Innumerable protests and pleas have taken place in the past few decades about
Tibetans wanting their land and their freedom back. The illegal occupation of Tibet by
China in the 1950s was just the beginning of the brutal, authoritarian regime that was
to follow. Some Tibetans have been lucky to have fled to exile in India but the fate of
the ones back in the homeland has been nightmarish. The issue of China’s exploitation
of the human rights of the Tibetan people has been raised many a time but has failed
to garner the attention and justice needed. Tibetans in Tibet live under the ever so
strict surveillance of the Chinese officials where their movements are monitored, their
phones and social media accounts are kept a watch on and their livelihoods are forced
to be planned as per the Communist party’s protocols and schemes. The Chinese
communist party considers their ultimate plan to be the complete sinicization of Tibet.
This in turn has led to the various changes forcibly made in the lives and the livelihoods
of the Tibetans in Tibet. Any pro-Dalai Lama movement or pro-Tibet movement is
considered as an act of treachery and merely disclosing information about the ongoing
situations in Tibet can lead to one being punished and imprisoned.
Back in July, 2021, the Chinese authorities in Tibet ordered the Tibetan residents to
turn over their names and other personal information of relatives living in exile
communities outside Tibet. The threat received was that their denial to do so would
result in the loss of their state benefits such as land and housing for noncompliance,
as revealed by the sources of the Radio Free Asia (RFA). This particular action was
launched in the Dingri country in Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Shigatse
prefecture where the Tibetans were deceived right after the officials procured all the
information that they required. The prior promises made were all broken and the
families who gave information regarding their relative being abroad were interrogated
further afterwards. This incident took place last year but like many of China’s schemes
to strengthen their surveillance on Tibetans and to keep a check on those outside Tibet
as well, another case occurred recently.
The Chinese authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have out forward their
demands for the local Tibetans in that region to hand in the information of the COVID
status of their relatives living outside Tibet. They were also similarly threatened under
the context that their lack of participation would lead to them losing their housing
subsidies and other
support, also revealed by Radio Free Asia (RFA). Apparently, the local Chinese officials
in the Drago (in Chinese, Luohuo) county even took the initiative to go door to door to
collect the documents. RFA’s reliable source revealed how the Chinese authorities in
Drago were forcing the Tibetans to disclose COVID vaccination status of their relatives
living abroad. The reports needed to consist of information regarding proof of
vaccination and details of additional doses. It seems insane at this point to come across
news as such where China is hell bent upon keeping the data of the Tibetans outside
Tibet also through any means possible.
Tibetans in Tibet are forced to reveal such information since protesting against it
would only lead to their loss of them being removed from household registries or
being denied state assistance that they may be relying on from the government. The
reason behind such procurement of information is unknown but on the other hand, it
does seem most likely that the Chinese authorities are collecting such data to simply
gather more information about Tibetans living outside Tibet and to indirectly keep
them under their radar as well. The atrocious don’t quite end here though since
information collection isn’t the only cunning scheme being led by the Communist
government.
The Chinese government frequently strengthens their surveillance measures and
restrictions imposed on online communications between Tibetans in Tibet and their
family members and friends abroad. It has been made clear for years that Tibetans
don’t have access to the basic human rights. Tibetans are barred from having the
freedom of religion, expression, movement and assembly and all their concerns
regarding the environment of Tibet being destroyed is neglected without any
consideration. The surveillance on technology is another matter that existed for years
but has come out more in the recent years due to the global grasp of it. Tibetans are
not given the right to stay in touch with their families abroad since the Chinese officials
see this as the best possible way of information getting disclosed. The social media
accounts are strictly monitored and the account holders are made to register with the
local officials. There have been many instances where Tibetans have been caught due
to their conversations about religion. Some have even been imprisoned for not
registering group chats with the officials under acts of suspicion.
All this might seem like senseless and baseless acts for the rest of the world but it is
an issue of great concern in Tibet. China is known for tracking the activities of Tibetans
in the strictest way. The implications that arise out of this are also dire and brutal for
the Tibetans. The world had developed and made great advancements in the fields of
technology but Tibetans in Tibet, along with many other acts of brutality are made to
suffer merely for their usage of it. China has been oppressive and made the people of
Tibet undergo such inhumaneness. In a world where justice is served instantly at times
through proofs provided through the power of internet, it is high time for Tibet’s issue
to be taken seriously and for it to be raised on all international platforms. The Tibetan
people have suffered endlessly up until now but hopefully not for long.
A curse for the Tibetans in Tibet
