against Chinese rule in twenty years.” Fifty to 60 monks were detained. On March 11th, 500 to 600 monks from Sera monastery protested for the release of 9 monks who had been arrested in the previous days. As they walked towards Lhasa, they shouted: “We want freedom!” “Free our people!” “We want an independent Tibet!” and “Free our people or we won’t go back!” Witnesses say thousands of armed police surrounded them and fired tear gas into the crowd. There were also reports of smaller protests at two monasteries in Qinghai province.

Today also marks the Tibetan Women’s Uprising Day. On March 12th, 1959, as so many men had been arrested in the previous 2 days of protests and others had joined the resistance fighters, the women in Lhasa took to the streets. To commemorate that day, 36 women stormed the Chinese embassy in New Delhi today. With fresh scenes in my head of Tibetan women yelling at Nepali police on March 10th, it is even more apparent to me how strong Tibetan women are. These women know how to protest!

As all these news stories keep flowing in and friends and colleagues call from the road, I keep having moments where I am overcome with emotion. Tibetans inside and outside Tibet are feeding off of each others’ protests! It truly feels like we are in the midst of one of the great moments in Tibetan history, and especially that of the movement. I may be sleep deprived and hungry, but there is nowhere I would rather be and nothing I would rather be doing.

March 10th Update: Marchers Detained on First Night

As the marchers settled in to their campsite tonight, Indian police entered the camp and issued restraining orders against the 101 core marchers. They were told that their actions may “culminate into endangering public tranquility and breach of public peace” and that they were “not to leave the territorial jurisdiction of Kangra District till further order.”

I’m finally heading off to bed after more than 17 hours in the office, but there has been no word about what will happen tomorrow... whether the marchers will continue (it will still take them a day or more to exit the district), and whether the police and the Indian government will even let them proceed. I hope that India will have the strength to stand up to China, who is inevitably pressuring them behind the scenes to crackdown on this March.

March 10th: Launch of the Return March to Tibet

Today marked the 49th anniversary of the 1959 national uprising in Tibet and the beginning of the 5-month march of Tibetans returning home. Over 100 marchers set off from the Tsuglakhang, here in Dharamsala, followed by thousands of supporters. As they marched, Tibetans in Greece lit the Tibetan Freedom Torch at the archaeological site of ancient Olympia. And as the marchers settled in to their evening campsite, protests were starting up in North America.

Check out this video of photos from Dharamsala, set to the song “Guns of Lithang” by Tenzin Dorjee, SFT’s Deputy Director.

For more coverage of the march: www.tibetanuprising.org

For live coverage of March 10th protests all over the world: march10.org