More Protests… in Burma and Tibet!

Monks have been protesting in cities all around Burma since September 18. In Sittwe, there were reports that the junta used tear gas to disperse the monks.

This photo is from Rangoon, where they marched through the streets after being blocked from entering the main Shwedagon Pagoda.

There have also been two cases of Tibetans speaking out about politics in Tibet in the last two months. On August 1, Tibetan nomad from Lithang, Runggye Adak, was arrested after standing on stage at a ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (also the annual horse racing festival). This is an inspiring letter from his son and nephew, explaining what happened and calling for his release:

Lithang Rongye Adak: the man who spoke up for freedom

If he had not spoken up, the news wouldn’t have been made, but the suppression would have continued silently, the pain in the heart of every individual would have remained buried deep in the hearts and never spoken about, and everything would have been “normal”.

Lithang Rongye Adak, a deeply religious man at 53, broke the silence by speaking the truth, the truth that remained suppressed in the hearts of his fellow countrymen. Rongye Adak is a father who besides running his nomadic family acts as a social worker in his local community in Yunru Kha-shul area in Lithang, eastern Tibet.

Tibet, the country that has been invaded, occupied and colonized by China is today being ruled by a military regime and a set of law that dictates upon the native people the orders of the colonial Government of Han Chinese majority from Beijing. The sophistication of governance and the interpretation of it are such that the country is now being transformed from a land of virgin pastures and untouched fresh water and glaciers into a hugely urbanized and industrial area with rampant mining, damming and deforestation. Networks of roads and bridges built are now crisscrossing the country destroying traditional lives of the Tibetans, and all these are done in the name of “development”.

It happened recently on the 1st August, in Lithang where the annual horse racing festival had started and thousands of Tibetans had gathered from all over Kham region to witness the traditional Tibetan festival.

As the government officials sat in chairs in a big ceremony, Rongye Adak, a tall sturdy man from Khampa Lithang stepped on to the stage paying his respects to the local Lama, grabbed the mike and gave a surprise speech.

He began by asking fellow Tibetans to stop getting into petty fights among themselves for land and gathering yartsa gunbo, and asked all Tibetans to unite. And when he had the full attention of the crowd he asked whether they want His Holiness the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet. The audience that consisted mostly of nomads responded in unison that they all want their leader to return to Tibet. And everybody cheered, clapping and whistling.

He went on to ask for the release of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the XI Panchen Lama who is in Chinese Government’s custody from 1995, ever since he was taken away at the age of six. The fire of truth raged and there is no stopping. He even demanded the release of Tulku Tenzin Delek who has been sentence for life for an alleged case of bomb blast in Sichuan.

And when the Chinese authorities sitting on the stage slowly realized what Adak was saying, Adak had already made his speech. The police grabbed him and took him away. This provoked the audience who was already agitated and moved by the powerful speech by their new found hero.

A strong crowd of six to seven thousand Tibetans demanded that Adak be released immediately. And when police reached for guns, hundreds of nomads took off their shirts and showing their bare chest challenged the police to shoot them. They said what Adak did was only an expression of dissatisfaction which the Chinese law permits as right to free expression.

The stand-off with the police authorities has been going on ever since the incident of 1st August. As the news of Adak’s courageous act of speaking up spread to other villages and towns, more and more people started pouring in to show their support. The police in Lithang are now barring people from traveling in order to control public mobility. Tension is only growing as more and more people are heading towards one destination.

The soft-spoken man, a father of eleven children who lived a simple nomadic life has suddenly become a political prisoner. With his wife taking ill and being hospitalized, his family is suffering. Three of his children are presently studying in different schools and monasteries in India.

This is an appeal to you to spread the message of freedom and justice and also to ask you to appeal to Chinese Government to release Lithang Adak immediately and unconditionally. We also request you to ask your Government and the United Nations to help.

Rongye Jamyang, son of Rongye Adak
Atuk Tseten, nephew of Rongye Adak
Drepung Gomang Monastery,
Mundgod, South India

In response to Rongye Adak’s speech, there has been an intense religious crackdown. Chinese authorities in Lithang (Eastern Tibet) have ordered local residents, including monks at the Lithang monastery, to attend a 'patriotic education' meeting on September 21st to denounce the Dalai Lama. Sign the online petition.

On September 7, Chinese authorities arrested around 40 students in Labrang county of Tibet for writing graffiti on police station walls calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet. Seven students aged 14 and 15 are still under arrest in an unknown location, and one boy was reportedly severely beaten.

To the people of Tibet, keep it up! There is a strong international movement backing you, and in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, the whole world is watching. Now is your chance to tell the Chinese government that enough is enough.

Go Monks Go!

Protests erupted in Burma following the SPDC’s overnight hike of fuel prices on August 15, leading to a drastic increase in the price of essential commodities such as rice. While the protesters are from all walks of life, Buddhist monks are taking incredibly powerful actions.

One of the most impressive stories of courage and action to emerge started in the first week of September when several hundred monks protesting in Pakokku, central Burma, and were fired upon by SPDC Army soldiers. In the crackdown, some of the monks were severely beaten and three were arrested. The next day, a group of monks angered by the cruel treatment held about 20 SPDC officials hostage, calling for the release of the detained monks. The standoff ended that afternoon with both the SPDC officials and the monks being released.

This week a message came from the All Burma Monks Alliance, threatening to excommunicate SPDC personnel and their families if the SPDC does not meet a series of demands by mid-day today. The monks demanded that the SPDC apologize for the incident in Pakokku, immediately reduce commodity prices, release all political prisoners, and enter into dialogue with pro-democracy groups. Excommunication – the refusal to accept alms or provide spiritual services – would mean serious public embarrassment for the junta personnel. It could also increase internal pressure on the SPDC, since personnel are already resentful over the huge income gap between themselves and the military leaders.

Monks all over the country have said that they will march to the biggest temples in their hometowns beginning today – which also marks the 19^th anniversary of the Burmese military coup.

Since the protests began, I have been more encouraged and excited than I have been in months. As activists on the outside, sometimes I feel that there is only so much advocacy and protesting and writing op-eds we can do. It comes to a point when action is needed by the very people we are fighting for; the price hike and ensuing protests in Burma are one such moment. Every day I hope that the Burmese people continue to have the strength and the courage to persevere. To the people of Burma, we stand behind you and will fight to make your voices heard all over the world.

Having a Cold in a Hot Climate

Colds in Southeast Asia are a bizarre irony. At home, I was so used to curling up in a ball in my duvet with lots of warm tea and movies to nurse a cold or flu. But here, being sick is just one hot sticky mess. Even cranking up the air-conditioning so you feel cold enough for tea and a blanket doesn’t work. The second you step out of your freezer room, your body goes into shock with the surge of hot humid air. I don’t think the constant change from one extreme temperature to the next does any good… it seemed to only magnify my fever.

Meds… another battle. At home, you just grab some Tylenol Cold and Flu pills (night and daytime, of course) and a box Neo Citron, and you’re set. Here you have to dodge a million offers of antibiotics – Southeast Asian doctors’ favorite answer to any ailment, even if it’s not bacterial. You also need to be an excellent and unabashed mime (if you are somewhere where there isn’t so much English spoken) and you need to know exactly what you need. I felt like I was in medical school. I had to research the actual drugs in my favorites back home and find generic versions here, which were in weird doses and different combinations, obviously producing very different effects. I took a sinus decongestant that was 3 times stronger than anything back home, but didn’t have anything else in it. It also has the side effect of reducing my ability to sleep… obviously making recovery that much slower.

My advice to anyone planning on living overseas: take a bunch of cold medicine and pain killers with you! Nothing here compares.