Author: News Desk

COLONIAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM IN TIBET IS ACTIVE NOW

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(Author is a senior journalist, veteran Tibetologist and Chairman, Centre for Himalayan Asia Studies and Engagement)

The European colonizers in their colonies like America, Canada and Australia discovered a unique and effective way of overcoming resistance of the Red Indians, Aborigines and other indigenous peoples against the colonial occupiers of their respective countries.Initiated in the middle of the 19th century, the Residential Schools system which aimed at plucking out young children from their familiesand brainwashing them till their adulthood under confines of these schools, remained in action for over a century until they could effectively knock out most elements of the original ‘barbaric’ social, cultural and religious practices from the hearts and souls of the newer generations of these societies. The job of running these schools was effectively implemented by several religious organizations of Europe which included the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, United and Presbyterian churches. In today’s Tibet this cultural genocide is being run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through it’s a similar colonial tool called the ‘United Front Work Department’.

In February this year three independent United Nations experts pointed out that nearly one million Tibetan children have been separated from their families and are sent to residential schools run by the CCP. The experts expressed concern over the fact that in these schools these children are forced to learn in Mandarin Chinese in a curriculum which is built around Chinese culture and the CCP’s political propaganda. Later in March this year the United Nations committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights drew international community’s attention towards China’s coercive ‘boarding school system’ in Tibet. The committee underlined and expressed serious concerns over their large-scale campaign to eradicate Tibetan culture and language among the younger generation of today’s Tibet. Last year there have been widespread reports about closure of community run Tibetan schools and arrests of their volunteer organizers. These schools imparted education in Tibetan language to Tibetan children after their school hours in Chinese schools.

It is noteworthy that this campaign of ‘de-Tibetanizing’ the Tibetan people has gained special momentum since President Xi Jinping took over the power in China. Speaking at the 7th Tibet Work Forum, the highest platform for future planning on Tibet, in August 2020 in Beijing, President Xi Jinping had openly declared, “…. Tibetan Buddhism should be guided in adapting to the socialist society and should be developed in the Chinese context.” Later during his sudden and unannounced visit to Tibet in July 2021also President Xi had called upon the CCP cadres and the Chinese administrators of Tibet to work for establishing Tibetan Buddhism with ‘Chinese Socialist Character’. The ongoing residential school system is the first step of this campaign of President Xi and the initial reports are quite annoying. Various organs of the CCP have started reporting the steps being taken through these and other Chinese schools in Tibet which show how Tibetan children as young as 6 or 8 years are the focus of the communist propaganda.

On April 19 this year the United Front released photos and report of a speech contest among children of 6 to 8 year age group at the Namgyal Sholshang Primary School at Gongkar near Lhasa. According to this report the theme of the speech contest was “Building a Consciousness of the Chinese Nation community” in order to cultivate students’ loyalty to the Communist Party. As the children expressed, by reading from printed texts, their loyalty to China as part of their belief in a better future, the banner in the backdrop read “Study and implement the Spirit of the 20th Party Congress of Chinese Communist Party” and also “Constructing the Consciousness of the Chinese National Community”.

On May 5 this year the United Front Work Department reported of a ‘speech competition’ among Tibetan children from Tsona County near India-Tibet border along Arunachal Pradesh. According to thisreport 33 Tibetan children of 8-16 year age group participated in this competition which was organized by the Tibet Autonomous Region County Committee of the Communist Youth League and the County Comprehensive Cultural Service Centre. The report highlights ‘emotional speeches’ given in ‘vivid language’ by the children.

Last year on November 29 the ‘Tibetan.net’ which is as Tibetan language culture and news website of the CCP reported that all junior middle schools in Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province had started imparting party ideological and political work education in keeping with the 20th Party Congress agenda “to establish socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era”.

Yet another report of May 9 this years in the ‘Lhasa Evening News’ gave details of a group tour of 200 Tibetan middle school students to the “Memorial Hall of the Emancipation of a million Serfs in Tibet” in Lhasa. The tour was organized by the District Propaganda Department of Daze district. During their tour of the museum the children were helped to raise slogans which expressed gratitude and equated the loyalty to the Communist Party with drinking water. Giving further details of the children’s tour of the museum the report says the children declared that “Tibet has been an inseparable part of the sacred territory of the motherland since ancient times”. The children were made to denounce the rule of Dalai Lama by declaring that “old Tibet was under the rule of feudal serfdom under the banner of the monasteries and the state.”

The concluding comment of this news report of ‘Lhasa Evening News’ aptly reflects the aim of the residential school system in Tibet and the purpose of education in Tibet as a colonial tool of China as it says, “The children were left with the impression that without the CCP there would be no new socialist Tibet, not to mention of the happy life of Tibetan people today.”

Forcible Confiscation Of Lands Of Local Tibetans By Chinese Authorities In Rebgong County, Qinghai

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Chinese authorities are reportedly trying to forcibly seize lands of Tibetan villages to construct a hydropower dam in Lingya village of Rebgong county in Qinghai province of Tibet. Local authorities have issued instructions to impound lands and have also ordered the locals to co-operate. They have threatened that those who do not vacate their land will not be compensated for the same. Lingya hydropower dam construction is one of the key projects under China’s 13th Five Year Plan.  The total area of the hydropower dam is about 4.58 million square meters with an investment of about 245 million Yuan.  Rebgong, called Tongren in Chinese, is in Malho, or Huangnan, Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, a Tibetan populated area in China’s Qinghai province.

2.      Tibetan villages located in the area of the reservoir project include Shu-Ong-Kye, Shu-Ong-Nyi-tha, Langya, Malpa-Jam, Malpa-Kharnang-Kharshi, Malpa-Chauwo. The area of the reservoir project extends to the lower northeast of Malpa Khagya village from the upper northeast of Langya village. The construction of the reservoir is expected to start soon.  

3.      According to locals if the Rebgong County forcefully confiscates their lands as they do not have any other source of income, they would be compelled to find temporary jobs in Chinese towns and cities. China’s rural urbanization, forcible relocation of Tibetan nomads & farmers to urban areas and continuous migration of large numbers of Han Chinese in Tibet is evident of Beijing’s strategy to forcefully assimilate Tibetan minorities into the dominant Han-Chinese majority.

4.      Chinese infrastructure and development projects in these areas have led to frequent stand-offs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of improperly seizing land and disrupting the lives of local people.

The US State Secretary is concerned about China enforcing Tibetan DNA collection in Tibet.

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According to Phayul, US State Secretary Antony Blinken has raised worry about claims that China is forcibly collecting Tibetans’ DNA in Tibet.

“We’re also concerned about reports that mass DNA collection is spreading to Tibet as an additional method of surveillance and control over the Tibetan population,” Secretary Blinken added.

According to the US State Secretary, access to human genome information raises a host of new issues related to human rights, and advancements in science have made it possible to conduct genomic surveillance based on an individual’s DNA, possibly opening the door to abuses.

Since June 2016, police in the Tibet Autonomous Region have been conducting a widespread DNA collecting campaign that focuses on men, women, and kids across the territory. No active criminal inquiry seems to be related to the widespread DNA collection. According to Phayul, Citizens Lab, a civil society group, said that widespread DNA collecting is really a kind of social control aimed at the Tibetan people.

In a study published on September 5, 2021, Human Rights Watch said that Chinese authorities are escalating policing, including the arbitrary collecting of DNA from citizens in several cities and villages throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

People cannot refuse to supply their DNA, according to the paper, and authorities may request samples without having solid proof of any illegal activity. According to a report from the Lhasa municipality in April 2022, blood samples for DNA collection were routinely gathered from households and kindergarten students.

According to Phayul, a report from a Tibetan municipality in the fictitious Qinghai province in December 2020 indicated that DNA samples were being taken from all males who were five years old and older.

Human Rights Watch’s China director, Sophie Richardson, stated: “The Chinese government already represses Tibetans on a widespread scale. Now, the government physically draws blood without permission to bolster its monitoring powers.

According to Phayul, a Citizen Lab study published in September 2022 said that the Chinese government has acquired genetic samples from 1.2 million out of 3.6 million people in Tibet without properly getting their agreement. The CCP has developed its surveillance systems and forced ethnic change initiatives in the area using genetic material gathered from Uyghurs in East Turkestan (Ch. Xinjiang).

According to the advocacy organization International effort for Tibet, “China has used Tibet throughout its ruthless occupation as a laboratory for relentless methods of social control, including this horrifying campaign of mass DNA collection.”

Dalhousie has a local Tibetan Assembly Workshop

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For the members of the Local Tibetan Assemblies, Settlement Officers, and members of the Regional Tibetan Freedom Movements of Dalhousie Phuntsokling, Shimla, and Dolanji Bon Tibetan Settlement in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile organized a five-day workshop with the goal of strengthening democracy at the grassroots level.

The workshop’s resource people include lawmakers Dorjee Tseten and Geshe Atong Rinchen Gyaltsen.

Before the workshop began on May 15, there was a brief opening ceremony at which Dalhousie’s Tibetan Settlement Officer Phurbu Tsering gave his welcome address. This was followed by addresses from the resource people, a thank-you note from the LTA Chairperson at Dalhousie, Phurbu Dratul, and an introduction of the agenda by TSO Secretary Passang Choekyi.

Speaking to the attendees of the workshop, legislator Dorjee Tseten emphasized the crucial role that His Holiness the Dalai Lama played in creating the Central Tibetan Administration, one of the most distinctive democratic exile systems in the world. Additional information on how the Central Tibetan Administration evolved into a legal system after the 11th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile adopted the Charter of Tibetans in Exile.

The MP briefed the group on the current situation inside Tibet, including the increased restrictions, the absence of fundamental human rights like the right to assemble, among other things, and informed them of the growing number of international parliamentarians who support the Central Tibetan Administration and its position.

The legislator urged the attendees, in particular the younger ones, to take advantage of this chance to learn about Tibet’s history and the present political situations in other democratic nations as Tibetans living in a free nation.

In his closing remarks, parliamentarian Dorjee Tseten encouraged the attendees to use this training to strengthen the operations of their local Tibetan assemblies and their capacity to comprehend and handle problems affecting the broader population.

Geshe Atong Rinchen Gyaltsen, a member of parliament, then outlined the goals and purposes of the workshop’s planning and thanked everyone for attending. He discussed the value of collaboration between a settlement officer and an LTA chair for the success of the settlement and gave a quick rundown of the workshop’s five-day program.

He encouraged the audience to ask as many questions as they could as he talked on the development of democracy in the Tibetan community, a gift from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and he counseled them to work in accordance with his guidance and objectives.

He emphasized the significance of the general public being aware of how the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile operates and the functions of MPs, who serve as representatives of the populace and a link between them and the executive (kashag).

Geshe Atong Rinchen Gyaltsen, a politician, shared the procedures and business conduct for the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on the first day of the program.

On the second day of the course, MP Dorjee Tseten gave a detailed explanation of the budget laws.

There are 18 people registered for the five-day session from May 15 to May 19.

Since its founding, the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has had six LTA workshops, with the first five taking place in Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh), the sixth in Phuntsokling (Odisha), the seventh in Sonamling (Ladakh UT), the eighth in Gangtok (Sikkim), and the ninth in Salugara (West Bengal).

By providing participants with in-depth knowledge of the Central Tibetan Administrative, the Budget Policy, the proceedings of the Parliamentary session, and other topics, the LTA workshops seek to strengthen democracy at the grassroots level so they can make informed decisions and hold public officials accountable.

The National Democratic Institute and USAID are providing funding for this session.

28 years have passed since the Chinese authorities forcibly disappeared Tibet’s Panchen Lama.

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We commemorate the arbitrary imprisonment and subsequent forced disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama Jetsun Tenzin Gedhun Yeshi Trinley Phuntsok Pal Sangpo, also known as Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who turned 34 this month, on this day 28 years ago.

The Panchen Lama, who was six years old at the time, and his family were taken against their will from their residence in Lhari (Ch: Jiali) County, Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, on May 17, 1995. The six-year-old youngster was identified by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the previous 10th Panchen Lama only three days ago.

“The 11th Panchen Lama’s unknown condition and whereabouts attest to the Chinese government’s direct involvement in the forced disappearance of one of the foremost Tibetan spiritual leaders,” said Ngawang Lungtok, researcher at TCHRD. “This is true despite sustained advocacy and campaigns from the international community for more than 28 years.”

“It is deeply troubling and yet illuminating of the brutality and inhumanity that define the regime in Beijing that the Chinese government consistently fails to provide any verifiable information to ascertain the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and wellbeing.”

The Panchen Rinpoche is a revered figure among Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leaders. A gross breach of the basic right to freedom of religion and belief is represented by his unjustifiable confinement and the absolute denial of any visibility to his devoted followers, who all hold him in the greatest respect and veneration.

The horrible act of forced disappearance violates a number of rights, including the right to liberty, security, and protection from torture and other cruel, inhumane, or humiliating treatment or punishment. Similar to torture, there is absolutely no reason that can be used to support forced disappearance.

China, the self-declared leader of the developing world and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has not ratified either the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are only a few of the human rights conventions that it has consistently neglected to report to the UN treaty bodies on.

Despite China’s obstinacy, the international community has consistently shown its dedication and desire to push for the release of the Panchen Lama and his family. The Chinese government was urged to “immediately provide proof of life and a justification for the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his well-being” by a group of 30 Spanish senators last month. As part of a coalition recently formed to “gain concrete support for the resumption of substantive dialogue between the Chinese leadership and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s representatives to ensure genuine and meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people,” senators from various Spanish political parties are represented by the Dalai Lama.

TCHRD reiterates its demand that China free the Panchen Lama, his family, and all political prisoners from Tibet immediately and unconditionally. Without upholding the basic human rights of the Tibetan people, particularly their right to freedom of religion and belief, Chinese authorities will never be able to win over the hearts and minds of Tibetans or gain any support for their oppressive policies and operations in Tibet.

Tibet Youth Congress leads a demonstration against China’s ongoing crimes from Sikkim to Tezpur.

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Due to China’s illegitimate encroachment over substantial portions of Tibet, thousands of Tibetans were compelled to flee their country and spend their days as refugees in India.

Tibetans who are exploited and mistreated have long protested China’s evil actions. to raise awareness of the condition of the Tibetan and Sairacharita peoples in China.

With this goal in mind, around 89 Tibetans began a march on April 29 from Sikkim to Tezpur, which is scheduled to end on May 23, 2023.

After 20 days, a Tibetan Youth Congress representative led the parade in Nagaon district with the motto “Protection of Tibet’s Independence of India” and explained to the Assamese people the major goals and objectives of the Tibetans. Tibetan demonstrators urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring attention to the long-standing issues facing Tibetans at the G-20 summit in New Delhi in September.

The Tibetans have vehemently resisted China’s plan to wipe off biodiversity by building a huge river dam on the Brahmaputra river, which sustains Assam, with the full backing of Nobel laureate, the Dalai Lama.

However, the protesting Tibetans expressed their deep anger over the difficulty of obtaining a permit from a hostile country like China to visit to Kailash Manas Sarovar, the holiest site for Hindus, and hailed the Indian government for its decades-long support for the Tibetan people.

Through museums and other cultural institutions, China is attempting to validate its claim to Tibet: Report

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According to Tibet Rights Collective, China is attempting to exploit museums and other cultural institutions in the area to support its claim to Tibet.

China is attempting to advance a specific Chinese account of Tibetan history and culture. The so-called Tibet Museum in Lhasa city, according to Tibet Rights Collective, advertises itself as a “36 meters high building with 1100 windows and exhibitions on Tibetan folk culture, customs of living, Tibetans’ eating habits, costumes, textiles, and residential areas.”

On October 5, 1999, the Tibet Museum was formally inaugurated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “The PRC’s Economic Reform in Tibet.”

The 17-point Treaty between Tibet and China was signed in 1951, and the museum’s exhibition narratives attempted to emphasize this as well as to support the historical validity of ceding Tibet to China, according to The Tibet Rights Collective.

It included collections of artifacts, including official papers and presents given and received by Tibetan authorities and Chinese Han Dynasty officials.

A “memorial hall” to “display the photos and items from the serfdom era” was established by the Communist Party of China (CCP) in 2021.

The Potala Palace, once His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s winter residence, has also been turned into a museum. The palace has been reduced to a spectacle with approximately 800 sensors planted all around it, several monitoring equipment, and nine kilometers of fiber optic connections inside.

According to Tibet Rights Collective, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has questioned China about the plight of Tibetan women in Tibet.

The rights and welfare of Tibetan women have attracted the attention of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is in charge of monitoring the Convention’s implementation.

Members of CEDAW recently met to discuss China’s treatment of Tibetan women and to clarify a number of issues. According to Tibet Rights Collective, the bulk of the committee’s queries centered on issues like as gender equality, access to healthcare and education, political participation, and the preservation of religious and cultural rights for Tibetan women living in Tibet.

China tries to justify its claim to Tibet through…

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According to Tibet Rights Collective, China is attempting to exploit museums and other cultural institutions in the area to support its claim to Tibet. On March 10, 2023, demonstrators wave Tibetan flags in opposition to Chinese persecution in front of the Chinese consulate in Berlin. China is attempting to advance a specific Chinese account of Tibetan history and culture.

The so-called Tibet Museum in Lhasa city, according to Tibet Rights Collective, describes itself as a ’36 meters high structure with 1,100 windows and displays on Tibetan traditional culture, traditions of living, eating habits of Tibetans, clothing, textiles, and residential regions’. On October 5, 1999, the Tibet Museum was formally inaugurated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “The PRC’s Economic Reform in Tibet.”

The 17-point Treaty between Tibet and China was signed in 1951, and the museum’s exhibition narratives attempted to emphasize this as well as to support the historical validity of ceding Tibet to China, according to The Tibet Rights Collective.

It included collections of artifacts, including official papers and presents given and received by Tibetan authorities and Chinese Han Dynasty officials.

A “memorial hall” was established by the Communist Party of China (CCP) in 2021 to “display the photos and items from the serfdom era.”

The Potala Palace, once His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s winter residence, has also been turned into a museum.

The palace has been reduced to a spectacle with approximately 800 sensors planted all around it, several monitoring equipment, and nine kilometers of fiber optic connections inside.

According to Tibet Rights Collective, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has questioned China about the plight of Tibetan women in Tibet.

The rights and welfare of Tibetan women have attracted the attention of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is in charge of monitoring the Convention’s implementation.

Members of CEDAW recently met to discuss China’s treatment of Tibetan women and to clarify a number of issues.

According to Tibet Rights Collective, the bulk of the committee’s queries centered on issues like as gender equality, access to healthcare and education, political participation, and the preservation of religious and cultural rights for Tibetan women living in Tibet.

crossing China’s Tibet’s breathtakingly beautiful hidden horizon

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In the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, the beautiful Holy Elephant Heaven Gate is discretely tucked away on the north bank of the spectacular Lake Namtso, also known as the “lake of heaven,” and faces the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains.

This is the ultimate goal of Tibet’s breathtaking beauty as well as a hidden secret world of the horizon in people’s hearts. The ultimate allure of nature will stick on you whether it’s a first shock or absorption.