Tibet watch

[ramana]

I thought B Raman in one of his articles on Beijing visit says similar things that PRC is upset with TYC . Need to scan his site.

One thing is clear the young ones are getting tired of the passive methods of achieving Tibetian self determination. The transition to the next Dalai Lama will be quite eventful.

[Ashok Sarraff]

Sanjay and others,

Could someone guide me to an article or book that summarizes Indian rule/political influence over Tibet and parts of China? We Indians never hear about such stuff.


A

In November 1665, on Aurangzeb's orders, a Mughal expedition was launched from Kashmir for Tibet. It forced the ruler of Greater Tibet to be a feudetory of the emperor and submit to Islam.

India thus has as much right to claim Tibet as part of India as the Hans. The latter's claim over Tibet is a mere hoax that is designed to offer some kind of historical legitimacy to illegal invasion and occupation.

[darshan]

China Cracks Down on Earthquake Protest, 100 Grieving Parents Dragged Away

[sanjaychoudhry]

From today's Dainik Jagran:

India harmed due to wrong policies of Congress

Delhi: The demand for the liberation of Kailash Mansarovar was raised in the Tibet Conference. The speakers at the event alleged that the weakness and careless attitude of the central government toward China can prove fatal for India. A signature campaign was launched toward this end at the conference. The Tibet conference was headed by BJP senior leader and former member of parliament O.P. Kohli.

The resident prime minister of Tibet in India Samdong Rimpoche said that Aruanachal Pradesh has been an inseparable part of India and will always remain so, despite China filing false claims regarding it. He said that Tibet has a deep and eternal relationship with India. Tibet has been for a long time a repository of Indian culture outside India.

Dr. Kuldeep Chandra Agnihotri, the national organiser of Indo-Tibetan Cooperation Foundation reminded the country that even today the birthplace of Lord Shiva is in the grip of the Chinese.

Sardar Patel too called Tibet as the last outpost of Indian culture in the Himalayas and desperately urged Nehru to immediately send our army for its protection, about two years before the communists had taken over China from the nationlists.

[joshvajohn]

I think the Congress did not make sense of their policies very clear. They proChinese policies are not at all helpful to India's strategy. I think Indian communis have manipulated the Congress into their representatives. But China is a falling country in its own terms through democratic process. It is the matter of time. India should pursue with Tibetian issue very strongly in terms of democracy, autonomy and liberalisation. Now in the post Olympic scenario Tibetians should make sure that their issues are alive and discussed internationally India should make it clear that the issues in Asia would settled only when China withdraws army from Tibet, Tibet should be given autonomy and thus many of the border issues among the South Asian nations will also be amicably sorted through dialogue. The Chinese policy of ethnic and ideological dominance and force has to be resisted in every possible ways not only at our borders but also in Tibet and also elsewhere.

[Karan Dixit]

Mustang, depending entirely on Tibet for its food and ration supplies, has been reeling under a virtual famine since the Chinese authorities restricted the movement of Nepalese citizens at Chhoser, the border check point, officials said.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/st ... 20:00%20PM

[Karan Dixit]

"Trying to bring awareness of the Tibet movement is something someone in my position can do," Evans told Fairfax.

"I just feel really sorry for them. They don't harm anyone and they are getting their culture taken away from them."

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0 ... public_rss

[Neshant]

scholarships to harvard for all who pass

--------------------
Tibet monks put to 'patriotic test'
14 Jun 2008, 0044 hrs IST,REUTERS


GANNAN PREFECTURE (CHINA): Three months after demonstrations flared
up
in Tibetan towns and monasteries across China, monks say they now
have
to pass a patriotic test, possibly in September, to be allowed to
remain as monks.


Tension runs high in Gannan, a heavily Tibetan area in Gansu
province,
which was convulsed by marches and attacks against government
buildings and some non-Tibetan shops, after demonstrations turned
violent in Lhasa on March 14.


Monks now struggle to pay fines and master texts on “patriotic
education,” while armed paramilitary units guard access to main
monasteries. Work teams have moved into monasteries to supervise
study
sessions that are supposed to break monks’ allegiance to the Dalai
Lama who China believes is responsible for the unrest.


The slim, pastel-covered textbooks, in Chinese and Tibetan, cover
Chinese law and chapters condemning Tibetan independence and the
Dalai
Lama.


Another textbook, titled “propaganda material”, has chapters on “What
happened during unrest in our prefecture” and “The history of how
Tibet became part of China”.


A tall young monk sighed and buried his face in his hands when asked
how he would answer the questions.


“They have no choice but to take the test. This is what is called
‘not
free’,” a Tibetan said. “We Tibetans have no right to say anything.”

[Karan Dixit]

Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in China's crackdown on the unrest, which spread to other Tibetan areas in the country.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/080617/2/17b7s.html

[joshvajohn]

India is faced with a strong pressure from China in terms of take over of Arunachel Pradesh and also possibly other areas in the North. China want to talk to India in their own terms. I think India needs to put pressure on the Chinese population. India private companies should run Tibetian and Chinese media in terms of influencing their public and turning them to be prodemocratic. It is the Chinese government which is becoming richer and richer exploiting her own people leaving and forcing them with minimal things for survival. Red army is one of the richest institutions in the world with powerful weapons.

India cannot build up a counter system as Chinese will easily supply Nuclear and long range arms to Pakis to hurt us. In a way we are left with a strategic alliance with US and other nations who are ready to stand with us.

Red army is not trusted by Chinese themselves. I understand that even the high ranked officers within the Chinese army are scared of being thrown out or even shot for having two children or for taking some extra money or for some luxuries that top level leaders do not have.

China remains a big threat to India's democratic, multistatehood existence and development. Threat is at the borders very clearly with the tone of the leadership there. Even if our political leaders are trying their best to lessen tension and pacify the red army they wanted to add pressure which they think would work with Indians.

IT is time for us to put pressure through Tibetians - call for autonomy should go along with mass disobedience and rejection of Chinese goods in Tibet - also Tibetians should be ready for non-cooperation in terms of Chinese Military and also call democratisation of Tibet fully and fight against imposition of Chinese language, Chinese culture and bringing in Chinese people in large scale and settling them there - even to the extent of denying Dalai Lama by taking up a protection force for Tibetians and defending their people and culture. For this I think India cannot be involved directly and also should provide strategic advises if needed. But we need Tibetians' help in case of a War with China. China - I mean -red army - not a nation of people many of whom are the victims of this red army themselves - is talking often in terms of confrontation in relation to India or pressure. I think India has to raise the voice of Tibetians time to time to remind the Chinese that all not yet over and Tibetians freedom and democratisation of Tibet and China are the long term solutions of humanity in Asia. Without which large scale war is threatening heavily populated countries in the world.

[joshvajohn]

KATHMANDU: Succumbing to Chinese pressure, Nepal has launched its harshest-ever crackdown on Tibetan refugees arresting three top pro-Dalai Lama leaders and 700 other activists, prompting a rights group to warn Kathmandu and international community against Beijing's intentions here.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nepa ... 149717.cms

note - India should make it clear to Nepal that if the communis play between China then India stops supplies of things across the border. You can have any party democratic rule in Nepal but strategically Nepal should not be allowed to play at our costs. Our interests in Tibet should be protected otherwise their interests we will touch stop supplies from India as Rajiv did during his time to teach a lesson that Nepal cannot survive without exploiting India both smuggling foreign goods through their country and receiving food and other material from India.

They should not play pro China games here. India can even restore King back if they really wanted if Indian government becomes strong.

[RayC]

Here is on the spiritual influence of India on Tibet.

The article also speaks of other foreign influence on Tibet

Indians:
-”The most important event in Tibetan Buddhist history…was the arrival of the great tantric mystic Padmasambhava in Tibet in 774 at the invitation of King Trisong Detsen. It was Padmasambhava (more commonly known in the region as Guru Rinpoche) who merged tantric Buddhism with the local Bön religion to form what we now recognize as Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to writing a number of important scriptures (some of which he hid for future tertons to find), Padmasambhava established the Nyingma school from which all schools of Tibetan Buddhism are derived”.
- Alot of Tibetan scholarly knowledge has been learned from Indians throughout Tibets Buddhist history, “In 1204 he Kashmiri master Shakyashribadhra arrived in Tibet accompanied by an entourage of Indian scholars…Tibetan scholars were inspired by this opportunity to learn directly from knowledgeable Indians”. From contacts like this Tibetans applied themselves to mastering Sanskrit grammar and other aspects of Indian linguistic and literary learning, whether Sanskrit was introduced by the Indians I am unsure of though but it seems most likely. Tibetans also learnt and developed much of what they know on Buddhism from the Indians, like most Buddhist states in Asia.
-”The Tibetan writing system was based upon sixth or seventh century North Indian or Central Asian scripts that were derived from the more ancient Brahmi script (which, in an early form, had been used to inscribe many of the edicts of the famous Indian monarch of the third century BCE, Ashoka)”.

http://tibettalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/ ... nfluences/

[Karan Dixit]

China rebuked by Olympic Committee


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... cnn_latest

[sanjaychoudhry]

‘It was as if India did not exist’

Sify Columnist Claude Arpi is a French-born author and journalist who lives in Auroville, India. He has authored several books like The Fate of Tibet, India and her neighbourhood,and Born in Sin: The Panchsheel Agreement, among others.

In his latest book, Tibet, the Lost Frontier he argues that the Chinese annexation of Tibet spells trouble for India, because it has brought the dragon right up to our gates.

In an interview with Ramananda Sengupta, he explains the difficulties he faced while researching for the book ('The Government has confiscated the modern history of India' he says) and why he feels the Tibetans are losing the race against time.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14704371

[Rony]

‘It was as if India did not exist’
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14704371

The 'lost frontier' is India's frontier. For 2000 years, people, monks, pandits, yogis, pilgrims, traders circulated freely between the sub-continent and the Tibetan plateau. Pilgrims would visit Kailash-Mansarovar through the Ladakh road without any hindrance. There was even an Indian principality called Minsar at the bottom of the Kailash. With the invasion of Tibet in 1950, India lost a peaceful frontier. India lost a friendly neighbour. The frontier became a 'disputed' border. This is the tragedy. All because 'frontier' or 'buffer' had a 'colonialist' connotation according to Nehru; he did not want to be seen as an imperialist and hence did not intervene in 1950. Mao had no such scruples when he 'liberated' Tibet.

Can any one give more details about the Indian principality of Minsar ?

[Paul]

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/

[svinayak]

http://sify.com/news/tibetthelostfrontier/

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14704383

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14704399

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14603714

[Karan Dixit]

"There is a growing perception among the Tibetans and my friends that the whole tactic of the Chinese government is to engage us to stall for time," said Lodi Gyari, who led the two man team which met Chinese officials in Beijing.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tibet- ... 17436.html

[sanjaychoudhry]

Indian govt. plans railway line to Leh in response to Chinese railway line in Tibet.

Manali-Leh railway link soon

In a major move to push tourism in the hill states and counter Chinese expansion in the Tibetan region, the Railways ministry has prepared a blueprint to set up an ambitious 480 kilometre Manali - Leh railway line link criss-crossing the treacherous mountains in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The project according to experts will cost over Rs 16,000 crore and the ministry is already preparing a detail survey plan for the project.

A top level government meeting took place in Delhi recently to discuss the survey and other modalities of the project. The distance, according to the plan, will be traversed in around ten hours.

A senior Railway Ministry official said, "A detailed survey plan for the proposed Manali-Leh railway line has been prepared and is under the active consideration of the Railway Board. The expenditure for the survey will be shared jointly by the Himachal Pradesh government and the centre."

The plan is to lay a broad gauge railway track between Jogindernagar and Manali via Mandi and extend it 480 kilometre further to Leh via the Rohtang pass and beyond.

The security concerns are a key reason for building the train line.

"With China building the Beijing-Lhasa railway track, it is critical for India to respond and build the Manali-Leh route both from the security and tourism point of view of India," said Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister, Himachal Pradesh.

The proposed railway project is strategically important for India as experts opine that a railway line will be a viable transport alternative in extreme weather conditions.

At present, the main source of connectivity to the border areas is either through the road or air, which frequently gets affected during adverse weather conditions.

Manali - Leh highway which connects tribal areas of Lahaul, Udaipur, Pangi and Ladakh with the rest of the country and goes through the highest mountain passes in the world, remains closed down during the entire winter season.

A rail link will definitely serve India's defence purpose at a time the Chinese are flexing their muscles at our backyard, said an industry expert.

Apart from serving the India's defence interest, the proposed project will provide a fillip to the tourism industry that is one of the major source of revenue generation for the state of Himachal Pradesh.

"I have just returned from Leh and the response I received from the people of Ladakh has been tremendous. The private sector is already showing a keen interest in building this railway track," Dhumal said.

A senior executive of an infrastructure company undertaking railway projects said that the cost of laying a railway track at such a high altitude will be more than double the cost of laying a normal railway track.

Because of the difficult terrain, the movement of vehicles carrying raw materials and other equipment for the project will become costlier.

Moreover, a large amount of tunneling work will have to be undertaken along the proposed route.

http://www.business-standard.com/common ... =0&chkFlg=

[joshvajohn]

George Bush should try not to attend the Olympic opening ceremony. This will give a clear message to the world that US is for freedom of speech, upholding liberal democratic practices and against any human oppressive regime in general. Otherwise US is again proved to the world that they speak something and do something else!!!!!

[Virupaksha]

Joshvajohn,

If you are expecting anything else, what can I say?

A question, I thought the railway was brought to the Lhasa? Does china have anything in Xinjiang?

[G Subramaniam]

Lee Kuan Yew supports PRC on tibet

http://www.forbes.com/business/global/2 ... 6/014.html

The West has always thought of Tibet as a romantic Shangri-la, high in the Himalayas, populated with a meditating Dalai Lama and monks in serene monasteries. To China, however, Tibet was a backward society of feudal landlords that kept its farmers--90% of the population--illiterate serfs. Since taking control of Tibet, China has abolished the Indian-based caste system and agricultural serfdom. It has built medical centers, schools, roads, railways and airports, introduced telecommunications and cell phones, increased tourism and raised living standards. China believes in doing what is necessary to integrate Tibet into the 21st-century world. The Tibetans, on the other hand, are fearful. Economic development has attracted too many Han and Hui (Muslim) Chinese settlers, threatening to outnumber the Tibetans and remake their society.

[darshan]

From above article:

Lee Kuan Yew, minister mentor of Singapore; Paul Johnson, eminent British historian and author; Ernesto Zedillo, director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and former president of Mexico, rotate in writing this column.

Comment that followed:

Seems like they have really started peddling this argument while conveniently forgetting pollution and second class citizenship to Tibetans aka slavery. Author simply ignores the fact that any modernization in Tibet is strictly related to military business to attack India at a moment's notice. Last time I checked destroying a civilization along with its religious establishment and wiping out majority of native population is not called modernization but is called genocide. These same publications do not mind describing death of few hundred muslims in India as genocide but have no problem with death of millions in Tibet.

[joshvajohn]

OYAKO, Japan (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has defended his decision to attend next month's Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, saying that to do otherwise "would be an affront to the Chinese people."
President Bush said he was "looking forward to cheering the U.S. athletes" at the Olympics.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/06/g8.summit/

Bush: Not attending Olympics opening ceremony would be 'affront' to Chinese people

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/ ... ympics.php


Comment - if the Chinese Red Army did not kill huge number of Tibetians it is fine to go. But when leaders walk on the red carpet they should realise the fact that they are walking on the blood of Tibetians in the opening ceremony!

[Neshant]

with a weak PM, it won't be long before MMS is walking that carpet.

[rajrang]

OYAKO, Japan (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has defended his decision to attend next month's Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, saying that to do otherwise "would be an affront to the Chinese people."
President Bush said he was "looking forward to cheering the U.S. athletes" at the Olympics.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/06/g8.summit/

Bush: Not attending Olympics opening ceremony would be 'affront' to Chinese people

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/ ... ympics.php


Comment - if the Chinese Red Army did not kill huge number of Tibetians it is fine to go. But when leaders walk on the red carpet they should realise the fact that they are walking on the blood of Tibetians in the opening ceremony!

Attending the opening ceremony will be an affront to the people of Tibet and their millions of sympathisers (including Americans) all over the world. Looks like the people of China are more important than the people of Tibet (and others). President Bush should not forget that China has occupied and brutalized Tibet. Instead the Chinese government and the people of China who support the occupation of Tibet should be punished.

[rajrang]

Meanwhile China continues its arrogant warnings (even as Pres Bush has decided to visit Chino so as to not cause affront to the Chinese):


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chin ... 205253.cms


Look at the manner in which the barbarians have been repeatedly warning the honorable and peace loving Dalai Lama and the Tibetans during the last few months.

The above warning could also be directed at India -- since India's help will be critical for Tibetan resistance should something like that were to be hypothetically instigated by DL.

[RamaY]

Meanwhile China continues its arrogant warnings (even as Pres Bush has decided to visit Chino so as to not cause affront to the Chinese):


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chin ... 205253.cms


Look at the manner in which the barbarians have been repeatedly warning the honorable and peace loving Dalai Lama and the Tibetans during the last few months.

The above warning could also be directed at India -- since India's help will be critical for Tibetan resistance should something like that were to be hypothetically instigated by DL.

Just a crazy thought... What would be the consequences of (territorial/political/military) announcing small tract (say 10x10 KM) in Tawang as Free Tibet and provide extensive BMD, Military support to DalaiLama's clique in that place. Something similar to Vatican city with 500% military presence by Indian Army. And declare Entire Tibet as China Occupied Tibet (COT).

[Avinash R]

China fails to meet media freedom commitment: Rights group
Beijing | July 07, 2008

China has failed to meet its commitment to allow greater freedom for foreign journalists in the run-up to next month's Olympic Games, a rights group said on Monday.

"The gap between government rhetoric and reality for foreign journalists remains considerable," US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report.

"Their working conditions today, while improved in some respects, have deteriorated in other areas, dramatically in the case of Tibet," the group said.

The government introduced a temporary regulation from January 2007 to October 2008, in principle allowing foreign journalists to talk to anyone who agrees to an interview, in all areas except for the Tibet.

But HRW reporters in reality "face severe difficulties in accessing 'forbidden zones' geographical areas and topics which the Chinese government considers 'sensitive' and thus off-limits to foreign media".

The limits mean that some news topics, such as protest and dissent, "cannot be covered in detail or at all" by foreign media.

The report said strictly controlled Chinese journalists had gained nothing from the temporary rules and were "subject to further controls" in the run-up to the Olympics.

Many Chinese citizens interviewed by foreign media face increasing intimidation, while some foreign journalists received death threats after reporting the widespread rioting in Tibetan areas of China in March and April, it said.

"In part because the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has been unwilling to voice concerns publicly over these developments, hopes for improvements in 2008 appear increasingly faint," it said.

The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Monday said police had arrested two activists who posted online details of poorly constructed buildings that collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake in May.

Last month, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also criticized the IOC and said it had recorded at least 24 arrests or sentencings of journalists, dissidents and rights activists this year.

"Instead of an opening, these games are being used, more than ever, as a pretext to arrest, harass and censor," the group said.

HRW said it was "concerned that violations of the temporary regulations and state-sanctioned vilification of foreign journalists in China could poison the pre-games atmosphere" for the estimated 30,000 foreign journalists who will cover the Olympics.


China arrests thousands of Tibetan monks ahead of Dalai Lama's b'day
London | July 07, 2008

Fears over the possible occurrence of fresh unrests in Tibet on the occasion of the birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, have prompted the Chinese authorities into virtually emptying out Tibet's main monasteries and banning visits to a sacred site on the edge of Tibetan capital Lhasa.

A report by the London-based The Times claims that in the wake of the crackdown, very few monks remain inside Tibet's three main monasteries -- Drepung, Sera and Ganden, that lie near the city -- and to make matters more complicated for the locals, the Chinese officials have deployed troops and paramilitary police around the ancient religious institutions, which have served as a focal point for anti-Chinese unrest since early March.

According to the paper, dozens, possibly several hundred, have been arrested or are detained and are under investigation for their roles in the anti-Chinese demonstrations and riots that took place in Lhasa on March 14.

This, however, does not account for the empty halls in the three great monasteries. Several hundred monks are believed to have been living in each of them before the violence erupted.

Tibetan sources have revealed to the paper that most of the monks, more than 1,000 in total, have been transferred to many prisons and detention centres in and near Golmud City in neighbouring Qinghai province.

Most of the detained monks are young ethnic Tibetans from surrounding regions who had made their way to Lhasa to study and pray in the most prestigious spiritual centres on the Roof of the World.

Their detention is part of a policy to rid the monasteries of any monks not registered as formal residents of the administrative region, known as the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Family members say that the monks have been told that they will be incarcerated in Golmud only until the end of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The policy is part of a campaign by the Chinese Government to ensure that the Games, opening on August 8 and lasting for two weeks, pass off without a hitch and without protests from the restive Tibetans, they told The Times.

"They will be ordered to return to their home villages and will not be permitted to go back to the monasteries in Lhasa," one of the relatives of an incarcerated monk was quoted, as saying.

Sera monastery is supposed to house no more than 400 monks but is believed to have grown to more than 1,000. In Drepung, the largest monastery in the world - has been allocated a similar quota but has allowed as many as 900 monks to live in its high-walled compounds, and this development has had Beijing worried enough to order a crackdown.

Registered monks are given a monthly stipend that can sometimes be as much as 5,000 yuan (350 pounds) depending on the donations to a monastery and entrance ticket sales. Many prefer to spend their days playing video games and DVDs rather than reading the scriptures, they said. They voiced concern that the monasteries could lose many of their best Buddhist scholars if the monks were not allowed to return after the Olympics.

[Avinash R]

Just a crazy thought... What would be the consequences of (territorial/political/military) announcing small tract (say 10x10 KM) in Tawang as Free Tibet and provide extensive BMD, Military support to DalaiLama's clique in that place. Something similar to Vatican city with 500% military presence by Indian Army. And declare Entire Tibet as China Occupied Tibet (COT).

Vatican city can economically sustain itself due to the money pouring from around the world through donations. how will the proposed free tibetan city economically sustain itself?

[svinayak]

http://in.reuters.com/news/video?videoI ... hannel=101

Tibetan freedom torch back in India
(01:40) Report

Aug. 6 - After traversing 50 cities around the world, the Tibetan freedom torch in is in the North Indian city of Shimla and will be taken to the border of China on August 8, the day the Olympics begin.

With two days to go before the start of the Beijing Olympics, international pressure has built on China and the protests have intensified. China though claims that Tibetans enjoy full liberty in China and elsewhere in the world.

An ANI report.

[Lalmohan]

...Military support to DalaiLama's clique in that place...

hmmm... please don't re-use party apparatchik language and perpetuate the CPC's propaganda!!

[Karan Dixit]

China had cautioned Sarkozy that meeting the Dalai Lama would have "serious consequences" for bilateral relations, and Beijing warned France on Wednesday to deal prudently with the "important and sensitive" issue of Tibet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080823/wl ... 0823122825

[svinayak]

http://revcom.us/a/firstvol/tibet/tib-in.htm

The True Story of Maoist Revolution in Tibet
Life Under the Dalai Lama in Exile

Revolutionary Worker #765, July 17, 1994

In the mid-1950s, revolutionary land seizures started on some estates ruled by Tibetan lamas and aristocrats. Tibet's feudal ruling class responded by making a secret alliance with the U.S.'s Central Intelligence Agency and attempting armed resistance in 1957 and 1959. (See "The Dalai Lama and the CIA") They were quickly defeated and the Dalai Lama fled to India.

Most of the Tibetan ruling class and conservative forces from other classes followed the Dalai Lama into exile, mainly during 1959-1963. Few came after 1965. The estimates of these conservative Tibetan refugees vary from 30,000 to 100,000.

They were met at the border by agents of the CIA eager to organize them as a force against the Maoist revolution. CIA agents started an anti-communist army among the Dalai Lama's exile forces and a propaganda machine was set up to package "their story" for worldwide consumption.

In the United States, an "American Emergency Committee for Tibetan Refugees" (AECTR) was hastily formed in March 1959. Headed by right-wing journalist Lowell Thomas and liberal anti-communist Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, this agency had a brief life--a few months spent funneling money into India to set up the Tibetan feudalists in exile. Tibet historian A. Tom Grunfeld writes: "Although the complete story of the committee is yet untold, there remains much speculation and considerable circumstantial evidence that a major source of its funding was the CIA."

Many refugees were also robbed by corrupt Indian border officials. Grunfeld reports that one refugee complained that the corruption and bribery in India "were every bit as common as they used to be in Tibet."

One Tibetan memoir reports that "the sons and daughters of Tibetan aristocrats and wealthy Tibetans, studying in colleges or working around Darjeeling, did not come to help." Such indifference is typical of old Tibet's lazy, self-centered ruling class.

Under the watchful eyes of the Indian government and the CIA, the refugee camps were set up to preserve what the exile leadership considered most precious of the old Tibetan order. For decades, the Dalai Lama's forces have traveled the world denouncing the changes made in Tibet by the Maoist revolution during the stormy class struggles of 1959-1976. So it is only fair that we Maoists discuss what these Tibetan settlements in India reveal about the class nature of the Dalai Lama and his exile headquarters.

Forced Labor for India's War Machine

The Indian government was extremely unhappy about having a powerful revolutionary army at its northern border--especially after 1959 when the hurricane of peasant land revolution swept into Tibet. India itself is a vast semi-feudal country--it was filled with exploited peasants who were watching the lessons and methods of Maoist revolution closely.

As the Tibetan refugees arrived in India, the Indian military was feverishly preparing for war with Mao's "Red China." The Dalai Lama and his Kashag cabinet reached an agreement with India's Nehru government: in exchange for settlement land and supplies, the Dalai Lama offered thousands of Tibetan refugees as forced labor. They were sent to high mountain workcamps building military roads for the Indian army to attack the Maoist revolution in China.

In 95 workcamps, 18,000 to 21,000 Tibetan refugees were worked under horrible conditions. They were paid 30 cents a day, not enough for food. Many starved or were simply worked to death. Many died of illnesses, dynamite explosions and landslides. Grunfeld reports that even Tibetan refugee officials admitted in 1964 that these workers were worse off than they would have been if they had remained in Tibet.

When the refugees were sent to the workcamps, many of their children were forcibly taken from them. Grunfeld says that "five thousand children were taken from their parents to live in permanent refugee camps. Three thousand others were permitted to stay with the parents in the road camps...and there were frequent reports of children under the age of fifteen engaged in hazardous work."

Some lamaist hypocrisy needs to be pointed out here: For decades the Dalai Lama denounced the Maoist revolutionaries for building roads in Tibet--and accused the revolutionaries of using "forced labor." His lamaist propaganda machine denounced the revolution for making his lamaist clergy do physical labor (like raising their own food) and for supposedly weakening the traditional Tibetan family. Meanwhile the exile forces of the Dalai Lama basically handed over Tibetan refugees to be forced labor for the Indian government on road gangs and took their children from them.

In his 1990 autobiography the Dalai Lama specifically describes how he personally worked out the details for the work camps in discussions with India's Nehru, and the Dalai Lama notes that there were former nuns and monks out on the road gangs. The Dalai Lama adds that, at the time, he tried to look at the positive aspects of these ordeals, saying "pain is what you measure pleasure by." Ulag forced labor is a key social custom of traditional Tibetan feudalism, in which feudal masters can demand forced labor from "their" serfs and slaves.

In 1990 the Dalai Lama admitted that some Tibetan exiles were still working in such road camps. But, he wrote that this is not deplorable because today's poor Tibetans are on road gangs "of their own free will"--as wage labor.

The Golden Rule

The ruling Tibetan exiles left Tibet because the coming revolution in land threatened the basis of their class and its power--the feudal ownership of land. Class distinctions and privileges was key to the "traditional culture" the Lamaists intended to preserve.

The old Tibetan government and ruling class emerged as the rulers over the refugees. The Dalai Lama's Kashag cabinet represented the most powerful clerical and aristocratic interests. His family, especially his powerful brothers, emerged with their hands on key funds, especially CIA money. The Dalai Lama himself served as the top ruler with his hand firmly on many purse strings.

The hereditary ties of serf and lord did not carry over in the exact same forms to the chaos of exile, but new oppressive class structures were created. In the main they were based on modern capitalism's "Golden Rule": He who has the gold makes the rules.

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has maintained his power over an intensely squabbling and divided movement by keeping his tight control over the money. From the beginning, he controlled millions of dollars--from a treasure trove of gold and silver extracted from the masses of Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama says it was worth $8 million.

Grunfeld writes: "One of the major sources of political power for the Dalai Lama is his ability to control relief funds, educational scholarships and the hiring of Tibetan teachers and bureaucrats."

Each camp was run by a "Camp Leader" appointed by the Dalai Lama. One scholarly study of these exile camps reports that the Camp Leader "is considered the king of the settlement. He can virtually command people within the settlement."

The corruption of the Tibetan exile camps is notorious. Relief supplies, particularly medical supplies, have been found on sale in the market in MacLeod Ganj, less than two miles from the Dalai Lama's place of residence.

Grunfeld reports that "the relief operations have been bedeviled with organizational rivalry and the intrigues of `unsavory members of the Tibetan ruling clique.' " The Dalai Lama's late sister Tsering Dolma was a well-known example of the "unsavory"--she was widely hated for the haughty and corrupt way she ran a personal empire of children's "boarding schools" containing over 3,000 children.

Grunfeld writes, "while the children in her care were frequently on the verge of starvation (a refugee worker recalls an incident in which she was attacked by starving children as she was carrying a plate of breakfast scraps) she was noted for her formal, twelve-course luncheons. Meanwhile in bitterly cold weather the children were clad in `thin, torn, sleeveless cotton frocks--though when VIPs visit the Upper Nursery every child is dressed warmly in tweeds, wool, heavy socks and strong boots.' "

Deadly Class Distinctions

Eighty percent of the Tibetan refugees settled in India--with most of the rest settling in Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim. The Indian government did not want all the Tibetans concentrated in one area--so settled them in 20 camps widely scattered throughout India.

The lowland camps in southern India were deadly to Tibetans who were not accustomed to living in a hot, humid climate. The old Tibetan feudal customs regarding sewage, garbage, washing and cooking proved deadly in the heat--where disease ravaged the refugees. In one early camp half the refugees died in the first year.

The Dalai Lama's clique developed a simple system for deciding who settled where. Rich feudals and the anti-communist activists stayed in the cool, hilly camps of north India. The poor serf-exiles went to the hot, humid, crowded, deadly camps of the south.

One study of Tibetans in the north found that 25 percent described themselves as previously very rich, 20 percent as rich, 40 percent as middle class, 15 percent as lower-middle class. None said they had been "poor" back in pre-revolutionary Tibet. The researcher summed up that in northern settlements, "The refugees disproportionately represented the monastic hierarchy, upper classes and the active participants in the Tibetan resistance movement."

A study of the Mundgood settlement in the south found that almost all had been poor serfs, herders and artisans in old Tibet. Not only was life in the south a death sentence for many poor exiles, but over the following years much less money was spent on creating jobs and schools in those southern camps.

Class exploitation appeared within the camps too. The Dalai Lama describes how he cashed in his gold stash and set up capitalist enterprises using Tibetan refugees as wage labor--an iron pipe factory, a paper mill and other enterprises he calls "money-spinning projects."

One southern camp at Bylakuppe eventually got some capital to set up a dairy farm and carpet factories. A section of exiles used the "aid" to became full-scale exploiters--working neighboring landless Indian peasants as field hands and house servants.

Meanwhile, the masses of poor exiles live in wretched conditions. Grunfeld quotes an American doctor saying in 1980 that most refugees were "living in extreme poverty in unhealthy settlements on `leftover' land in the poorest areas of India. Most of their energies are devoted to the personal struggle for survival...the people sink into poverty, apathy, illness, alcoholism and despair."

When people talk of "preserving traditional Tibetan culture" they should remember the deadly class distinctions central to that feudal society.

Preserving Some Customs, Modifying Others

For obvious reasons, Tibet's exiled lamaists don't talk publicly about preserving central Tibetan traditions like ulag (forced labor) and serfdom. In the recent pro-lamaist film Little Buddha, for example, lamas are shown carrying whips when they instruct courtyards filled with young monk-novices--but the whips are portrayed as a gentle instructional device (like a coach's whistle).

In his 1990 autobiography, the Dalai Lama admits that he had to forbid some traditional "formalities" in front of foreigners. For instance, by tradition lower-class Tibetans were punished if they looked above the knees of their masters. In the old society, many had never seen the faces of their oppressors. And everyone was required to "prostrate" themselves face-and-belly-down in front of the Dalai Lama. Outsiders seeing those customs got a glimpse of the repulsive elitism so central to the Lamaist teachings--the rulers of old Tibet claim to be divine, perfected reincarnations of immortal Buddha-like spirits. The Dalai Lama modified such "formalities" to help create a romanticized version of "traditional Tibetan culture" for public consumption.

At the same time, the lamaists set up highly conservative communities that did, in fact, preserve many core feudal traditions. For example, Grunfeld writes: "Women are even worse off than their male counterparts, for they need permission--from a male--to leave the camp; they cannot vote; and they are given second preference when it comes to education."

Grunfeld estimates that half the Tibetan children in exile receive no education--in keeping with lamaist hostility toward mass education. And those youth who go to school are often indoctrinated in lamaist teachings hostile to science, innovation and work. Grunfeld cites one discontented Tibetan who claimed that his nephew, after nine years of schooling, had never read a newspaper or an entire book.

Another hypocrisy must be pointed out here: For years, Tibetan exiles have denounced Maoists for the fact that, even during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, advanced education in Tibet was often taught in the Han (Chinese) language. There were two reasons for this: There were basically no books or teachers available to teach many advanced political and scientific subjects in the Tibetan language, and it helped the unity of the revolutionary movement to have Tibetan activists and cadre able to communicate in the written language widely used by many language groups in China. At the same time, Maoist revolutionaries mobilized the Tibetan people to develop Tibetan-language typewriters and to create condition where the Tibetan language could be used far more broadly in higher education and government.

Meanwhile, it must be pointed out that the lamaists adopted English as the main language of instruction in their exile school system. The Dalai Lama tries to justify this practice in his 1990 autobiography by repeating the argument used in India's neocolonial school system--that English is "the international language of the future."

There is more hypocrisy: In their propaganda, the Tibetan upper class exiles make a fetish about "Tibet's traditional culture." In reality, many have contemptuously shed this traditional culture, sending their children to expensive English boarding schools. The Dalai Lama's authorized biographer Roger Hicks describes how, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, that younger generation was becoming largely westernized.

The Dalai Lama's youngest brother, Tendzin Choegyal, is a famous example of this. He is supposed to be the eighth incarnation of an immortal spirit called Ngari Rimpoche. He was educated at the prestigious Catholic St. Joseph prep school in Darjeeling, where the rector claimed Choegyal had "forgotten all that nonsense about being an Incarnation." Hicks reports that Choegyal himself says, "I'm a banana--yellow on the outside and white on the inside."

Grunfeld points out that the exiled Dalai Lama's money and power only continues as long as there are many stateless refugees. Consequently, it was to the benefit of the exile leadership to keep the masses of Tibetans in children's homes, transit camps and temporary facilities for decades. For the same reasons, the Dalai Lama's "government" opposes mixed marriages between Tibetan exiles and Indians and opposes masses of exiled Tibetans applying for citizenship in India--even though this legal status would make their lives much easier. Meanwhile it is common for the wealthy Tibetan upper class to apply for non-Tibetan status--including two of the Dalai Lama's brothers who are U.S. citizens.

Many poor Tibetan exiles have their own reasons for rejecting the ways of old feudal Tibet. Grunfeld writes: "An anthropologist who interviewed many of the poorer refugees reported that they viewed the old society with some sense of shame and discussed it with outsiders only with extreme reluctance; he reported that `a number indicated to me that they would prefer to remain in Mysore [India] rather than return to Tibet as it was under the old system."

The Dalai Lama's public relations apparatus feeds the outside world a travel brochure image of Tibetan exile life: as a spiritual Shangrila of noble monks waiting to bring their blessed "traditional culture" back to an impatiently waiting Tibetan people. This media image is essentially a cruel and brutal hoax.

[RamaY]

08/28/2008: Pro-Tibet activists chant slogans during a protest rally outside the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.

[Paul]

Dalai Lama's eldest brother passes away

PTI | Dharamsala

Taktser Rinpoche, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's eldest brother who favoured full freedom for Tibet, died in the United States at the age of 86 after protracted illness.




A prominent figure in Tibet's religious hierarchy, even before Dalai Lama was born, Rinpoche passed away at his home in Indiana on Friday, the Tibetan Government-in-exile said here. Rinpoche, whose given name was Thupten Jigme Norbu, was recognised at the age of three as the reincarnated abbot of Kumbum monastery in modern-day Qinghai.

Kumbum, where monks live under a religious vow, is one of the the most important monasteries in Tibet. Rinpoche, who is survived by his wife Kunyang Norbu and and three sons, was a retired professor of Tibetan studies at the Indiana University.

He advocated full freedom for Tibet unlike his brother Dalai Lama.

[shyamd]

His Holiness was ill recently after a trip from France and was hospitalised in Mumbai. He left on september 1st. Rumours circulating around Indian intel and Tibetan intel that he was poisoned. This has prompted contingency plans by the tibetan govt. Rumours were denied by doctors. Chinese govt may tone down conditions in talks if TYC, give up their demands.

Names that are acceptable to washington and Beijing incl princess Yabshi. She studies Finance in Beijing and supports neither independence nor subjugation.

[Avinash R]

Session of Tibetan parliament-in-exile commences in Dharamsala
Dharamsala, Sept 12 (ANI): The sixth session of 14th Tibetan parliament-in-exile began in Dharamsala today.

During the session lot of issues related to Tibetan freedom movement and welfare of Tibetan exiles would be discussed.

Tibetans have been crusading diligently for past six months for the freedom of their homeland from the Chinese clutches, and the issue is extremely close to their hearts, which according to the parliamentarians figures during the discussions in the session.

"Regarding the nature and the activities of the Tibetan movement last six months we have been able to organise officials and then NGO's," said Yeshi Phungchok, Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile.

The Tibetan Constitution and Parliament have its features heavily borrowed from Indian Constitution and parliament.

It is a one-house Parliament, which meets twice a year for about a fortnight each. The tenure of Parliament is five years.

Though it functions like other legislatures, the plain, utilitarian structure is a testament to its temporary, exile status.

The Tibetan people, both inside and outside Tibet, consider the government-in-exile to be the sole legitimate government of Tibet.

An estimated 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in India and Nepal.

The Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama set up his seat of power in Dharamsala after he and his followers fled to India in 1959, nine years after China occupied Tibet.

[Arun_S]

Two people die of rare form of plague in Tibet: report

• by Staff Writers
  Beijing (AFP) Oct 1, 2008
  Two people in eastern Tibet have died of the deadliest and least common form of plague, Chinese state media said Wednesday.
  
  The health department of the Himalayan region was notified on Friday that two people had died of an unidentified illness in a village in the Linzhi area, more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) southeast of the capital Lhasa, the Beijing Times reported.
  
  Health authorities examined the victims and determined they were cases of pneumonic plague.
  
  The report did not identify the two but health authorities in Hong Kong said they were a couple who developed symptoms of plague on September 14 and 23.
  
  A spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection of Hong Kong's health department said the man, 35, passed away on September 20 and his 38-year-old wife died five days later.
  
  Pneumonic plague, which is transmitted to humans from infected animals -- mainly rodents -- is highly contagious, the centre said.
  
  It can spread between humans by breathing in respiratory droplets from an infected person and the incubation period of the disease is between one and four days.
  
  It can be cured by rapid antibiotic treatment within around 24 hours of infection.
  
  Pubu Zhuoma, head of the Tibet health department, said cases of human plague had emerged in Tibet in the past.
  
  "Tibet's disease prevention workers have long carried out plague prevention and control work in disease areas. They have had good results in controlling epidemics among animals and there have been no epidemics among humans," he said, according to the Beijing Times.
  
  Authorities immediately put in preventative and control measures in the village, no new cases of the disease had emerged in the area, and the disease had been contained, the report said.

[ramana]

BCW trial run? Need to get DNA sample of the plague bactiria. In the post Latur plague in India(~1994?), there were reports of DRDO labs confirming there was human intervention in the palgue bactiria and BB going shrill about locking the borders.