Two candlelight vigils in Dhasa

For two nights in a row, hundreds of people here in Dharamsala have gathered around dusk to show their support for the most recent protests in the Amdo region of Tibet. With monks leading the way chanting a prayer for compassion, the swelling crowd circled the central part of McLeod three times, before making its way to the tsuglakhang (main Temple).

On February 21, Chinese authorities clashed with hundreds of Tibetans gathered for Monlam, an annual prayer festival in Rebkong county [in Chinese, Tongren in Qinghai province]. The Chinese police ordered the festival stopped and sent in three truckloads of armed police. Tear gas was fired and about 200 Tibetans were detained (most of whom were monks). The detentions sparked a series of other protests in which Tibetans called for independence and prayed for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama – both of which are serious offenses in Chinese occupied Tibet.

Interestingly, in 2006, Rebkong county was the site of giant bonfires of animal skins, after the Dalai Lama urged Tibetans to stop wearing traditional furs and protect endangered animals.


Standing in the crowd, I hummed along with the prayers I have heard so many times, lost in my own thoughts. A friend’s recent comment echoed through my ears: what happens inside Tibet encourages people in exile and what happens in exile also encourages those inside. The situation in Tibet restricts open communication about political issues, but I realized that the hundreds of people in which I found myself were in fact engaged in an intense form of communication with their brothers and sisters thousands of miles away. Standing here in solidarity, they were telling Tibetans inside to continue to resist Chinese occupation. It made me wonder what the next months would bring, how Tibetans inside would respond to March 10th and the beginning of our Return March to Tibet.

I yelled along with the passionate cries of “Free Tibet” until I was moved to tears. We have the freedom to stand here with our Tibetan flags and call for independence. But Tibetans inside Tibet had once again stood up against China, and put their own lives in danger. I prayed that they know how brave we think they are and that they will continue to resist.

We’re off to a good start!

Yesterday the British Olympic Association withdrew their previous plan requiring all athletes to sign a contract stating that they would not make any political statements during the Games. The Association decided to revise the language of the contract after the uproar their announcement raised!

Today, the German Olympic Association joined the American and Belgian associations, saying that it would not restrict its athletes’ freedom of expression:

Our athletes are citizens who are aware of their responsibilities, but they can and will be able to express their opinions.

Steven Spielberg also decided to follow his conscience, announcing that he was stepping down from his position as artistic advisor to the Olympics’ opening ceremonies!

What great victories!!

Bring on the Year of the Earth Rat

Things are settling down a bit here in Dharamsala after 6 days of partying for Losar, the Tibetan New Year. While it was nice to see friends and pray for a good year for all and enjoy the time to relax and drink and eat way too much, I also found a darker undertone to this year’s celebrations. One activist friend has vowed not to celebrate anything until Tibet is free again and after sharing a traditional meal of thukpa on the eve of Losar, remained holed away in his home while the rest of us celebrated. A friend in Delhi began a hunger strike in Jantar Mantar on the first day of Losar. And most shockingly, a Tibetan boy yelled “Bhod Gyalo” (Free Tibet) before jumping off the roof of his hostel while people were gathered for a Losar picnic below. On a quiet sunny morning, I also started reading Woeser’s part of the book “Unlocking Tibet” and was shaken by her descriptions of the decline of the Potala Palace and of the fragmentation of the Tibetan people. All of these incidents reminded me of the strange paradox of celebrating while we have so much to work for. When I went to temple, I prayed that next year we would all be able to celebrate in Lhasa, with Tibetan flags flying high.

With the new year and its accompanying sense of new beginning, there have been many articles forecasting what the year of the Earth Rat will mean for China. The year of the rat is associated with great wealth, but also death. The rat is characterized as being cunning, aggressive, a leader, hard-working and strong-willed.

According to a popular myth, the rat is the first animal in the 12-year cycle because it sneakily rode on the back of the ox (the second year) and jumped off near the finishing line.

With its propaganda machine working full tilt, challenging anyone’s criticisms of their human rights violations as going against the so-called “Olympic spirit” and succeeding in getting national Olympic associations to place bans on their athletes speaking out about politically sensitive issues, it certainly seems that China is trying very hard to be the deceitful rat. However,

This year's Rat is represented by earth sitting on top of water. The earth represents stability, but since it is sitting on water that stability is weak and the two elements are in conflict. So watch out: the foundation of this next year is shaky, creating a degree of unpredictability.

The World Bank recently cut China’s growth forecast, inflation is the highest it’s been in 10 years, share prices are 25% lower than they were at their peak last year, and export growth in being challenged by China’s appreciating currency.

I received an interesting e-mail, passed on from a friend in Tibet, with a forecast for the upcoming year:

Most of you have probably heard of “mo” or the Tibetan tradition of fortune-telling… Apparently there's a sacred book in Tibet in which all of the most esteemed “mopa” or fortune tellers (mostly lamas) write down their predictions for the future before passing away. The current keeper of the book revealed that this year, 2135 on the Tibetan calendar, was almost universally predicted in the book to be a year when the Dalai Lama would be seen again in Tibet and when culture and religion would flourish…major tasks or challenges taken on this year will go smoothly and be successful.

Regardless of which forecasts you believe (or if you believe any at all), this year is sure to be a very interesting one for Tibet and China.

Beijing: We Are Ready!