Posted on 10/13/2016 5:17:57 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
IMAGE: Activists dressed as Chinese soldiers and a Tibetan monk perform a street drama depicting the Tibetan uprising 52 years ago against Chinese rule. Photograph: Pichi Chuang/Reuters
Tibet continues to be an enigma to all visitors. My two visits have been no different.
One sees massive Chinese investment in road and railway infrastructure. Modern skyscrapers are coming up at a frenetic pace to house migrants from the mainland. Yet, Tibet presents a sight of a state under foreign siege.
A deceptive calm hides the underlying tension. There is no cheer in the air.
The story of Tibet is a saga of the world's apathy and indifference to the cultural genocide of Tibetan Buddhism. Brutal decimation of an ancient, rich and peace-loving culture by ruthless China has been ignored nonchalantly.
China annexed Tibet in 1950. Although the estimates vary considerably, it is believed that up to one million Tibetan natives have been killed by the Chinese to suppress their demand for freedom.
As the Tibetans are highly religious by nature, the Chinese have methodically targeted their places of worship and learning with a vengeance.
Over 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed or ransacked. Damage done to Tibet's relics, heritage and architecture has been truly horrendous; and beyond redemption.
Tibet has been amalgamated in China as the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is autonomous only in name; the Chinese government exercises total and unbridled control. The locals have no say.
Even though TAR has an ethnic Tibetan as the chairman, he is only a titular figure. He is subordinate to the branch secretary of the Communist Party of China (the real power wielder) and he is always from the Chinese mainland.
Wu Yingjie, a hard-nosed Han Chinese from Eastern China, is the current appointee.
There is minimal interaction between the Chinese and the natives. The Chinese behave like the rulers and treat the natives with disdain.
The Hans from mainland China occupy all senior government posts and are running prosperous businesses. They enjoy a much higher standard of living and strut around like rulers, demonstrating all the trappings of an occupation force.
On the other hand, the Tibetans are treated with suspicion and have been condemned to menial jobs. Their condition is worse than that of the slaves of the olden days. All janitors, sweepers, load carriers and labourers are Tibetans. Some manage public toilets to make a living. Many peddle in local stones and other produce.
It is sad to see a once-proud community degraded to the status of bonded labour. Poverty continues to afflict most.
Despite 66 years of occupation, China has not been able to crush the Tibetan spirit for independence.
On the contrary, grave atrocities committed through political and religious repression have strengthened their resolve further.
The Tibetans abhor the Chinese and the Chinese know it. The Chinese sense of insecurity is evident from the fact that Google, Facebook, WhatsApp and such other social media have been banned in Tibet. Here are some other indicators:
At Taklakot, foreigners are asked to disembark from the bus and spread out their luggage on the roadside for inspection. Policemen rummage through each item to ensure that no material relating to the Dalai Lama is smuggled into Tibet. Printed material is closely examined. Worse, visitors are asked to show all pictures stored on their cameras and cell-phones.
Every street and building in Tibet is embellished with innumerable Chinese flags, as if to constantly remind the locals that Tibet is under the Chinese rule. Similarly, billboards read 'Welcome to China's Tibet'.
Every house is mandated to fly the Chinese flag on the roof-top; and its height must be more than that of the Tibetan prayer flags that traditionally adorn all houses. Non-compliance is construed as an act of defiance of the State authority and is dealt with harshly. Punishment may include imprisonment for anti-national proclivity.
Tibetans are denied passports. They can visit the Chinese mainland, but cannot travel abroad. They are captives in their own country. China does not want them to interact with the world, lest their atrocities get exposed.
Foreign visitors are not welcome in Tibet. Every tourist bus is accompanied by a policeman during travel in Tibet. He ensures that the permitted route is diligently followed. No deviations are allowed. Contact with the locals is discouraged. Military areas, police posts and even armed guards cannot be photographed. Yes, Tibet is a police State.
Local authorities regulate the number of monks that a monastery can accommodate. Monks need official permission to visit other monasteries in large numbers. Armed soldiers invariably accompany them to monitor their activities.
Although the Tibetans are wary of expressing their views openly, they never fail to express their gratitude to India for giving asylum to their temporal head and millions of other Tibetan refugees.
A middle-aged woman vendor shoved a handful of walnuts in our hand, as if to say 'thank you'.
Traditionally, the Panchen Lama is considered second to the Dalai Lama in hierarchy and plays a critical role in selecting the next Dalai Lama.
After the escape of the current Dalai Lama to India in 1959, Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen sided with Communist China and supported the suppression of the 1959 rebellion. However, by 1962, he was a disillusioned man and accused China of smothering Tibetan culture.
He was imprisoned in 1964 and subsequently kept under house arrest. He died suddenly under mysterious circumstances at Shigatse in 1989. He was only 51 years old. Locals are convinced that he was poisoned by the Chinese.
A boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was chosen to be the next Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama and the then-incumbent abbot of Shigatse's Tashilhunpo monastery. However, the boy went missing soon after his nomination and is untraced to date. It is alleged that he is still being held in captivity at an unknown location in China.
In his place, the Chinese government conspired to select Gyaincain Norbu (son of two Communist Party members) as the 11th Panchen Lama. Most Tibetans do not recognise Norbu as the Panchen Lama and consider him to be a stooge of the Chinese.
Although the Panchen Lama traditionally lived in his official seat at the Tashilhunpo monastery in Shigatse, Norbu has chosen to reside in Beijing.
Hatred for him amongst the Tibetans is so intense that whenever he visits Shigatse, the city is converted into a police fortress to ensure his security. Locals are coerced to send two persons per family to attend his public addresses and are even paid money for the same.
Non-attendance is viewed seriously and can even invite police action.
China has been adopting a three pronged approach to ensure the total integration of Tibet -- demographic offensive, obliteration of Tibetan identity and undermining the standing of the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan population consists of three broad ethnic groups -- nomads, agriculturists and urban dwellers. Whereas the demographic make-up of the first two groups remains largely undisturbed, it is the third ethnic group that is undergoing a worrisome change with the massive influx of Chinese migrants.
The Chinese government considers demographic swamping to be the ultimate solution. It is feared that the Han population will overwhelm the locals in the next two decades.
As the Chinese consider the knowledge of Mandarin to be essential for building national cohesion, the Tibetans are compelled to learn Mandarin. As a result, the local Tibetan language is being allowed to die.
Secondly, having failed to crush the ethnic pride of the Tibetans, China has been systematically targeting symbols of Tibetan uniqueness.
Recent demolitions at the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy and the Jhada Gon Palden Khachoe Nunnery are symptomatic of the Chinese efforts to subvert the local culture.
Larung Gar is said to be the biggest Tibetan Buddhist institute (academy and monastery) in the world and is keeping Buddhist knowledge alive. Under the garb of decongesting, it is attempting to curtail its influence.
Finally, as regards the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government suffers from acute phobia. It has forbidden referring to him as His Holiness. However, for the Tibetans, His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues to be the supreme head. They hold him in great esteem.
When told that we were from India, a young hotel boy told us that his sole ambition in life was to visit India to pay respects to His Holiness. With moist eyes, he rued his helplessness to acquire a passport.
Having failed to win over the 80-year-old Dalai Lama, China is waiting for his demise to install a pro-China boy as the next Dalai Lama. It has already started manoeuvring itself to be in a position to have its say.
Support of the lackey Panchen Lama will help considerably.
As per China's past track record, if the followers of the current Dalai Lama select a boy living in Tibet, he will be eliminated by China and replaced by a loyalist boy.
With the support of a pliable Dalai Lama, China will tighten its grip over the religious and spiritual facets of Tibetan culture further. That shall prove to be the final and fatal blow.
A rich culture will soon get wiped out and lost forever. Ominous signs are already discernible.
The world must hang its head in shame for being a mute spectator to the 'cultural holocaust' in Tibet.
Major General Mrinal Suman (retd)
I used to see “free Tibet” bumper stickers on cars a few decades ago.
There is injustice all over the world, no doubt about it, but you have to choose your battles.
Tibet could stand to learn a bit about Christianity.
The World’s Tyrants are expected to act in weak Obama’s last days to the full extent they can due to the total absence is American leadership.
Great account, tragic.
I remember those bumper stickers. Concern was trending after the movie Kundun.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundun
(appears to be) Original source:
Tibet: a Narrative of Cultural Holocaust
(Indian) Major General Mrinal Suman
Friday, October 7, 2016
http://mrinalsuman.blogspot.com/2016/10/tibet-narrative-of-cultural-holocaust_7.html
note: photos are not the same on both sites.
also note: the comments on the General’s website.
I was in Lhasa for a couple of days as part of a canned tour in 2013. I was not in secondary cities or the countryside of Tibet. So, I was with a tour group.
I would say that the Chinese are flooding the city with Chinese and Chinese influence, but not that they are (at least in Lhasa) watching every tourist.
When you arrive at the airport, you are aware of a heavier level of security than elsewhere in China, where you rarely see police. In the city, it becomes clear that the more responsible jobs are taken by the Chinese, while the Tibetans work at more menial jobs or in retail and/or crafts.
The Chinese are overhauling the infrastructure of Lhasa, putting in gas lines, improving sewage, etc. There’s a lot of building, hotels, etc.
The Tibetans have a completely different worldview because of their religion. They are so religious that they don’t even have a word in their language for religion. It is all. People come from the highlands to Lhasa, which is “only” at 12,000 feet altitude to see some of the shrines. One of the more severe demonstrations of fervor is to prostate oneself repeatedly, moving a body length at a time, around a massive temple and burial building called the Potala Palace, which is a circuit of a couple of miles.
I was able to wander around the city unhindered and unmonitored by anyone. I also met some Australians who were doing the same thing, but without a travel group. They had come to Lhasa by slow train from Beijing—a trip of some 36 hours.
To go to Tibet, you do have to get an internal visa stamp, so visits are definitely controlled.
On the other hand, I was told a lot of younger Tibetans move to greater China for work. It seemed to me that the Chinese were smothering and absorbing Tibet, rather than trying to eliminate it.
As I noted, my experience is very limited.
LMAO, so true.
A little late - the Chinese have been taking a Giant Dump on Tibet for decades now.
I hate injustice and I support the exercise of a free conscience but I agree with you. I also know that the day is coming that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the Earth as the waters cover the sea. No Buddhism,Islam, Hinduism, no idols or shrines to false Gods, no graven images of idols, and ancient statues and relics of old religions will be shaken and destroyed in that great and terrible day of the Lord. So I while I hate the plight of Tibetans and the loss of life and freedom there, I can’t say I mourn the destruction of their false God! Obviously Buddha must be on vacation, or is asleep to have allowed China to have done this!
WORRRRRD!
Their system of deities can possibly bring them a nice worldly life under some circumstances, but Christianity has a far better message, and not just because it’s nominally majoritarian on the earth. God cares for those people too. We ought to try to show them love and the power of Jesus that can do what the Buddhist entities can’t. Maybe the failing of Buddhism is setting the stage for a success of Christ.
It was always fun to ask the “free Tibet” types just how they would go about doing that. Eye-bulging indignation and name calling usually ensued within 30 seconds or so.
The photos on the source URL for this post are most likely inserted by rediff.com, which is a commercial site.
No one except Richard Gere gives a shit about Tibet anymore. Supporting the Hamas Freedom Fighters in “Occupied Palestine” is a far, FAR more important issue these days, don’tcha know?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.