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YESHE.
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Breaking: Tibetan mother of two burns self to death
Phayul[Saturday, November 17, 2012 18:02]
DHARAMSHALA, November 17: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, a Tibetan mother of two passed away in her self-immolation protest today in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
Chagmo Kyi, a native of Rebkong Meypa Khagya village in eastern Tibet, self-immolated at the Dolma Square in front of Rongwo Monastery in Rebkong at around 4 pm (local time). She is believed to have been around 27 years of age and has two children.
According to the Dharamshala based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Chagmo Kyi passed away at the site of her protest. Her body was later taken to the Rongwo Monastery where thousands of Tibetans reportedly gathered to offer prayers.
“At around 7 pm (local time), Kyi’s body was moved to a cremation site on a nearby hill behind Rongwo Monastery,” TCHRD said. “At the cremation site, a large number of Tibetans were loudly reciting Mani mantras and special prayers associated with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Monks were carrying out preparations to cremate the body.”
Various sources have told Phayul that a large number of Chinese armed forces have been deployed in the region, further increasing tensions. Severe restrictions on the movement of local Tibetans in Rebkong region, which alone has seen eight self-immolation protests in November, have been placed. Last week, thousands of Tibetans, including school students, took out massive demonstrations and protest rallies demanding rights of the Tibetan people and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
The alarming escalation in self-immolation protests in Tibet, which began in 2009, has now witnessed 75 Tibetans set themselves on fire demanding freedom for Tibet.
In his inaugural address this week at the ongoing special meeting of Tibetan supporters in Dharamshala, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people blamed China’s “continued occupation of Tibet, its failed policies, including economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, cultural assimilation, and denial of religious freedom” as causes of the self-immolation protests.
He also dismissed accusations being made by the Chinese government of blaming Tibetans in exile for instigating the protests as “absolutely baseless.”
Breaking: Tibet continues to burn, Man sets self on fire
Phayul[Sunday, November 18, 2012 13:02]
DHARAMSHALA, November 18: In more alarming reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan passed away in his self-immolation protest yesterday evening in an apparent protest against China’s rule.
Sangdag Tsering, 24, set himself on fire in front of a local Chinese government office in Dokar Mo town in the Rebkong region of eastern Tibet at around 7 pm (local time). Tsering, father of a three-year-old son, passed away at the site of his protest.
His self-immolation came just hours after a Tibetan woman, Chagmo Kyi passed away after setting herself on fire outside a Chinese office in Rongwo town.
Sources tell Phayul that earlier in the day, Chinese authorities summoned a large meeting of local Tibetans and gave out clear orders, barring them from visiting families of self-immolators to pay their respect and condolences.
Further orders warned that monasteries, which didn’t follow the decree, would be shut down.
“Martyr Sangdag Tsering set himself on fire later in the evening at the very place where the meeting was called,” Dorjee Wangchuk, an exile Tibetan said citing sources in the region.
Chinese security personnel arrived at the scene and tried to douse the flames but Sangdag Tsering succumbed to his injuries.
“Monks from two nearby monasteries and thousands of local Tibetans gathered at the protest site and carried his body to the Gonshul Sangag Mindrol Dhargeyling for his cremation,” Wangchuk said.
The same source added that Sangdag Tsering had off late repeatedly expressed his frustration over the lack of freedom in Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s absence, and the continuing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.
About a week back, he had written a short poem espousing loyalty to Tibet and emailed it to a friend.
The last two lines of the poem written in Tibetan reads: “The brave men of the snow mountains, Don’t forget your loyalty to Tibet.”
Sangdag Tsering is survived by his parents, his wife Phagmo Tso, 24, and their son.
The alarming escalation in self-immolation protests has already witnessed 14 Tibetans set themselves on fire in this month alone, with nine of them occurring in the Rebkong region. A total of 76 Tibetans inside Tibet have now self-immolated since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
Speaking to a special gathering of Tibet supporters in Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama yesterday said that the situation in Tibet is “serious.”
“Whether Chinese government agrees or not, there are problems and these problems are neither good for Tibetans or for the people of China. So, therefore we have to find a solution based on mutual understanding and mutual respect,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said.
He further cautioned: “The use force will never get satisfactory results.”
Tibetan Resistance Growing Stronger
‘Please take action,’ the Dalai Lama urges Tibet supporters
Phayul[Sunday, November 18, 2012 10:26]
DHARAMSHALA, November 18: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke to members of Tibet Support Groups from all over the world who are gathered in Dharamshala to discuss the ongoing critical situation inside Tibet, Saturday.
Addressing the delegates as “brothers and sisters,” the Dalai Lama urged them to “please take action.”
“Please take action wherever you come from,” the Tibetan leader said. “Now already in many countries there are parliamentary support groups and Tibet support groups. So, I think you should be closely in touch and mobilise more voice.”
Clarifying that he is now speaking as a citizen of Tibet, after retiring from his political duties last year, the Dalai Lama said Tibetans are carrying a difficult struggle.
“(The Tibetan struggle) is entirely based on non violence and compassion. We are actually passing through a difficult period” His Holiness said. “The main reason why I came here is (to show) my respect to you all. I always consider our supporters are not pro-Tibetans but rather pro-justice and pro-nonviolence.”
“Your support for Tibet’s cause gives encouragement and moral support. A struggle which is strictly based on non violence, like ours, should succeed.”
Speaking on the ongoing wave of self-immolation protests inside Tibet, the Dalai Lama said the fiery sacrifices are in principle non violent.
“I consider these Tibetans burning - certainly these people have courage and determination to sacrifice their own life, so they can easily harm other people - but I think these people although they practiced a little bit of violence but I think in principle they still practice non violence.”
He added that the younger generation of Tibetans in Tibet these days have stronger determination as compared to earlier generations.
The Nobel peace laureate cautioned that the situation in China is serious.
“Now, things are serious. Whether Chinese government agrees or not, there are problems and these problems are neither good for Tibetans or for the people of China. So, therefore we have to find a solution based on mutual understanding and mutual respect between Han brothers sisters and Tibetan brothers and sisters,” the Dalai Lama said. “The use force will never get satisfactory results.”
“The Chinese government is very powerful militarily but just relying on using force will not solve the problems. It creates more problems, more resentment.”
Around two hundred members of Tibetan Support Groups from 43 countries are attending the Second Special International Tibet Support Groups Meeting aimed at “exploring ways to press the Chinese government to end its repressive policies” in Tibet.
www.rfa.org/english/news/burn-11172012171044.html
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Western Monk Dies by Self Immolation
A man born in Britain as David Alain, has died in France as the 38 year-old monk Lobsang Tonden. He killed himself at Nalanda Monastery, by dousing himself with gasoline and lighting himself on fire. His is, apparently, a gesture of solidarity with Tibetans who have died by self immolation. He had been at Nalanda, a Gelugpa monastery associated with the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Traditions, for five years.
In Tibet si muore, il silenzio assordante dei governi occidentali
12-11-2012
Da giorni a Rongwo, nel Tibet Orientale, le strade sono invase da migliaia di manifestanti tibetani che, sfidando la repressione della polizia cinese, espongono i ritratti del Dalai Lama e chiedono a gran voce la libertà (rangwang) e l’indipendenza (rangzen) per il proprio Paese. Queste manifestazioni avvengono negli stessi giorni in cui, a Pechino, si celebra il XVIII Congresso nazionale del Partito comunista cinese. In Tibet, in soli due giorni – il 7 e l’8 novembre – si sono bruciate vive sei persone: tre a Ngaba, due a Rebkong e una a Driru.
L’ultimo a uccidersi con il fuoco è stato Kalsang Jinpa, un giovane nomade di 18 anni. Prima di lui si era bruciata viva Tamdin Tso, una nomade ventitreenne madre di un bambino di cinque anni. Sono ormai 70 i tibetani che si sono dati fuoco per protestare contro il regime cinese che, da 62 anni, opprime il popolo tibetano.
Non si era mai verificato, nella storia del mondo, che la disperazione e la volontà di lotta di un popolo oppresso si esprimesse in una maniera così drammatica, eroica e, nello steso tempo, nonviolenta. Il governo della Repubblica popolare cinese, come sempre, ha risposto con arresti indiscriminati e le torture. Il regime cinese è arrivato al punto di impedire la vendita del cherosene in tutto il Tibet e di fornire ai poliziotti rampini ed estintori per permettere loro di intervenire nel caso di tentativi di autoimmolazione.
L’Associazione Italia-Tibet denuncia con forza e con sdegno il complice e assordante silenzio dei governi occidentali e della stampa cosiddetta “libera”, entrambi sempre più proni nei confronti dell’arrogante nomenclatura cinese da sempre insensibile e chiusa a qualsiasi tentativo di risoluzione del grave problema tibetano. L’Associazione Italia-Tibet chiede ai nostri governanti, alle nostre istituzioni, agli organi di stampa, alle associazioni per i diritti umani, ai sindacati e a tutta la società civile di non lasciare solo il Tibet in questo drammatico momento.
Chiede a tutti di mandare un messaggio di forte denuncia e di accusa ai vecchi e ai nuovi dirigenti comunisti cinesi perché sappiano che i loro rapporti economici, politici e umani risultano essere incompatibili con il resto del mondo civile se continuerà la feroce repressione in atto in Tibet contro ogni forma di libertà.
German Parliamentarians Voice Deep Concern Over Crisis in Tibet
Saturday, 17 November 2012 16:28 The Tibet Post International
Berlin, 9 November 2012: - The Tibet-Group of the German Bundestag is deeply concerned and shocked after the recent wave of self-immolations in Tibet.
"We urge the Chinese government to end the repressions in Tibet and to seek dialogue with the Tibetans.", said chairwoman Sabine Weiss (Christian Democratic Union).
"The self-immolations are result of Beijing's failed Tibet-policies. The new Chinese leadership must acknowledge this and change course in Tibet", added co-chairs Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler (Social Democratic Party), Harald Leibrecht (Free Democratic Party) and Manuel Sarrazin (Alliance 90 / The Greens).
Since February 2009, 69 Tibetans have self-immolated in Tibet as protest against the Chinese policies in Tibet. According to reports, five Tibetans self-immolated on November 7 alone.
The „Tibet-Discussion-Panel" was founded in May 1995 after a hearing on Tibet in the foreign affairs committee of the German Bundestag.
Its aim is to create a better awareness for the issue of Tibet among parliamentarians and to find ways and means how Germany can contribute to an improvement in Tibet.
The German Federal Government has released recently its periodic report on the Federal German Government's human rights policy, covering the period from March 2010 to February 2012.
The report lacks specific country reports, but rather refers to certain issues the German government has paid particular attention to with regard to human rights.
On Tibet, the report contains following statements:
"Particular worrisome is the human rights situation in Tibet and Xinjiang. Freedom of assembly and freedom of religion are suppressed more heavily in these regions than in others.
The Central Government continues to relentlessly persecute any (even alleged) endeavor for autonomy or independence.
The self-immolations of young Tibetan monks and nuns at the monastery of Kirti - a place confronted with extraordinary repressive measures – were particularly desperate expressions of protest against these politics of repression."
US urges China to improve human rights in Tibet.
Washington, November 17: United States has urged China to address the issue of human rights violations in Tibet, where there is no letup in self-immolation bid by Tibetan monks.
"We want to see the human rights situation there and throughout China improve," the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters yesterday.
"We have been clear for decades about our commitment to human rights in Tibet, that we want to see China address the underlying problems there, the threats to the distinctive culture and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people, and our grave concern about the fact that people would feel so desperate as to resort to self-immolation," she said.
Nuland said the US has been regularly raising its concern about the Tibetan self-immolations with Chinese authorities.
"We encourage China to work with authorities in Tibet to address the grievances of the people and to protect the cultural diversity of their country," she said when asked about the death of two Tibetans in self-immolation in protest against human rights violations by the Chinese. (PTI)
Video
Twitter @degewa
Il gruppo Students for a Free Tibet assieme all'Organizzazione internazionale network tibetani, sulle note di Gangnam Style, il successo del momento, hanno fatto un video: "Cavalcata tibetana".
» 15/11/2012 17:28
CINA
I nuovi timonieri, vittime e carnefici del Partito comunista cinese
di Bernardo Cervellera
Xi Jinping ha sofferto per le violenze durante la Rivoluzione culturale; Yu Zhengsheng ha visto morire sei membri della sua famiglia, ma il nuovo capo esalta con orgoglio i risultati del Partito in questi anni. Ha promesso lotta alla corruzione e al formalismo, ma pare aver dimenticato tutti i consigli per una democrazia interna, maggiore diffusione della ricchezza, sostegno al capitale privato. Ma la sua elezione è frutto del potere della "cricca di Shanghai", difensore degli interessi dei "principini" e dei monopoli industriali.
Roma (AsiaNews) - Emozionato, sorridente, modesto: così appare Xi Jinping, il nuovo segretario generale del Partito comunista cinese (Pcc) mentre presenta se stesso e la squadra degli altri sei membri del Comitato permanente del Politburo. Anche gli altri, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan e Zhang Gaoli hanno l'aria di scolaretti dopo la recita di fine d'anno.
In realtà quanto è successo oggi nella Grande sala del popolo in piazza Tiananmen, segna un'importante transizione di leadership nella nazione più popolosa del mondo e nella seconda economia mondiale. Grazie a loro, nei prossimi 10 anni la Cina potrà - come è quasi destino - diventare la prima economia, spodestando gli Stati Uniti, o potrà sbriciolarsi in una guerra civile.
L'emozione che trapela su Xi Jinping forse deriva da questo grande compito che "la storia ha consegnato" nelle loro mani e che egli enfatizza nelle parole di "guida di tutto il partito e di tutto il popolo".
In momenti simili la retorica è di rito. Xi Jinping, dopo aver presentato la sua squadra grida che "il nostro partito è dedito a servire il popolo" e che "ha guidato il popolo a risultati riconosciuti da tutto il mondo", di cui "essere orgogliosi".
Solo pochi giorni prima egli aveva elogiato il discorso di Hu Jintao che con più realismo aveva ricordato che lo stesso Partito si era allontanato dalle masse e che a causa della corruzione dei membri e dei loro familiari rischiava "la caduta". Anche lui ricorda che "non possiamo dormire sugli allori" e che occorre affrontare "corruzione", "il divorzio dal popolo", il "formalismo e il burocraticismo", ma lo attribuisce solo ad "alcuni rappresentanti del partito".
In questo modo, attribuendo le colpe solo a "qualche rappresentante", tutto il Partito è salvo e può continuare a governare indisturbato, senza ascoltare i milioni di uomini e donne che ogni anno tentano di raggiungere Pechino per denunciare la corruzione dei loro capi locali, presentando petizioni e finendo poi nelle "prigioni nere" per alcuni mesi. Nessun sussulto nemmeno davanti alle cifre snocciolate dal governo stesso, secondo cui nel 2010 oltre 640 mila casi di corruzione sono stati denunciati, anche se a questi sono seguiti solo 24 mila processi, senza parlare delle poche condanne.
Il problema del Pcc è che di continuo si mostra come vittima delle ingiustizie che vengono perpetrate nella società e allo stesso tempo è sempre pronto a presentarsi come guaritore di tutte le ferite. Come un dio capace di risuscitare ad ogni caduta, esso rinasce con ogni nuova leadership e rivendica l'assoluta novità del suo agire.
Il discorso di Xi Jinping, così pieno di cose non dette, di menzogne, e di prosopopea titanica, fa più compassione che rabbia. Perché una delle prime vittime di questo sistema è proprio lui, che durante la Rivoluzione culturale è stato trascinato a interrompere gli studi, a zappare la terra, a vedere il padre degradato. Lo stesso si può dire di molti altri del Comitato permanente. Fra tutti vi è il capo del partito di Shanghai, Yu Zhengsheng, che una volta ha confessato che almeno sei membri della sua famiglia sono morti durante "il grande caos" della Rivoluzione culturale; con sua sorella minore che ha commesso suicidio mentre era adolescente; che sua madre, già avanguardia rivoluzionaria, è stata imprigionata per sette anni, morendo schizofrenica.
Xi Jinping, Yu Zhengsheng e gli altri sono vittime anche adesso, che devono recitare la parte della guida, mentre sono "guidati" dagli anziani del Partito e dagli interessi dei grandi gruppi dell'economia di Stato. Non è un segreto che Jiang Zemin, scaduto come presidente e segretario generale nel lontano 2002, sia stato il grande elettore di questa squadra, difendendo i diritti acquisiti di tanti "principini" e di molte aziende statali che salvano i loro bilanci con prestiti vantaggiosi dalle banche di Stato e mantenendo i monopoli su comunicazioni, energia, ecc. Proprio questa oligarchia privilegiata sta portando l'economia cinese al collasso: inefficienza, corruzione, sovrapproduzione, speculazione edilizia, debiti delle banche, inflazione.
Nei giorni precedenti al Congresso, Hu Deping, figlio del grande riformista Hu Yaobang, ha chiesto che il Partito dia maggiore attenzione ai diritti umani, una maggiore liberalizzazione dell'economia per dare fiato ai privati, l'indipendenza del potere giudiziario. Non passa mese che un qualche think tank del Partito non metta in guardia dall'essere sordi alle richieste della popolazione, a ridurre l'abisso fra ricchi e poveri, a fare riforme politiche. Ma per tutto questo occorre ridurre gli interessi dell'oligarchia e mettere in crisi il monopolio del potere del Partito.
Forse è per questo che sebbene da anni Hu Jintao chiedesse una democrazia interna, i leader della Quinta generazione sono stati ancora una volta cooptati dalle diverse fazioni e benedetti da Jiang Zemin: i loro nomi giravano da mesi, perfino da anni, nelle discussioni sottobanco.
Un fatto nuovo di questo cambio di leadership è che Xi Jinping diverrà quasi da subito anche direttore della Commissione militare centrale (Cmc). Il predecessore di Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin - e prima di lui Deng Xiaoping - aveva voluto mantenere per due anni la guida della Cmc. Non è chiaro se questa mossa di Hu sia forzata - segno di un ulteriore indebolimento della sua fazione - o se egli ha voluto dare un esempio a tutto il Partito ritirandosi da tutte le cariche una volta dimesso.
Quel che è certo è che da subito Xi e la sua squadra potranno contare su tutto il potere, esecutivo e militare, forse nel timore di dover affrontare nuove rivolte sociali.
Fra quelli non ammessi nella Commissione permanente vi è Wang Yang, il capo del partito del Guangdong. Egli si è fatto un nome risolvendo molte crisi e scontri fra contadini e polizia, operai e padroni, con l'arma del dialogo e della democrazia. Con lui si poteva forse sperare in una maggiore corrente di riforme. Invece, la maggior parte dei nuovi membri della Commissione è fatta da noti conservatori nel campo economico, dell'informazione, della sicurezza. Questo non fa sperare bene, né per il popolo che sarà vittima, né per i capi del Partito, vittime e carnefici nello stesso tempo.. -
YESHE.
User deleted
Breaking: Tibet continues to burn, 15th self-immolation in November
Phayul[Tuesday, November 20, 2012 10:09]
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...ion+in+November
DHARAMSHALA, November 20: In continuing escalation in self-immolation protests in Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire in the Kangtsa region of eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
Wangchen Norbu, 25, set himself ablaze at around 8pm (local time) Monday near the Kangtsa Gaden Choephel Ling Monastery. He passed away at the site of his protest.
According to sources in exile, Wangchen Norbu raised slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile, release of the Panchen Lama and freedom for Tibet.
His charred body was later carried inside the Monastery premises where a large number of monks and local people gathered to offer their prayers and last respects.
The large crowd raised slogan calling for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and recited prayers for his long life late into the night. Wangchen Norbu was laid to rest at around 10:30 pm (local time).
The situation in a region is being described as “tense” with a large number of Chinese armed forces deployed in the region.
Wangchen Norbu is the son of late Tenzin and Khando Tso.
On November 8, a mass prayer service in honour of Tibetan self-immolators was offered at the Kangtsa Gaden Choephel Ling Monastery. Monks and local Tibetans offered thousands of butter lamps and also said prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
With Wangchen Norbu's fiery protest, this month alone has witnessed 15 self-immolations.
A total of 77 Tibetans inside Tibet have set themselves on fire since 2009 calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
Breaking: Another Tibetan burns self to death, Toll reaches 78
Phayul[Tuesday, November 20, 2012 16:43]
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...Toll+reaches+78
DHARAMSHALA, November 20: In more alarming reports coming out of Tibet another Tibetan set himself on fire today in Amchok region of eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
Tsering Dhondup, 35, set himself ablaze on a ground near the entrance of a mining site in Amchok region of Labrang Sangchu at around 8:30 am (local time). He succumbed to his injuries at the site of his protest.
Speaking to Phayul, Ajam Amchok, an exile Tibetan with close contacts in the region said Tsering Dhondup is survived by his wife Tamding Tso, their three children, and his parents Lubhum Gyal and Drukmo Tso.
“Martyr Tsering Dhondup set himself ablaze at the Gyagar Thang near the entrance of a mine in Amchok this morning,” Ajam said. “He passed away in his self-immolation protest.”
“Local Tibetans say Tsering Dhondup was a good natured and a lovable person,” the same source added. “He felt strongly for Tibet and always showed concern for the welfare of the Tibetan people.”
According to latest reports, monks of the Amchok Monastery and local Tibetans have started to gather to offer their last respects.
Tsering Dhondup’s fiery protest adds to the alarming escalation in self-immolations being witnessed in Tibet. Already, 16 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in the month of November.
78 known Tibetans inside Tibet, including monks and nuns, young mothers and students, artists and writers, farmers and nomads, have self-immolated since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
The Dalai Lama recently told reporters that China’s repressive policies and the unbearable situation in Tibet are forcing Tibetans to set themselves of fire in Tibet.
"The unbearable situation in Tibet is the cause for these unfortunate events. I am very sad about the turn of events. These are symptoms of fear, hard line suppressive policy practiced by China in Tibet. The time has come for China to think more realistically," reporters quoted the Tibetan spiritual leader as saying.
The exile Tibetan administration has maintained that the reasons for the self-immolations are self-evident: political repression, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation.
“The blame and solution for the present tragedy in Tibet lies entirely with Beijing,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, said earlier this month. “We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle self-immolation.”
Rohrabacher Warns: Tibetan Political Interference in Radio Free Asia Not Acceptable, Erodes Congressional Support
Press Release
By Web Chowkidar
Tuesday, Nov 20, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2012
Contact: Tara Setmayer
202-225-2415
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46) sent a letter to Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-In-Exile to express outrage that he and other Tibetan leaders are attempting to manipulate the news that is being reported by the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia. Representative Rohrabacher wrote to Sangay, “actions taken by you and other Tibetan leaders … are eroding support within the US Congress for the Tibetan cause. You and your cohorts must immediately cease making disparaging remarks and taking harmful actions aimed at the Tibetan Service of Radio Free Asia and its loyal, hard working Tibetan-American staff.”
It appears that pressure from the Tibetan Government-In-Exile is responsible for the recent firing of the long time Director of the Tibetan Service within Radio Free Asia, Jigme Ngapo. Ngapo is well respected within the Tibetan community and known for encouraging open discussion about Tibet’s future, including independence, a position not advocated by Sangay and some other individuals in the Tibetan Government-In-Exile.
Congressman Rohrabacher emphasized to Sangay that “I will not tolerate any machinations by you or your associates to deprive the Tibetan people of the joys of open debate and the free exchange of information that Radio Free Asia has provided.” The letter continues that “the 75 Tibetans who have selfimmolated did not do so for the right to become a minority group within Communist China; the policy you are advocating. They are killing themselves for their right to freedom and self-determination and the end of the illegal Chinese occupation.”
Representative Rohrabacher added that he is “also aware of serious accusations that US funding meant for Tibetans may have been misspent… If US assistance has been misspent and perhaps even goes into the pockets of the Communist Chinese and Tibetan power brokers I will learn of it and action will be taken.” In 2012 the US Government granted $7.5 million dollars in support of the Tibetans.
Rep. Rohrabacher is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Self-immolations in Tibet: who is to blame for the stalemate?
By Christophe Besuchet
Monday, Nov 12, 201
Although the number of self-immolations is rising at an exponential and very disturbing rate in Tibet, the crisis is gradually reaching a stalemate. With no change in the horizon and less attention being paid by foreign media and governments, more and more people outside Tibet are expressing doubts about the effectiveness of such protests and wondering whether precious lives are not being sacrificed in vain.
But it would be a tremendous error if the success of such acts of defiance against China’s might were measured uniquely by the amount of attention received abroad. It would suggest that the domestic impact has no value and that demonstrations, such as the one in Rebkong after the self-immolation of Tamdrin Tso, involving several thousands of students, are meaningless. As the cousin of 21-year-old Lobsang Jamyang, who set himself on fire on 14 January 2012 in Amdo Ngaba, recently saidhttp://www.tibettelegraph.com/2012/08/my-cousin-who-set-self-on-fire-too-has.html, it is inside Tibet that the value of these actions is to be measured:
“It seems that our protests and specially the news of self-immolations fell on deaf ears but it is not true that Tibetan protests have gone unheard or unnoticed. (…) The impact of the Tibetan self-immolations in Tibet was beyond measure.”
Self-immolations could arguably be considered a failure if we think that they are primarily for foreign consumption. However, many elements tend to prove that this interpretation is painfully reductive: the eyes of the Tibetans inside Tibet may not be turned to Washington or Brussels, and it may well be that the response from the exiled Tibetan leadership is responsible for the deadly stalemate and directly influences the growing number — or any reduction — of self-immolations.
I am convinced that the failure to make good use of the current crisis is the result of two factors: (1) an incorrect assessment of self-immolators’ objectives; and (2) a far too cautious reaction from the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. For most Tibetans abroad and their supporters, the general perception is that people in occupied Tibet set themselves on fire to urge the international community to speak out and condemn the ongoing repression in Tibet. This line of thinking, unsurprisingly, leads commentators to wonder why the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi succeeded in bringing down the Tunisian regime whereas over seventy self-immolations in Tibet have not affected the world.
And it is precisely by raising the case of 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi that the reply can be found: his self-immolation (only the first of many during the Arab Spring) did not in any way prompt foreign governments to support the Tunisian Revolution — the regime was an ally of most European capitals — but it captured the discontent and frustration of Tunisians, who left their fears behind and took to the streets to bravely stand up to their leaders. Tunisia is not alone: wherever self-immolations have taken place in this world, they primarily influenced the concerned masses, not foreign governments. Expecting world leaders to be moved and to act exclusively on the basis of the gruesome sacrifice of a large number of Tibetans is pure wishful thinking; as long as the stakes are not seriously raised by Tibetans abroad, no international intervention, nor even UN resolution, can be expected.
But wondering why self-immolations in Tibet do not affect the world is also misreading self-immolators’ messages. Apart from Gudrub, the 43-year-old writer who set himself on fire in Nakchu on 4 October 2012 and who wrote “Just world, uphold the truth“, none of the self-immolators in occupied Tibet called, directly or indirectly, for foreign support — at least as far as we know. Since 1987, calls to the United Nations or to visiting diplomats have regularly been made from Tibet. This is not something unheard of. But this time, no one mentioned outside help. All the messages we are aware of are pleas for national unity. Their authors appeal to their compatriots to stand as proud Tibetans and work for the freedom of Tibet. These are calls to oppose and act against China’s tyranny, not to beg for foreign support.
The second factor accountable for the current stalemate — and by far the most important — is the extremely cautious attitude adopted by Dharamshala. The reaction of a government ought to be proportional to the magnitude of a specific national crisis or disaster. Considering the extreme methods of protest used in Tibet and the harsh response by the Chinese regime, caution and defensiveness can hardly be appropriate. Nevertheless, flying in the face of basic common sense, Sangay’s government ordered the status quo on the Middle Way Approach to be maintained, a status quo that is alarming and, by any standard, criminal.
Since the beginning of the crisis, Dharamshala has operated as if it were unaware of the true scope and domestic impact of the self-immolations. It conveniently pays little attention to calls for independence and obstinately persists in pursuing a policy that has failed to bring any result since its adoption more that thirty years ago. In this regard, it is highly ironical that Sangay’s government vows “to fulfill aspirations of Tibetans inside Tibet” while it actually tries by every means to negotiate an autonomy that visibly nobody wants. So much for the changes promised on the campaign trail.
Even more absurd is that Dharamshala has not even tried to take advantage of the self-immolations crisis to review its strategy and raise the stakes with Beijing. If not on such an occasion as this, when will its policy be adjusted? Along the same lines as in 2008, when the attention of the entire world was turned towards China and the Olympics, and protests had erupted all over occupied Tibet – or more recently when the Dalai Lama’s special envoys resigned – the Tibetan Government-in-Exile has miserably failed to display the kind of leadership required in such circumstances. The time is ripe for change, but the Tibetan leadership persists in advocating reconciliation and, despite all evidence to the contrary, refuses to acknowledge that Beijing will not negotiate until it is forced to do so by some serious challenges.
Unfortunately, Dharamshala’s stubbornness has a cost, and everything indicates that maintaining the status quo seems to have a significant influence on self-immolations. The graph below displays, in a cumulative way, a timeline of self-immolations since August 2011. For the purpose of this article, and to see whether there was any correlation, major events were plotted on the timeline.
Although it is highly imprudent and unreliable to jump to conclusions from so little data, some striking parallels can be observed. Four major periods with no immolations (highlighted in blue on the graph) are noticeable since the beginning of the crisis: three of them lasted more than a month, the other lasted twenty-four days. Interestingly, these respites do not seem to be fortuitous: each can be linked to a particular event.
The first respite was from 11 November 2011 to 5 January 2012: in fifty-six days, only one self-immolation took place. It began two days after the Karmapa urged an end to immolationshttp://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/09/uk-china-tibetans-burnings-idUKTRE7A82ZX20111109, an appeal that was soon followed by the Dalai Lama voicing doubts www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15799562about these sacrifices on BBC. This respite also started just after two self-immolations were carried out abroad. It is not clear whether the appeals from the two religious leaders or the protests abroad had any influence, but no one set him or herself on fire in Tibet for the next eight weeks. (However, this autumn, the second appeal by the Karmapa had no effect on protests.) This period ended while the Kalachakra initiation was being given in Bodhgaya. Immolations resumed the day after Lobsang Sangay announced that Tibetans were “ready for negotiations anywhere, anytime”http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=30648&t=1, with four cases in only nine days.
The second respite, much shorter, occurred between January and February 2012 and lasted for only twenty-four days. No major event seems to have prompted it, but it ended brutally the day the Global Vigil for Tibet was launched, on 8 February.
The third and fourth respites could very accurately be linked to the Second Special Meeting called in Dharamshala to “discuss ways to deal with the present crisis in Tibet”. The first of these two respites began on 20 April, three days after the meeting was officially announcedhttp://tibet.net/2012/04/16/dharamsala-to-host-2nd-special-meeting-of-tibetans-in-september/. It ended the highest peak of self-immolations ever seen in Tibet: twenty-one cases in seventy-two days, and it lasted for thirty-seven days without a single immolation attempt. For unidentified reasons, self-immolations resumed during the Saga Dawa celebrations, on 27 May, although at a slower pace than previously. By the time the fourth respite occurred, ninety-three days later, sixteen Tibetans had set themselves on fire.
The occurrence of the last respite is even more troubling. It stops with the conclusion of the special meeting, one day after more than four hundred Tibetans from twenty-six countries had appealed, in vain, to Tibetans inside Tibet not to take “drastic actions”http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-09292012164851.html. It seemed as if self-immolation protests had finally ceased towards the end of August, in anticipation of the outcome of the meeting, and then, as soon as it was clear that no policy shift was in store, they started again with even more intensity. In the month following the meeting, blatantly ignoring the call from the delegates, twelve self-immolations occurred in Tibet. Looking at the events of the last few days nothing seems to presage any decrease in the number of protests.
In a nutshell, if this graph is to be believed, spikes in the number of self-immolations and periods of respite are directly influenced by the initiatives or lack of guidance from the exiled leadership. The more Dharamshala is prudent, the more self-immolations there are. No other events originally plotted on the graph showed any correlation with the timeline of protests, be it religious festivals, Lobsang Sangay’s visits abroad, parliament sessions, or foreign visitors in China (former US President Carter in December 2011). Viewed from any perspective, every immolation seems to be a direct response — or a loud signal, depending on your point of view — to the Tibetan leadership.
What are we to conclude from all this? If appeals to stop self-immolations are ignored, if the primary objective of their authors is not about calling out to the international community and if, as the above chart tends to indicate, they reject the status quo as an option, the solution to the problem can only be found in a radical shift in Dharamshala’s strategy. Adding more casualties to the list of China’s wrongdoings and knocking at the door of foreign governments is definitely not enough. Nor is the “how-many-more-sacrifices-before-the-world-will act” attitude serving any purpose. When the “national drum” is being beaten loudly in Tibet, when “prime ministers” are called “kings” and when an “autonomous region” is called a “nation”, the time has come to change the rules of the game. The time has come for the Tibetan Government-in-Exile to declare the Middle Way Approach “no longer valid”, as the Dalai Lama did in 1992, and to resume active lobbying for the restoration of Tibetan independence.
I am still convinced, every bit as much as I was ten months ago when I wrote my first piece on this tragic crisishttp://www.rangzen.net/2012/01/28/beacons-of-resistance-not-desperate-acts/, that a change of policy from Dharamshala is the key to putting an end to self-immolations. As far as I can see, the eyes of the self-immolators are turned towards Dharamshala, and not in the direction of Beijing, Washington or Brussels. When these men and women set themselves on fire, they are sending a signal to what they consider and value as their legitimate government. This signal is a call for action, a call for unity. And I am confident that they are patiently looking not for signs of sympathy or prayers, but for clear directions and leadership. The spike of immolations that happened right after the Second Special Meeting should serve as a lesson, and remind everyone that the time for passivity is over. As Gudrub wrote in justification of self-immolation protests, “Since China is uninterested in the well-being of the Tibetan people, we are sharpening our nonviolent movement”. Can’t Dharamshala do the same?
Tibet : Rebgong Tibetans forced to sign anti self immolation document, tension in Serta 19 h fa
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/s...2012190537.html
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YESHE.
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China to punish families, entire villages of self-immolators
Phayul[Thursday, November 22, 2012 20:12]
DHARAMSHALA, November 22: Chinese authorities in Malho (Chinese: Huangnan) region of eastern Tibet have announced a series of strict measures targeting the ongoing wave of self-immolations with further restrictions, punishments, and threats.
Dharamshala based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, in a release today said the five-point notice issued by the Malho Prefectural office and Malho People’s government on November 14 gives stern orders to local officials “to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.”
The recent escalation in self-immolations has made an alarming impact in Rebkong region of Malho with nine fiery protests in this month alone. Also, thousands of Tibetans, including school children, carried out massive protests calling for freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama earlier this month.
The notice, issued in Tibetan and Chinese languages, announces the cancellation of government aid to families of self-immolators as well as development projects in villages where similar protests have taken place.
“The first point in the notification clearly states that government aid to the family members of a person who had self-immolated will be cut off for three years ... Development funds will be cancelled to those villages where self-immolations took place; even those projects that had been approved earlier will be cancelled within three years,” TCHRD said in its release.
The notice calls for “detailed investigation” into the “failure” of local leaders and relevant Communist Party officials to protect “stability” and “harmony” in areas where self-immolations have taken place. It says that official if found “guilty” will be relieved of their posts and “severe measures” will be taken against them.
The notice goes on to call for “thorough investigation” to determine whether any government officials had visited homes of self-immolators to offer condolences and further warns others from such acts, the offence of which, the notice says, will “attract immediate firing, followed by investigations and punishments.”
While asking higher authorities to “advise and guide” these officials, the notice states that the Public Security Bureau officers will “strike hard” on those who do not listen to such guidance.
“If a village or a monastery has collectively organized prayer ceremonies and visits to the families of self-immolator, then the whole village will get no government aid. All development projects approved earlier in the village will be cancelled within three years,” TCHRD quoted the notice as saying.
The notice warns that if high lamas or abbots or senior staff at monasteries are found of having organised prayer ceremonies for self-immolators, then their monasteries will be closed down and steps will be taken to purge these monasteries of causing "instability."
It must be be noted that on several occasions, self-immolators have chosen to set themselves ablaze near their local monasteries, following which, their bodies have been in many cases carried inside the monastery premises to perform prayers and rituals.
“Heavy punishment shall be given to those who attempt to organise themselves or form associations or groups,” the notice states.
The notice further blames the “Dalai clique” for the instability in the region.
The exile Tibetan administration has maintained that the reasons for the self-immolations are self-evident: political repression, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation.
“The blame and solution for the present tragedy in Tibet lies entirely with Beijing,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, said earlier this month. “We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle self-immolation.”
Breaking: Tibetan teen burns self to death, Toll climbs to 79
Phayul[Friday, November 23, 2012 03:04]
DHARAMSHALA, November 23: In no respite to the spate of self-immolations inside Tibet, another Tibetan teenager passed away in his fiery protest Thursday, November 22.
In confirmed reports received by Phayul, Lubum Gyal, 18, set himself ablaze in Dowa town of Rebkong, eastern Tibet at around 4:20 pm (local time) in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency also reported on the incident, confirming that the self-immolator (Libong Tsering) succumbed to his injuries.
“Lubum Gyal set himself on fire in protest against the Chinese government in Dowa town,” Sonam, an exile Tibetan with close contacts in the region told Phayul. “Soon, a large number of Tibetans gathered and rescued his body from falling into the hands of Chinese authorities.”
“Monks from the Dowa Monastery later carried out the last rites of Lubum Gyal at a nearby crematorium,” Sonam added.
According to the same source, the recent deployment of large numbers of Chinese armed forces and the severe restrictions placed on local Tibetans triggered Lubum Gyal’s fiery protest.
“Following the recent escalation in self-immolations and protests in Dowa and the adjoining regions, Chinese security personnel armed with automatic guns have forced strict restrictions on the movement of Tibetans,” Sonam cited sources as saying. “Moreover, higher ranked Chinese government and Communist Party officials have been paying frequent trips to Dowa to investigate the reasons behind the protests and to assure that no more protests take place in the region.”
The Chinese officials were reportedly implementing the five-point notification www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...self-immolators issued by the Malho Prefectural office and Malho People’s government on November 14 giving stern orders to local officials “to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.”
The notice, issued in Tibetan and Chinese languages, announces the cancellation of government aid to families of self-immolators as well as development projects in villages where similar protests have taken place.
Lubum Gyal is survived by his father Tsego.
The Rebkong region of Malho has now witnessed ten self-immolation protests in this month alone. Also, thousands of Tibetans, including school children, carried out massive protests calling for freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama earlier this month.
79 Tibetans have now set themselves on fire in Tibet since 2009.
Tibet : China punishes protest self-immolations, cuts off aid to Tibetans
Redazione - Gio, 22/11/2012 - 10:04
The Chinese authorities in Malho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have announced the cancellation of government aid to families of self-immolators as well as development projects in villages where Tibetans had carried out protest self-immolations.In the past three weeks, nine Tibetans have died of protest self-immolations in Rebkong County.On 9 November, about 5000 Tibetan schoolchildren held a peaceful protest march against the alarming official apathy towards rising numbers of protest self-immolation in Rongwo town before gathering at Rongwo Monastery.On 8 November, Tibetan schoolchildren in Dowa Township (Rebkong County) took down Chinese flags from their school building and the Township government office building.
In an official notification issued on 14 November by the Malho Prefectural office , local Party and government officials have been sternly given orders to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.
A source told TCHRD that the notification, issued both in Tibetan and Chinese, was shown on Malho Prefectural TV channel. Only the Tibetan version is available with TCHRD.
The first point in the notification clearly states that government aid to the family members of a person who had self-immolated will be cut off for three years. In this regard, all prefectural government offices and related sections and staff have been ordered to act strictly. No one is allowed to arrange for the resumption of government aids to such families. Development funds will be cancelled to those villages where self-immolations took place; even those projects that had been approved earlier will be cancelled within three years.
In areas where these self-immolations took place, the County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will carry out detailed investigation into the failure of Township or Village leaders and relevant Party officials to protect "stability" and "harmony". If found responsible, these Township, Village and Party leaders will be investigated thoroughly and they will not be considered for any model worker prizes by the government in future. They will be relieved of their posts and new recruits shall be made in their place. The notification also said severe measures will be taken, according to rules and regulations of the Party and the government, against guilty officials for their inability to implement orders from the Party and the government.
The second point calls for thorough investigation to determine whether any government officials and staff had visited the homes of self-immolators to offer condolences or contributions for prayer ceremonies. Officials of the County and Township government as well as the CPC Committee should advise and guide these officials on the implication of such visits. The Public Security Bureau officers will "strike hard" on those who do not listen to such guidance.
The third point asks relevant government and Party officials to give advice and guidance to monks and lay Tibetans on the consequences of visiting homes of self-immolators to offer condolences and contributions for prayer rituals. If members of the Monastery Management Committees are found guilty in this respect, officials from the United Front Work Department, Religious Affairs Bureau and related government bureaus will handle these cases and punish them accordingly. If a village or a monastery has collectively organized prayer ceremonies and visits to the families of self-immolator, then the whole village will get no government aid. All development projects approved earlier in the village will be cancelled within three years.
The fourth point calls for a quick and thorough investigation to see whether any person, both monks and lay, had arranged and forced some officials to visit the prayer ceremonies for self-immolators. The guilty will be punished, according to the law, after detailed investigation. If village leaders are found involved in such acts, they will be relieved of their position and will be interrogated and investigated.
If high lamas [or abbots] and members of Democratic Management Committees are found involved in such acts, the notification says their monasteries will be closed following the relevant laws and required steps would be taken to purge these monasteries of instability. Heavy punishment shall be given to those who attempt to organize themselves or form associations or groups.
The fifth point warns the average government cadres and workers from visiting homes of self-immolators and offering contributions for prayer rituals, the offence of which will attract immediate firing, followed by investigations and punishments. The government cadres and workers have been ordered to publicise the importance of the implementation of the measures listed in this notification. They are required to inform the Party and government offices in timely manner if they get any information about the matters listed in the notification.
In its introduction, the notification mentions continued incidents of instability in Malho Prefecture calling them a bad example for everyone, harming not only the stability of Gansu Province, but also that of the whole nation. As is usual in many of Chinese government pronouncements, the so-called "Dalai clique", has been held responsible for instability in the region. "The Dalai clique, wearing religious robes, use self-immolations to create instability,"it said, adding, they are also responsible for inciting schoolchildren to create disturbances and instability. The notice expressed disapproval against the use of the word "martyr"by the "Dalai clique"to describe self-immolators.
Source : TCHRD
China attacks Dalai Lama over self-immolations by Tibetans
Beijing, November 21: As the numbers of self-immolation protests in Tibet went up, coinciding with the recent leadership change in China, Beijing Wednesday accused Dalai Lama group of "instigating and masterminding" suicides in order to tarnish its image.
"For any country or any religion, people's life is very precious, but some people, in order to gain their political gains, even go as far as to glorifying self-immolations", China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here today.
"They even masterminded it and instigated such behaviours for their political purposes", she said answering a question on increasing number of self immolations in the recent days during and after the 18th Communist Party Congress to select new leadership.
More than eight such attempts, protesting the Chinese rule and calling for the return of Dalai Lama from exile, have been reported from different parts of the Himalayan region since November 8.
About 80 cases of self immolations have been reported during the past few months.
The suicides appeared unabated as the new leadership headed by Xi Jinping took charge.
It is not clear yet whether the new leadership would strike a reconciliatory tone by re-opening the stalled dialogue with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to ease the tensions.
Back channel talks, held long ago failed to make headway despite Dalai Lama's acceptance of Tibet as part of China.
Chinese officials say that his demand for integration of all Tibetan prefectures and departure of settlers from outsides were not acceptable.
"Friends from the media and other people can recognise the true face of the Dalai group to tarnish China's image by instigating and masterminding self-immolation activities", Hua said.
"This is against human conscience and morality as well as national laws and Buddhist doctrines", she said.
"The Chinese government is resolute in upholding sovereignty and territorial integrity. The central government will continue to uphold its existing policies, ensure the social and economic development, maintain social order and protect people's rights and interests.
"We firmly oppose any attempts to accuse China's religious policies in disregard of facts", she said. (PTI)
Taiwan rejects Dalai Lama visit
Taipei, November 22: Taiwan has decided to bar the Dalai Lama from entering the island, triggering an angry response from a women's organisation that had invited him to a meeting there next month.
The Taiwan chapter of the Federation of Business and Professional Women, headed by former vice president Annette Lu, said the move reflected fear of angering China, which sees the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist.
"We are angry as the government is obviously worried about China's reaction. It's ridiculous that Taiwan has to listen to China and seek its approval before doing anything," said a spokeswoman for Lu.
The federation said that they had contacted the Dalai Lama directly and that he had agreed to attend their Asia Pacific regional conference in Taipei in December.
Taiwan's foreign ministry confirmed that they would not allow the visit, but denied China had anything to do with the decision.
"It's just not a good time," foreign ministry spokesman Steve Hsia told AFP, declining to elaborate.
China is highly critical of the Dalai Lama, suspecting him of seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland, even though he says he only wants greater autonomy and religious freedom.
The Dalai Lama had voiced a wish to visit Taiwan in 2008, but at that time, too, the island's government had argued the time was not right.
He did visit Taiwan in 2009 to comfort victims of a deadly typhoon in a trip that was strongly criticised by China and reportedly triggered mass cancellations of mainland tourist groups to the island.
Dalai Lama visits to Taiwan are particularly galling for China, as it still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, even though it has ruled itself since the end of a civil war in 1949.
Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since Ma Ying-Jeou became Taiwan's president in 2008 on a Beijing-friendly platform. (AFP)
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YESHE.
User deleted
23 novembre 2012
Nuova immolazione, 80ma da febbraio 2009, 18 da primo novembre
E’ arrivato a 80 il numero delle immolazioni per il Tibet dal febbraio 2009. Secondo fonti della diaspora tibetana in India, un giovane di 23 anni, Tamding Kyab, si è dato fuoco ieri intorno alle 10 nella regione di Kluchu a Kanlho (Gannan in cinese) nella provincia cinese del Gansu. Il giovane, il cui corpo è stato portato dai monaci nel monastero di Shitsang sotto una foto del Dalai Lama, è morto sul colpo a seguito delle ustioni. Kyab era stato monaco di quel monastero e suo fratello più giovane ancora ne fa parte. Secondo le fonti, più volte nelle scorse settimane e mesi, leggendo delle immolazioni di altri tibetani, aveva espresso il desiderio di compiere anche lui questo gesto per protestare contro il controllo cinese del Tibet e per chiedere il ritorno del Dalai Lama. Nello stesso giorno si era immolato Lubum Gual di 18 anni portando, con queste due ultime immolazioni, a 18 il numero di questi gesti dal primo novembre scorso. Nella regione di Gannan le autorità cinesi il mese scorso, per tentare di fermare l’ondata di immolazioni, hanno offerto una ricompensa a coloro che fornivano informazioni su tentativi di auto-immolazione.
23/11/2012
TIBET – CINA
Tibet, Pechino punisce le famiglie dei giovani che si danno fuoco
Su ordine del governo centrale le autorità della provincia del Qinghai cancellano gli aiuti ai parenti delle vittime e sospendono tutti i progetti di sviluppo di villaggi e città teatro di auto-immolazioni. In due settimane nove tibetani si sono dati fuoco nella provincia. Tutti coloro che hanno reso omaggio ai giovani suicidi, anche con piccoli messaggi di cordoglio, saranno puniti. Pene severe anche per i funzionari di partito troppo “morbidi” con gli attivisti.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Le autorità cinesi di Malho (Prefettura autonoma tibetana nella provincia di Qinghai) cancellano gli aiuti ai parenti dei tibetani che si sono dati fuoco in protesta contro l'occupazione cinese del Tibet. Il governo locale ha anche cancellato tutti i progetti di sviluppo avviati nei villaggi coinvolti in manifestazioni contro Pechino.
Nelle ultime tre settimane, nove persone si sono auto-immolate nella contea di Rebkong (Qinghai). Lo scorso 9 novembre, circa 5 mila fra bambini e insegnanti delle scuole della città di Rongwo hanno organizzato una manifestazione pacifica denunciando l'apatia delle autorità e dei media sulla crescita dei casi di auto-immolazione. Il giorno prima a Dowa, alcuni giovani studenti hanno ammainato per protesta la bandiera cinese dai loro istituti e dagli uffici governativi.
Dopo questi fatti, il 14 novembre le autorità della prefettura di Malho e i funzionari del Partito comunista locale hanno emendato una direttiva in cinque punti per punire i casi di autoimmolazione.
Nel primo punto il governo ordina la cancellazione per tre anni di tutte le forme di sostegno ai parenti dei tibetani suicidatisi per protesta, sottolineando che tutti i funzionari locali sono tenuti ad applicare la direttiva. Chi viola tale ordine sarà punito in modo esemplare. Il provvedimento cancella anche progetti di sviluppo e investimenti pubblici nei villaggi e nelle città dove sono avvenute manifestazioni di protesta. Il secondo punto ordina alle autorità di investigare sui funzionari che hanno compiuto gesti di solidarietà nei confronti delle vittime come ad esempio partecipazioni a funerali, visite o messaggi di condoglianze. I membri del Partito comunista hanno l'obbligo di denunciare l'eventuale coinvolgimento di compagni o superiori. Nel terzo punto Pechino punisce invece tutte le autorità religiose e laiche che hanno celebrato funerali, o compiuto visite alle famiglie di coloro che hanno commesso auto-immolazioni. Il quarto ordina alla polizia di locale di avviare un'immediata indagine su tutti coloro che sono stati coinvolti nelle manifestazioni, cerimonie pubbliche o preghiere collettive in ricordo dei morti suicidi. Gli agenti sono autorizzati a compiere interrogatori e fermare eventuali sospettati. Il quinto ordina a tutti i quadri dei governi locali di pubblicare la normativa e farla rispettare. Chi non si attiene alle regole verrà arrestato e processato.
Per aumentare l'efficacia degli ordini, Pechino ha diffuso la notizia su tutti i media locali, accusando "la cricca del Dalai Lama" di spingere i giovani a darsi fuoco per protesta, creando instabilità nelle regioni a maggioranza tibetana. In realtà, il leader tibetano ha sempre criticato la forma dell'autoimmolazione, invitando in vari messaggi i giovani a non sprecare la loro vita con questi gesti estremi.
Dal 2011, da quando molti giovani hanno scelto questo modo fatale di criticare il regime, si sono autoimmolati almeno 70 tibetani.
Breaking: Another self-immolation rocks Tibet, Toll reaches 80
Phayul[Friday, November 23, 2012 17:42]
DHARAMSHALA, November 23: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire late last night in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
The Tibetan man, the 80th to self-immolate inside Tibet since 2009, has been identified as Tamding Kyab.
“Tamding Kyab, 23 years of age, set himself on fire on November 22 at around 10 pm (local time) in the Kluchu region of Kanlho, eastern Tibet,” exile Tibetans hailing from the region told Phayul. “After local Tibetans recovered Tamding Kyab's charred body this morning, they carried it to his home."
Monks from the nearby Shitsang Monastery have been performing prayers at the deceased's home and also carried out the last rites today. A nomad, Tamding Kyab was earlier a monk at the Shitsang Monastery, where currently his younger brother is studying.
Tamding Kyab frequently spoke out the ongoing self-immolation protests and expressed his desire for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
"Whenever he heard of a self-immolation protest, he used to say, "How I wish I could also sacrifice my life" and often stated that without the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, there is "no difference between living and dying" in this world," the same sources said citing contacts in the regions.
The same day, Lubum Gyal, 18, passed away after setting himself ablaze in Dowa town of Rebkong, eastern Tibet following heightened restrictions and the implementation of a five-point notification issued by Chinese authorities giving stern orders “to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.”
The alarming escalation in self-immolation protests has already witnessed 18 Tibetans set themselves on fire in the month of November alone, making this the deadliest month since the protests began. Thousands of Tibetans, including school students, have carried out mass protests and rallies demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
Earlier this month, local Chinese authorities in Kanlho (Ch:Gannan) imposed a “near-total information blockade” in the region following seven self-immolations in the past month.
Local authorities clamped down on the Internet and mobile phone lines, imposing an indefinite ban on the sale of mobile SIM cards on three known shops in Sangchu, while restricting the sale of petrol and other flammable liquids in towns and villages in the area.
Also in the region, local Chinese authorities posted notices last month, offering 50,000 Chinese Yuan (US $ 7,913) for information on “the sources of scheming, planning, and instigating” self-immolations.
The exile Tibetan administration has maintained that the reasons for the self-immolations are self-evident: political repression, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation.
“The blame and solution for the present tragedy in Tibet lies entirely with Beijing,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, said earlier this month. “We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle self-immolation.”
Breaking: Another Tibetan self-immolates, Seven deaths in seven days
Phayul[Saturday, November 24, 2012 13:28]
DHARAMSHALA, November 24: In more alarming reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire in an apparent protest against Chinese rule on Friday, November 23 in Tsekhog (Ch: Zeku) region of eastern Tibet.
Tamding Dorjee, 29, set himself ablaze near the entrance of the local Chinese administrative office of Dokarmo town in Tsekhog region of Malho at around 6:30 pm (local time).
According to exile sources, Tamding Dorjee raised slogans for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with folded hands while engulfed in flames. He passed away at the site of his protest.
Following the self-immolation protest, thousands of local Tibetans gathered to offer prayers and attend the funeral which was carried out later in the night.
Latest reports indicate that local Chinese authorities have cut off Internet and phone lines in an attempt to contain the spread of the news.
With Tamding Dorjee’ self-immolation protest, 81 Tibetans have now set themselves on fire in Tibet since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
The alarming escalation in the fiery protests has already witnessed 19 Tibetans burn themselves in the month of November alone with seven self-immolations in the last seven days.
The protests continue even as Chinese authorities announced heightened restrictions and the implementation of a five-point notification giving stern orders to punish self-immolators, their families, their villages and even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.”
Prayer service in Dharamshala
Yesterday, thousands of Tibetans and supporters including the Tibetan Chief Justice Commissioners, Speaker Penpa Tsering, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, Kalons, members of parliament, and school students attended a prayer service held in honour of Tibetan self-immolators at Tsug-la Khang, the main temple in Dharamshala.
Special prayers were offered for Wangchen Norbu, 18; Tsering Dhundup, 35; and Lubum Gyal, 18 who set themselves on fire in protest against China’s occupation of Tibet.
Wangchen Norbu, 25, set himself ablaze on Monday near the Kangtsa Gaden Choephel Ling Monastery. He passed away at the site of his protest.
He raised slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile, release of the Panchen Lama and freedom for Tibet.
On Tuesday, Tsering Dhondup, 35, set himself ablaze on a ground near the entrance of a mining site in Amchok region of Labrang Sangchu. He succumbed to his injuries at the site of his protest.
Tsering Dhondup is survived by his wife Tamding Tso, their three children, and his parents.
Lubum Gyal, 18, set himself ablaze in Dowa town of Rebkong, eastern Tibet on Thursday in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
Speaking at the prayer service, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay said the prayer services were significant as they send a message of solidarity from exile Tibetans to Tibetans inside Tibet.
“We hold the prayer services in honour of the self-immolators’ families, Tibetans in prison and for those Tibetans who have lost their lives for Tibet,” Sikyong Sangay said.
The Dalai Lama recently told reporters that China’s repressive policies and the unbearable situation in Tibet are forcing Tibetans to set themselves of fire in Tibet.
"The unbearable situation in Tibet is the cause for these unfortunate events. I am very sad about the turn of events. These are symptoms of fear, hard line suppressive policy practiced by China in Tibet. The time has come for China to think more realistically," reporters quoted the Tibetan spiritual leader as saying,
Tibet : Tibetan self-immolated in Tsekhog
Redazione - Sab, 24/11/2012 - 08:31
One more Tibetan has died after setting himself on fire in Tsekhog ,in north-eastern Tibet.Tadin Dorjee, 29, set fire to himself at the entrance of Dokarmo town office in Tsekhog around 6:30 pm (local time) on Friday. He died on the spot.Thousands of local Tibetans offered prayers and attended his funeral that night.The Chinese authorities have cut off Internet and phone lines following the incident.
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Ho estratto una pseudo traduzione dalla canzone
perché ero curioso di sapere cosa diceva.
Oh tibetani
Unitevi, unitevi
se la tristezza è sul volto di tuo padre
Oh tibetani
unitievi, unitevi.
tre province si uniscono
se pensi alle lacrime dal cuore di tua madre
tbetani della terra delle nevi si uniscono
siamo i parenti dei medesimi genitori
siamo gli eredi di una nazione
o tibetani dalla faccia rubiconda
se si pensa dei mesi e anni di gioie e dolori
I tibetani da tutte le parti l'altopiano si uniscono
se si pensa alla vista della terra delle nevi
parenti, vecchi o giovani, unitevi
noi siamo i custodi di greggi nelle terre nomadi
Siamo i contadini della valle del ...
o tibetani dalla faccia rubiconda
se si pensa del nostro destino di lacrime e risate
tre province si uniscono
se si pensa alla pace e felicità
giovani uomini e donne si uniscono
noi siamo i messaggeri della nuova era
siamo gli eredi futuri della terra
o tibetani dalla faccia rubiconda.
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dorje e gabbana.
User deleted
Temo che quello della libertà del tibet è solo un'illusione che non avrà mai riscontro nella realtà.... . -
lete.
User deleted
temo anche io. . -
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Purtroppo concordo con D & G e Lete.
Credo proprio che il Dalai Lama nonostante i suoi numerosi appelli agli Stati Uniti e ai capi delle nazioni del mondo in nome del suo paese e del suo popolo possa davvero rassegnarsi.. -
dorje e gabbana.
User deleted
Ma lo è certamente già da tempo. Non è certo uno stupido, ma solo un politicante quando due-tre di decenni fa disse che da sue visioni ecc ecc era certo che entro pochi anni sarebbe tornato in tibet a governare un tibet libero . -
YESHE.
User deleted
The Dalai Lama: Self-immolations bring tears to my eyes
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 03:03]
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that the ongoing wave of self-immolations inside Tibet brings tears to his eyes.
The 77-year-old Tibetan leader was speaking to a reporter from the Indian national television channel Doordarshan in south India on Saturday.
“As Deng Xiaoping said, ‘Seek truth from facts’ and act accordingly. What’s happening is very sad; it brings tears to my eyes,” the Dalai Lama said. “People are not doing this because they are drunk or have family problems, but because they live in constant fear.“
81 Tibetans; monks and nuns, young mothers and students, artists and writers, farmers and nomads, have set themselves on fire since 2009 protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet and demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
In the interview, the Tibetan leader noted that he sees the self-immolations as a symptom of problems that Tibetans did not create and reiterated his appeal that the Chinese authorities investigate the real causes of the fiery protests.
Meanwhile, a senior Chinese leader in the troubled region of eastern Tibet has called for a further intensification of the crackdown on Tibetan protesters in a speech in Ngaba.
"Our struggle with the Dalai (Lama) splittist clique is long-term, arduous and complicated. In fighting separatism and upholding stability we can never relax our work in the slightest," AFP quoted Sichuan Communist Party head Wang Dongming as saying.
"We must strengthen and be innovative in accordance with law in our management of the monasteries and unite the people in the common task to fight separatism and maintain stability."
The month of November is witnessing an alarming escalation in the fiery protests with 19 self-immolations already, making this the deadliest month since the protests began. Thousands of Tibetans, including school students, have carried out mass protests and rallies against China’s rule.
Earlier this month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged China to “promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas.”
Pillay said she was disturbed by "continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights," and urged China to allow independent and impartial monitors to visit and assess the actual conditions on the ground, and to lift restrictions on media access to the region, as a confidence-building measure.
Breaking: Tibetan student sets self on fire, Calls for Dalai Lama’s return
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 13:48]
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, a Tibetan student set himself on fire today in Sertha region of eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s rule.
The young Tibetan man has been identified as Wangyal, a student of Sertha People’s Middle School.
Speaking to Phayul, Sertha Tsultrim Wozer, a Tibetan living in south India said Wangyal set himself on fire in the middle of Sertha town earlier today and raised slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
“Martyr Wangyal set himself ablaze on one of the main roads leading to the town centre at around 11:20 am (local time),” Wozer said. “Eyewitnesses say his hands were clasped in prayers as he ran raising slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and freedom for the Tibetan people.”
Wangyal ran to the golden horse statue in the middle of Sertha town and fell on the ground.
“Chinese armed forces immediately arrived at the scene of the protest and took Wangyal away after dousing the flames,” the same source added.
Wangyal’s condition and whereabouts are not yet known although eyewitnesses say his entire body was engulfed in flames and he could have suffered major injuries.
Wangyal is around 20 years of age and an orphan. He has three brothers and one sister.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 82 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 20 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in the Rebkong region of eastern Tibet.
The Dharamshala based exile Tibetan administration has said that it will observe a Global Solidarity Day on the occasion of the Human Rights Day on December 10 following the continuing wave of self-immolations.
The Central Tibetan Administration noted that the escalation in self-immolations “clearly reflect the gravity of Tibet’s current situation,” while urging Tibetans and supporters to “light a candle or lamp, observe a minute’s silence, and a say a prayer for all those who have died for the cause of Tibet, and locally organise vigils and rallies.”
“Despite our repeated appeals not to take drastic actions, self-immolations continue in Tibet,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people said. “Therefore, I appeal to the international community and governments to stand for justice by answering the universal aspirations of Tibetans in Tibet: the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans.”
Just in: China cracks down on Tibetan student protest, Many severely injured
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 15:00]
www.voatibetanenglish.com/content/article/1553139.html
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: In reports coming in, over a thousand Tibetan students in Chabcha region of Tsolho eastern Tibet have been carrying out major protests against the Chinese government since early this morning.
Confirmed reports and images that have reached Phayul show students carrying severe injuries being carried to hospitals after Chinese armed forces cracked down on the peaceful protesters.
The students are from the Chabcha Sorig Lobling School.
“Over one thousand school students began a protest march early today in Tsolho region against the policies of the Chinese government,” Mogru Tenpa, a Tibetan parliamentarian told Phayul. “The students raised many slogans, including calls for freedom and equality of nationalities.”
Around two hours later, Chinese armed forces began a severe crackdown on the students, most of whom are in their early to middle teens.
“Chinese force started to severely beat the students without provocation, injuring many,” Tenpa said. “According to sources in the region, four students have been severely injured and many more have been hospitalised.” Other sources tell Phayul that the number of injured could be much higher.
The Chabcha Sorig Lobling School is currently under complete lock down and Chinese security forces have sealed the area.
“Parents and local Tibetans outside the school have been barred from getting in touch with the students inside the school by Chinese security forces,” the same source said. “Communication lines in the region have also been affected following the protest.”
There are also reports that Chinese security forces fired live rounds during the protest, although it is not clear whether the shots were fired at the students or in the air to disperse the protesters.
Other sources tell Phayul that the protests this morning were triggered when local Chinese officials distributed a paper denouncing Tibetan self-immolators and disrespecting Tibetan language.
Earlier this month, thousands of Tibetan school students in the Rebkong region of eastern Tibet carried out a major street protest in front of the local Chinese government offices.
5000 to 6000 students demonstrated in the streets of Rongwo town raising slogans for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return and rights of the Tibetan people.
The deteriorating situation inside Tibet has witnessed 82 self-immolations since 2009 in Tibet and major protests by thousands of Tibetans. Chinese security forces have retaliated with violent force, opening random fire and beating peaceful protesters.
Breaking: Tibetan nun passes away in fiery protest, Toll jumps to 83
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 16:19]
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: In the alarming escalation in self-immolation protests inside Tibet, a Tibetan nun set herself on fire in an apparent protest against China’s occupation of Tibet on Sunday, November 25.
Sources tell Phayul that Sangay Dolma, a nun, passed away in her self-immolation protest in front of the Chinese government office in Dokarmo town of Tsekhog, Malho, eastern Tibet. The exact time of her self-immolation protest could not be ascertained immediately.
Sangay Dolma’s nunnery is located near Sangag Mindrol Dhargeyling Monastery.
According to various sources, a large number of local Tibetans gathered to carry out the last rites of Sangay Dolma.
At the filing of this report, prayers are being carried out at the deceased’s nunnery. It is also being reported that Sangay Dolma has left a note before carrying out her fiery protest.
The situation in the entire region has been tense over the past weeks with the ongoing spate of self-immolations. Local Chinese officials have cut off internet in the region and interrogated Tibetans who have communicated with outsiders using their phones.
Local Chinese government officials have been speaking to Tibetans, ordering them not to self-immolate and disallowing them from expressing their solidarity and offering condolences to the families of the self-immolators.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 83 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 21 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and Rebkong regions of eastern Tibet.
Breaking: 18-year-old sets self on fire, Third self-immolation in two days
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 17:24]
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: In unrelenting reports of self-immolations coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire today in an apparent protest against China’s occupation of Tibet.
Kunchok Tsering, 18, passed away in his self-immolation protest today in Amchok region of Labrang, eastern Tibet. He carried out his protest near a mining site in the region, the same place where Tsering Dhondup, 35, father of three, passed away in his fiery protest on November 20.
According to reports, monks of the Amchok Monastery and a large number of local Tibetans are currently gathered at the deceased’s home to offer prayers.
Kunchok Tsering is survived by his wife, Sangay Tso, 19 and parents Phagkyab, 40 and Gonpo Tso, 37, and an elder brother.
Earlier today, a young Tibetan Wangyal set himself on fire in the middle of Sertha town raising slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
According to eyewitnesses, Wangyal’s hands were clasped in prayers as he ran raising slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and freedom for the Tibetan people.
Wangyal’s condition and whereabouts are not yet known after Chinese security forces took possession of his charred body.
Also today, over a thousand school students in Chabcha, eastern Tibet carried out a massive protest after local Chinese officials distributed papers denouncing Tibetan self-immolators and disrespecting Tibetan language. Chinese security personnel used violent force to break up the peaceful demonstrations, causing severe injuries to many students.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 84 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 22 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans. Yesterday, Sangay Dolma, a nun, passed away in her self-immolation protest in front of the Chinese government office in Dokarmo town of Tsekhog, Malho, eastern Tibet.
Chinese authorities in the region have reacted by announcing a series of strict measures targeting the ongoing wave of self-immolations with further restrictions, punishments, and threats. http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...olators&t=1&c=1
Chinese government authorities in Malho region issued a five-point notice on November 14 giving stern orders to local officials “to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives.” The notice further announced the cancellation of government aid to families of self-immolators as well as development projects in villages where similar protests have taken place.
The exile Tibetan administration has maintained that the reasons for the self-immolations are self-evident: political repression, economic marginalisation, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation.
“The blame and solution for the present tragedy in Tibet lies entirely with Beijing,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people, said earlier this month. “We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle self-immolation.”
www.voatibetanenglish.com/content/article/1553050.html. -
YESHE.
User deleted
27 novembre 2012
Quattro immolazioni per il Tibet iin poche ore, 85 da febbraio 2009, 23 dal primo novembre, 71 dall’inizio di quest’anno
Quattro immolazioni pro Tibet in poche ore nella Cina occidentale che portano il bilancio di queste azioni estreme a 85 dal febbraio 2009, 23 dal primo novembre. L’ultima immolazione e’ avvenuta a Luchu, nella regione di Kanlho. Un giovane di 24 anni, Gonpo Tsering, padre di tre figli tutti sotto i sei anni, si e’ dato fuoco ieri dinanzi alla sala di preghiera principale del monastero Ala Deu-go, gridando slogan in favore del Tibet libero e del ritorno del Dalai Lama. L’uomo e’ morto poco dopo. Gonpo Tsering e’ stato il terzo tibetano immolato tra ieri e domenica. Poco prima di lui, un giovane di 18 anni, Kunchok Tsering, e’ morto dopo essersi dato alle fiamme dinanzi ad una miniera ad Amchok, nella regione di Labrang, nella provincia cinese del Gansu. Il giovane, che si e’ immolato nello stesso posto dove un altro tibetano lo scorso 20 novembre aveva compiuto l’identico gesto, e’ stato visto unire le mani in preghiera ed essere avviluppato dalle fiamme gridando slogan per il Tibet libero e per il ritorno del Dalai Lama. Domenica sera ha perso la vita un ragazzino a Sertha, nel Sichuan. Il giovane, Wangyal, era studente della Sertha People’s Middle School e si e’ dato alle fiamme nel centro della cittadina, cantando slogan per il Tibet libero. Il giovane di una ventina d’anni, orfano, in fiamme, ha corso per alcuni metri ed e’ crollato al suolo, subito preso da poliziotti che, dopo aver spento le fiamme, lo hanno portato via in un luogo sconosciuto. Non si conoscono neanche le sue condizioni di salute. Sempre domenica sera, ma le notizie sono state diffuse poche ore fa a causa del blocco totale di comunicazioni che le autorita’ cinesi hanno imposto in tutte le aree tibetane da giorni (controllate anche da imponenti presenze militari e paramilitari), una monaca si e’ data alle fiamme ed e’ morta. Sangay Dolma si e’ data fuoco a Dokarmo, nell’area di Tsekhig (Zeku in cinese) nella contea di Malho (Prefettura autonoma tibetana nella provincia cinese occidentale del Qinghai), dinanzi agli uffici governativi. Con queste immolazioni, la situazione in Tibet e nelle regioni cinesi tibetane e’ davvero tesa, con numerosi controlli e problemi. Nella prefettura autonoma tibetana di Tsolho (Hainan in cinese, provincia del Qinghai), un migliaio di studenti, in particolare della Chabcha Sorig Lobling School, sono scesi in piazza per manifestare contro il controllo cinese del Tibet e sono stati fermati dalla polizia che ha usato le maniere forti. In molti sono stati picchiati e tanti sono dovuti ricorrere alle cure dei sanitari. La scuola e’ stata chiusa. Con queste ultime immolazioni, il totale sale a 85 dal febbraio 2009, 71 dall’inizio di quest’anno, 23 dal primo novembre scorso.
26 novembre 2012
Attivisti denunciano che in Tibet, la città di Lhasa è totalmente chiusa
Dalla scorsa primavera, con una decisione tesa probabilmente a contenere le “autoimmolazioni” dei tibetani – i sucidi di protesta contro la politica cinese nel territorio – Pechino ha reso estremamente difficile per i tibetani recarsi a Lhasa, la capitale storica del Tibet e centro spirituale del buddhismo tibetano. “La situazione a Lhasa è al maggior punto di tensione da anni, e i tibetani sono sotto la forte impressione di diventare stranieri nel loro stesso Paese e di essere vittime di chiara discriminazione razziale”, ha dichiarato in un’intervista all’ANSA Nicholas Bequelin, ricercatore per la Cina del gruppo umanitario Human Rights Watch. “Non abbiamo notizie di misure simili per residenti Han (cinesi) o Hui (musulmani di origine cinese)”, aggiunge Bequelin. Tenzin, 38 anni, tibetano, nato nella provincia cinese del Qinghai, conferma: “Volevo andare Lhasa qualche mese fa ma ho rinunciato, era troppo complicato”, ha raccontato all’ ANSA. “Mi hanno chiesto una lettera di garanzia (dan bao in cinese) di un residente, e anche se fossi riuscito a trovare qualcuno che me la faceva, avrei avuto un permesso per soli tre giorni…”. “Andare a Lhasa da Xining (la capitale del Qinghai, dove Tenzin lavora come autista) è molto costoso, non ha senso per me andarci solo per tre giorni. Inoltre quando ci vado voglio visitare i principali centri buddhisti che si trovano nella città e nelle sue vicinanze, in tre giorni non ce la posso fare”, ha proseguito Tenzin. Secondo Bequelin, “le autorità di Lhasa stanno continuando la loro campagna per il controllo della popolazione tibetana iniziata nei primi mesi di quest’anno. Questa campagna è senza precedenti perché prende di mira non solo persone non registrate a Lhasa ma anche molti che hanno un permesso di residenza temporaneo in ordine, specialmente persone che provengono dalla parte Est del Tibet”. “Ci sono delle disposizioni speciali in particolare per la provincia del Sichuan dato che sono il luogo in cui ci sono state la maggior parte dei casi di autoimmolazione”, precisa l’esponente di Human Rights Watch. Le autoimmolazioni sono state fino ad oggi 81. Dopo la prima, avvenuta nel 2009 ad Aba (Ngaba in tibetano), nella provincia del Sichuan, tutte le altre si sono verificate a partire dal marzo 2011. Di queste, 33 hanno avuto luogo ad Aba o nella vicina prefettura di Qiang. Secondo i siti web degli esuli tibetani, prima di morire gli “autoimmolati” lanciano slogan per il ritorno in Tibet del Dalai Lama, il leader spirituale del buddhismo tibetano, che vive in esilio dal 1959, e per l’indipendenza del territorio dalla Cina.
fonte: ANSA
Breaking: Father of three burns self to death, Third self-immolation in a day takes toll to 85
Phayul[Monday, November 26, 2012 23:49]
DHARAMSHALA, November 26: In more alarming reports coming out of Tibet, a Tibetan man - the third in a single day - set himself on fire in Luchu region of Kanlho, eastern Tibet protesting China’s rule over of Tibet.
A group of exile Tibetans from Luchu identified the Tibetan self-immolator as Gonpo Tsering, 24 years of age and father of three children, all below the age of six.
“Martyr Gonpo Tsering set himself on fire in front of the main prayer hall of the Ala Deu-go Monastery in Ala region of Luchu at around 6 pm (local time) today,” the group told Phayul citing sources in the region. “While engulfed in flames, he raised slogans calling for Tibet’s freedom, human rights in Tibet, and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.”
Gonpo Tsering succumbed to his injuries at the site of his protest.
Local Tibetans carried his charred body inside the Monastery where monks and a large number of Tibetans from the surrounding regions assembled, against official orders, to offer prayers for the deceased and express their solidarity.
According to reports, Chinese security personnel and armed forces were immediately deployed in the region. Restrictions have been heightened as Chinese authorities are currently said to be investigating the protest.
Gonpo Tsering is survived by his wife, their three children, and his parents.
This is the second self-immolation protest in Luchu region. On November 22, Tamding Kyab, 23, a nomad and former monk, passed away in his self-immolation protest. He was cremated in the morning of November 25.
Gonpo Tsering is the third Tibetan to self-immolate today. Earlier, a young Tibetan, Wangyal set himself on fire in the middle of Sertha town raising slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Wangyal’s condition and whereabouts are not yet known after Chinese security forces took possession of his charred body.
In Amchok region of Labrang, Kunchok Tsering, 18, passed away after he set himself ablaze near a mining site in the region.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 85 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 23 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha today and in Rebkong earlier this month.
Chinese officials have reacted to the self-immolation protests with further restrictions and threats. According to the Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Chinese government officials in eastern Tibet have obtained signed statements from village officials and leaders to prevent any self-immolation under their jurisdiction.
“From now onwards, each household will be made to sign a statement not to do any self-immolation. Those who refuse to sign such statements will attract immediate detention,” TCHRD said in a release today.
Tibetan medical school remains under lockdown, Three students arrested
Phayul[Tuesday, November 27, 2012 16:41]
DHARAMSHALA, November 27: The Sorig Lobling medical school in Chabcha (Ch: Gonghe), eastern Tibet, continues to remain under military lockdown following yesterday’s mass students’ protest against the Chinese government. Also, three of its students, Wangchen Tsering of Ba County, Mama and an identified student, have been arrested.
In reports received by Phayul, Chinese armed forces continue to cordon off the school, keeping the students captive within the school premises. Parents and relatives, on the second consecutive day, have been barred from meeting the students.
Five students, who were severely injured in police beatings, are said to be in critical condition and have been shifted to a bigger hospital in Tsongon. Around 20 students are still admitted in hospitals in Chabcha. Chinese security personnel have not allowed them visits from their family members.
Yesterday, over a thousand students from the Sorig Lobling medical school carried out a massive protest, raising slogans for equality of nationalities, freedom of language, respect for truth, and re-establishment of governance.
In a short video clip that has reached exile, students can be seen running on the streets, raising slogans.
Chinese armed forces used violent force to break up the demonstration, injuring many young protesters in the process.
The protest occurred after local Chinese authorities distributed a ten-point political questionnaire to the students and gave “patriotic education” sessions that contained disparaging remarks against His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the students were required to answer “trap questions” in the questionnaire titled ‘Ten ways of looking at the present situation in Tsolho Prefecture.’
“Relevant government officials, after distributing the questionnaires, spoke on interpreting the document’s content stressing the need to protect and maintain stability in Tsolho region,” TCHRD said. “The speech by the relevant authorities also included allegations and abusive remarks against His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the so-called “Dalai splittist clique,” holding them responsible for the continued unrest in the region.”
The questionnaire contained questions such as, ‘Who is agitating for separatism and causing unrest?’ ‘What is the reason behind self-immolation protests?’ ‘What harm is caused by illegal public protests?’ ‘Does bilingual education mean the deterioration of minority language?’
In 2010, more than 2000 students in Chabcha had protested against the Chinese government's plan to remove Tibetan textbooks from schools. This month, more than 5000 students in Rebkong carried out a massive protest demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama.. -
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Tibetan Self-Immolations through November 26, 2012.
Analysts: Tibet Self-Immolations Hit New Phase
Analysts say the Tibetan struggle against Chinese rule may have entered a new phase following the recent increase in self-immolation protests.
VOA's Tibetan Service reports that four more Tibetans set themselves on fire Sunday and Monday in Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces in the latest self-immolations to hit western China.
Since 2009, at least 85 Tibetans have set themselves ablaze to protest what they say is Beijing's repression of their culture and religion. Nearly a third (23) of those self-immolations occurred in the past month, as China prepared for its 10-yearly power handover.
Robert Barnett of New York's Columbia University says the self-immolations seem to have become more deliberate in recent weeks.
Barnett says the first phase of self-immolations began last year with monks and nuns trying to protect their monasteries from security crackdowns.
The second wave, which he says occurred for most of the past year, involved individuals in small towns sharing sympathy with those monks and nuns.
"But now in this phase we have laypeople staging these immolations in ways that are much more determined in an attempt to get a response from Chinese authorities, by having immolations in clusters, very close together, many on the same day or within a few days and many in the same place," said Barnett.
More focused protests
James Leibold, a Tibet analyst for Australia's Latrobe University in Beijing says that a broader segment of the Tibetan community is also involved in the latest protests.
"We've got the provinces that sort of surround the Tibetan autonomous region all having self-immolations in the last couple months, as well as the diversity of the people involved, in terms of age ranges, in terms of occupations. Both laypeople and monks and nuns [are] involved in these self-immolations. Without a doubt, it's really reaching a crisis point," said Leibold.
Many activists, including Tenzin Dolkar of the advocacy group Students for a Free Tibet, say the spike in self-immolations is aimed at sending a message to China's new leaders that Tibetans will continue their non-violent struggle for freedom.
"It seems Tibetans are really trying to put the Tibet issue on the map for the new Chinese leadership and to make sure Tibet truly becomes the top priority as Xi Jinping and his team take over," said Tenzin Dolkar.
Hope for change
Some hold out hope that Xi Jinping, who is taking over China's top leadership spot, will be more sympathetic toward the plight of Tibetans, since his late father had a close relationship with the Dalai Lama in the 1950s.
But Leibold says so far there is no indication that the government has changed its position on Tibet.
"Sadly, we hear the same rhetoric coming out of Beijing, and Chinese officials continually blaming a few black hands for collaborating with the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan community to stir up trouble and to damage China's ethnic unity and harmony. There's just absolutely no will, it seems, to admit a failure of policy," he said.
China says Tibetans enjoy full religious freedom and benefit from better living standards linked to Chinese investment in underdeveloped Tibetan regions. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of inciting the self-immolations to promote Tibetan separatism, a charge he denies.
Breaking: Tibet continues to burn, Tibetan man set self on fire
Phayul[Tuesday, November 27, 2012 23:44]
DHARAMSHALA, November 27: The alarming escalation in self-immolation protests in Tibet shows no signs of abating as yet another Tibetan set himself on fire today in Ngaba region of eastern Tibet.
Kalsang Kyab, 24, set himself ablaze in front of a Chinese government office in Kangtsa town, raising slogans for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche, the exiled head of Kirti Monastery. He passed away at the site of his protest.
The Dharamshala based Kirit Monastery in a late night release said Kalsang Kyab carried out his protest at around 6:30 pm (local time).
“Kalsang Kyab doused his body with kerosene as he walked towards the local government office building, raising slogans,” Kirit Monastery said citing sources in the region. “Upon reaching the office building, he then set himself ablaze and continued to raise slogans.”
Shortly afterwards, local Tibetans carried his charred body to his native village, Dowa Mege. At the time of filing this report, monks from two nearby monasteries are reportedly leading a prayer service for the deceased.
Kalsang Kyab left his nomadic pastures yesterday and arrived at his native village. Early this morning he came to Kangtsa town, some 3kms away, to carry out his self-immolation protest.
“Soon after the protest, Chinese security personnel arrived in large numbers in Kangtsa town and have thrown a tight security cordon in the region,” Kirti Monastery said.
Kalsang Kyab is survived by his parents and six siblings. Described as gentle natured and a man of few words, he never attended school.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 86 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 24 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and in Rebkong.
The exile Tibetan administration, earlier this month appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council to convene a Special Session on Tibet in view of the “desperate and unprecedented spate of self-immolations by Tibetans due to China’s repressive policies and the continued intransigence of the Chinese leadership to the relentless efforts of UNHRC.”
The appeal came a day after the UN rights chief Navi Pillay urged China to “promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas.”
Tibetans across multiple cities in Tibet sit on solidarity hunger strike
Phayul[Wednesday, November 28, 2012 03:03]
DHARAMSHALA, November 28: A group of Tibetans, spread across several cities in Tibet and China, is reportedly sitting on a hunger strike in solidarity with the ongoing wave of self-immolations against China’s rule.
More than 60 Tibetans from different walks of life began their solidarity hunger strike in their evening of November 26 in their respective places. According to Kanyag Tsering, an exiled monk who has been closely monitoring the situation inside Tibet, the Tibetans will end their hunger strike in the morning of November 28.
The campaign is being observed in various cities across the tradition boundaries of Tibet.
“The simultaneous hunger strike is being carried out in Tibet’s capital Lhasa, Drango, Jomda, Zachukha, Tridu, Sertha, Siling, Rebkong, Kardze and Trindu in China,” Tsering told Phayul. “They have also been offering prayers for the self-immolators.”
According to the same source, the Tibetans taking part in this campaign come from different walks of like and are “highly educated.”
“The participants in the solidarity campaign include government officials, writers, monks, and businessmen.”
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 86 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 24 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and in Rebkong.
The Chinese government has retaliated to these protests with further restrictions and threats.
Chinese authorities in the eastern Tibet recently issued a five-point notice giving stern orders to local officials to punish self-immolators and their families; even those who had offered condolences and prayers to the bereaved family members and relatives. The notice further announced the cancellation of government aid to families of self-immolators as well as development projects in villages where similar protests have taken place.
Government authorities in the region are also collecting signed statements from each household conforming that they will not self-immolate. Refusal to sign such statements attracts immediate detention.
The Dharamshala based exile Tibetan administration has said that the escalation in self-immolations clearly reflects the gravity of Tibet’s current situation.
“Despite our repeated appeals not to take drastic actions, self-immolations continue in Tibet,” Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan people said in a release this month. “Therefore, I appeal to the international community and governments to stand for justice by answering the universal aspirations of Tibetans in Tibet: the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans.”
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Breaking: Teenaged Tibetan sets self on fire, Sixth self-immolation in last three days
Phayul[Wednesday, November 28, 2012 15:27]
DHARAMSHALA, November 28: In confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, a teenaged Tibetan set himself on fire in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet on Tuesday, November 27 in Sangchu region of eastern Tibet.
Sources have identified the young Tibetan man as Sangay Tashi from Sangkhog Ngyulre region of Sangchu in Labrang, eastern Tibet.
“Sangay Tashi, 18, set himself on fire at around 12 midnight Tuesday, November 27 in Sangkhog town,” an exiled Tibetan monk Sonam told Phayul citing contacts in the region. “He passed away at the site of his protest.”
According to other sources, Sangay Tashi shouted slogans calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the release of all Tibetan political prisoners, including the 11th Panchen Lama, while engulfed in flames. Local Tibetans then carried his charred body to a nearby house.
Sangay Tashi arrived in Sangkhog town earlier that day with his friends. Before setting himself on fire, he reportedly called one of his relatives and told him that he had decided to set himself on fire for the cause of Tibet. Before his relative could carry on the conversation, Sangay Tashi hung up the phone and switched it off.
By the time Sangay Tashi’s family members arrived in Sangkhog, he had already carried out his self-immolation protest.
Sangay Tashi is survived by his parents and four siblings. He had studied at a primary school in Sangkhog town for four years but was forced to return home to help in family chores.
Sangay Tashi carried out his fiery protest at the main street of Sangkog town, the same place where Thubwang Kyab, 23, passed away in his self-immolation protest on October 26.
Six self-immolations in the last three days have pushed the number of Tibetan self-immolators to 87 inside Tibet, since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. The recent alarming escalation in the protests has now witnessed 25 Tibetans set themselves on fire in the month of November alone, demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.
Speaking to a reporter in south India, the Dalai Lama last week said that the ongoing wave of self-immolations inside Tibet brings tears to his eyes.
“As Deng Xiaoping said, ‘Seek truth from facts’ and act accordingly. What’s happening is very sad; it brings tears to my eyes,” the Dalai Lama said. “People are not doing this because they are drunk or have family problems, but because they live in constant fear.”
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...ained+by+police
Tibetan self-immolator succumbs to injuries in Chinese police station
Phayul[Wednesday, November 28, 2012 18:09]
DHARAMSHALA, November 28: Details have finally emerged on a Tibetan self-immolator, who set himself on fire in Driru, Tibet on the eve of the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th National Congress on November 7.
Tsegyu (Tsegyal), a 27 year of old father of two, later succumbed to his injuries in Chinese police custody on the night of November 18 after being denied any medical attention.
Sonam, an exile Tibetan living in Switzerland, told Phayul that Tsegyu set himself ablaze at around 7pm (local time) on November 7, in Tingser village of Bekar town in Driru (Ch: Biru) region of Nagchu, in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
He was later detained by local Chinese authorities and was denied any medical treatment for his burn injuries while in detention.
Confirming the reports, Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in a release today said Tsegyu received no medical treatment while in detention at a local police station in Nagchu.
“For less than two weeks, from November 7 to 18, Tsegyal received no treatment for his burns while being held at the local police station in Nagchu town,” TCHRD said citing sources. “Tsegyal died in the evening of November 18 in police custody.”
Tsegyu is survived by his two children, a six-year-old and an eight-month-old infant.
On November 7, five self-immolations were reported from different parts of Tibet, making it the deadliest day since the ongoing wave of self-immolations began in 2009.
Tamding Tso, a 23-year-old mother of one, passed away in her self-immolation protest in Rebkong region of Amdo, eastern Tibet, while three monks of the Ngoshul Monastery in Ngaba, identified as Dorjee, 15, Samdup, 16, and Dorjee Kyab, 16, set themselves on fire in front of a local Chinese police station.
Dorjee, 15, passed away in his fiery protest, while the condition and whereabouts of the two other monks remain unknown after they were taken away by Chinese security personnel.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 87 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 25 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha today and in Rebkong earlier this month.
In what could be a first of its kind coordinated campaign inside Tibet, a group of around 60 Tibetans, spread across several cities in Tibet, sat on a hunger strike in solidarity with the ongoing wave of self-immolations from November 26 to 28.
The campaign was observed in various cities across the tradition boundaries of Tibet, including in capital Lhasa, Drango, Jomda, Zachukha, Tridu, Sertha, Siling, Rebkong, and Kardze.
The participants in the solidarity campaign included teachers, government officials, writers, monks, and businessmen.
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id...9s+independence
Jamyang Norbu : FREE RADIO FREE ASIA !
Redazione - Mer, 28/11/2012 - 15:26
In my last post I mentioned an instance of how Communist China was flexing its economic muscle to disseminate its propaganda in the USA, essentially through paying for pages of the China Daily to be inserted within the august recesses of America’s newspaper of record, the New York Times.One reader emailed me that the same thing was happening at the Washington Post. I tossed my special edition DVD of All The President’s Men into the wastepaper basket.And China’s propaganda push now extends even to Hollywood. The Los Angeles Times spelled it out in a couple of articles: “Is China Exerting an Undue Influence on Hollywood Films?” and “Hollywood Gripped by Pressure System From China”. The two pieces discuss a number of recent films: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Battleship, Iron Man 3, Red Dawn, Men in Black 3, and the disaster film 2012, where Chinese pre-censorship in Hollywood has used its economic clout to ensure that “…a generation of Western film-goers will basically get only a positive, sanitized view of the Chinese in their films.”
On these many alterations that Hollywood producers and studio executives have submitted to, University of Southern California professor Stanley Rosen, who runs the school’s East Asian Studies center, told LA Times : “I don’t think the average U.S. film-goer is hugely aware of all of these small decisions, but subliminally, it can start to have an effect.” It was Rosen’s reference to the “subliminal” that made this “soft power” outreach by Beijing, as the pro-China media in the West like to describe such things, take on a Cold War ambience along the more unsettling lines of thought-control, brain-washing, or putting it more precisely “economic brain washing” (经济洗腦 jīngjì xǐ năo), if we are not to lose sight of the essential “conditioning stimuli” as Pavlov once termed it.
This is a painful reversal for Tibetans since those heady days of Seven Years in Tibet, Kundun and Hollywood’s big (and brief) romance with the Dalai Lama and Tibet. Because of its dramatic landscapes and unique mythic qualities, Tibet does still make the occasional cut in some films, but as Batman Begins and 2012 have demonstrated this can now be effectively done by making sure the name “Tibet” never comes up, by not allowing a hint of the fact that the area in question was till recently not a part of China, and by ensuring that only Chinese actors portray Tibetans.
Now besides Hollywood, the New York Times and the Washington Post, another media institution in the US, smaller and less well-known, but enormously important to the Tibetan people and their struggle for freedom, appears to have been targeted by Beijing for an ideological makeover.
The Tibetan Language Section of Radio Free Asia (RFA) has been the most effective source of news and information for people throughout occupied Tibet, not only about the world at large, but more so about the crucial happenings and events within their own country, of which they are largely kept ignorant by the state security apparatus and propaganda organs. To the Tibetan common man such RFA reports of mass demonstrations in Lhasa, Kirti, Rebkong and Tsolho, arrests of important lamas or dissidents, violent public clashes with Chinese mining companies in Kham, the long series of self-immolations (now eighty to date) presented in a balanced, objective and professional manner stand in sharp contrast to the shrill denunciations and disinformation of Radio Lhasa, Xizang Lhasa TV, Ganze and Qinghai People’s Radio (and TV) etc., read by newscasters in exaggerated Chinese accented Tibetan, which the public (especially in rural areas) have difficulty understanding but which as a policy has been calculatedly enforced, possibly for the ultimate purpose of sinicizing the Tibetan language itself.
RFA reports on the talks, teachings and travels of the the Dalai Lama are enormously appreciated in Tibet, as are all the the goings on (both positive and negative) within the exile administration and the diaspora in general, especially news of Tibetan led protests and activism in New York, London, and Delhi, which a caller from Lhasa (on a RFA call-in program) said gave common people like him in Tibet hope and made them feel less isolated in their despair and subjugation.
The Chinese have expended enormous effort and resources to jam RFA broadcast into Tibet. Because of the size and topography of the Tibetan plateau, China’s jamming effort are not uniformly effective, so the occupation authorities in Tibet have made listening to RFA Tibetan service a criminal offense, in the same way as listening to the BBC was in Nazi occupied Europe. Since Chinese mobile monitoring systems and also human informers operate extensively in populated ares, I have been told of nomads and shepherds sneaking transistor radios in their packs when taking their flocks to the mountain pastures. Not only would the reception be clearer in the higher altitudes, but there would be no policemen or informers checking on them. When the shepherds returned to their village they would pass on what they had heard to their family members and others in the village they could trust.
RFA came to being following the Tienanmen massacre when public support in the US grew for services that could provide information to people living under repressive regimes in Asia. In 1994 Congress passed the International Broadcasting Act and created RFA (in 1996) as a private, not profit corporation. It is funded by an annual federal grant from the government, but the far-reaching and momentous aspect of the program was that RFA was not required to broadcast information provided by the American government. Only 20% of RFA broadcast content is required to be American. 80% is developed independently by each language service, which are run by people from that very linguistic group, having broad editorial independence.
One explanation I received about RFA’s mandate from a senior American official, was that it was created to provide “surrogate” radio services for the people who did not have their own free national radio services. And that the mandate for the head of the services, broadcasters and journalists, was essentially to provide those nations and communities with their own independent and up-to-date radio services, paid for by the people of America.
This was an enormous windfall for the Tibetan cause. But the initial elation was quickly deflated when it was learned that the head of the Tibetan language service was to be Jigme Ngabo, the son of Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, the only minister in the entire Tibetan cabinet, the kashag in 1959, who had collaborated with the Chinese Communist occupation authority.
I must admit that I shared everyone’s concerns, but over time Jigme Ngabo fils proved to be the ideal man for this critical position. Because of his education (and work) in Tibet and China and his later studies at the University of Virginia he was not only fluent in all three languages but had access to many institutions and individuals in these areas and was able to get RFA access to much information and news sources that other services could not. He managed to induce such well-known Tibetans writers and intellectuals in Tibet and China as the award-winning poet and blogger Tsering Woeser to be a regular contributor to RFA programs. The Dalai Lama wholeheartedly supported his appointment. Since he was also completely apolitical in the context of exile politics, and as he was genuinely inoffensive and soft-spoken, he initially managed to survive the treacherous currents of Tibetan politics.
The overriding virtue that Jigme brought to the job – probably since he came from a world completely devoid of it, was, and I am extrapolating here, the idea of objective truth transcending whatever the powers that be (even those on your own side) had to say about it. Jigme made sure that his task was not merely to combat China’s propaganda machine but to present, through the service, as wide a spectrum of opinions and views that existed in the Tibetan world, which most other Tibet related media outlets did not do.
I had for a long time been persona non grata in the official Tibetan world (including foreign organizations and personalities connected with it) essentially for my political writings in the Tibetan Review and Phayul.com, and also for some plays I had written and produced at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. I had also been one of the editors of the largest independent Tibetan language newspaper, Mangtso (Democracy) that had been enormously successful, in quite an unprecedented way with the Tibetan exile public, but which had displeased some Tibetan leaders and politicians in Dharamshala. In 2001 the paper was finally pressured to close when his Holiness publicly expressed his displeasure with its reporting. So it came as quite a surprise to me when a couple of years later, if I remember correctly, I was asked to be a consultant for RFA.
I contributed to a variety of programs but mostly spoke on their Sunday Political Talk Show, hosted by veteran journalist Karma Zurkhang, a former member of the exile parliament and an old Dharamshala hand. There was no attempt by Jigme or any of his staff to censor me or induce me to tone down or change anything I said. Which was another surprise. Of course I did not have carte blanche in these discussions as Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) officials, retired and serving, and other experts came on the panel and often challenged my views. Tibetan listeners also phoned in from Nepal, India, and the West with their comments and criticisms. People also phoned in from Tibet and China proper especially around 2008, and were outspokenly supportive of the protests and demonstrations by exile activists. These were real debates on policy that probably did not happen in any other forum in the Tibetan world.
I was grateful for this gig. There wasn’t much money in it, but it gave me an opportunity to be heard inside Tibet and to let people there know that someone in exile was consistently articulating and propagating the cause of Tibetan independence, which the CTA had long abandoned. I should mention that my participation in the programs were entirely by phone. I only briefly visited the RFA office in Washington DC years later, when I was presented a souvenir mug by Jigme Ngabo.
Then invariably, complaints began circulating from Dharamshala about the political correctness of those speaking on RFA programs. About eight years ago two important CTA officials paid a formal visit to the RFA office and gave a talk to Jigme and the Tibetan staff. The two VIP’s deplored RFA’s policy of allowing people on its programs who were opposed to the Dalai Lama and the exile administration and whose criticisms were demoralizing Tibetans inside Tibet.
RFA’s editorial independence continued to annoy the exile government, and during his entire tenure prime-minister Samdong Rinpoche refused to grant RFA any interviews or meetings, and instructed cabinet ministers and secretaries to do the same. He also conducted a low-profile but relentless crusade against RFA for allowing those “opposed” to the Tibetan government opportunities to express their views on its program.
Then last year the President of RFA, Libby Liu and her right-hand man, Tibetan staff member, Kalden Lodoe made a number of official trips to Dharamshala and elsewhere to meet with exile officials and the prime-minister Lobsang Sangye. One informant told me that in these discussions direct references were made to TYC leaders and rangzen activists like myself who disagreed with the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way policy.
Kalden Lodoe appears to be Dharamshala’s point man at RFA and is someone who has consistently and aggressively opposed all independence activists. He was rewarded by Samdong Rinpoche who, making an exception to his “boycott RFA” rule, appeared as a guest on his show. We can probably assume that Kalden treated his VIP guest with due deference and respect. RFA listeners have told me though that Kalden can be very confrontational with his guests particularly if they happen to be TYC or SFT leaders, in which case he bullies them, Sean Hannity fashion, for organizing demonstrations and protests against the PRC, which he claims are against the wishes of the Dalai Lama.
In July 2011 at the Kalachakra Initiation given by the Dalai Lama at Washington DC, Kalden Lodoe, the chief organizer, had security personnel remove TYC president Tsewang Rigzin from the premises. I personally had a run in with this somewhat aggressive ex-monk in the Fall of 2001 when I made a presentation to the Tibetan Community in Washington DC on why we should not give up our struggle for independence. During the Q & A Kalden Lodoe insisted that there was inherently no difference between the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way and the goal of Tibetan independence and that I was creating dissension in exile society and showing disloyalty to His Holiness with my lectures and writing.
Then in December last year, Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s special envoy and Executive Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) insisted on an exclusive speaking opportunity at the Sunday Political Talk Show. Asserting the prestige of his position as the Dalai Lama’s envoy, he brushed aside the host, Karma Zurkhang’s attempts to moderate the talk, and went on a one hour tirade against “those Tibetans opposed to the Dalai Lama and the exile administration. He did not name me by name but listeners told me that I was definitely one of those he was inveighing against.
Gyari’s harangue was fairly generic, as such things go in exile Tibetan politics, but a couple of weeks earlier I had appeared on this same Sunday Talk Show where I remarked on a dishonest statement he had made, which might have contributed to its timing.
CTA “Sikyong” Lobsang Sangay met Libby Liu a number of times and it appears that he was successful in “charming her” and convincing her that RFA Tibetan section under Jigme Ngabo was opposed to the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way policy and that listeners inside Tibet were being disheartened by such RFA programs. It also appears that in June of this year Lobsang Sangay, Libby Liu and Lobsang Nyandak, the representative of the Dalai Lama in New York, met in London and had discussions about the need to restructure RFA’s Tibetan service and to replace Jigme Ngabo.
I probably spoke on one more program and then got the news that the Sunday Talk Show hosted by Karma Zurkhang had been cancelled altogether. This had been effectively done in April this year, without the knowledge of Jigme Ngabo, who was on official leave to visit his ailing mother. My other program of discussing world literary figures and political thinkers was also cancelled. I did not receive any notification, official or otherwise, of this termination.
Then on the morning of 5th November, RFA president Libby Liu, precipitously fired Jigme Ngabo in humiliating circumstances. He was escorted out of his office by Security personnel. Liu then summoned staff members of the Tibetan Service for a meeting and after giving them all a stern dressing down, announced that Jigme Ngabo was dismissed. One of the staff members asked the reason for the dismissal but was told that it was “personal” and not any of their business. This came as a big shock to the Tibetans at RFA who liked and trusted Jigme Ngabo, and appreciated his respect for their professional integrity and independence. Of the forty-one staff members, two were on leave, but everyone else immediately signed a letter of support for Jigme urging that he be reinstated as director. The only staff member who did not sign was Kalden Lodoe.
A few days after Jigme Ngabo’s dismissal the representative of the Dalai Lama in New York, Lobsang Nyandak visited Washington DC in order, it seems, to thwart any effort by RFA staff to organize support for Jigme’s reinstatement. Nyandak summoned all Tibetan RFA personnel for a meeting at the ICT office premises. Only a few attended. He told them that the exile administration was not behind the dismissal but that it did not take an unfavorable view of what had happened. He pointed out that Jigme Ngabo had made many mistakes and had allowed people opposed to the exile administration to express misleading opinions.
One of the first to respond to this scandal was the poet Tsering Woeser who posted a blog which condemned Ngabo Jigme’s dismissal and pointed out how the whole incident had reminded her of her own dismissal from a media organization under Chinese Communist Party control. But she noted that the “Han Chinese official” who dismissed her at least told her “quite gently” the reasons why she was being dismissed, unlike what had happened to Jigme Ngabo. Woeser concluded that “… comparatively speaking the Chinese Communist Party officials were more frank and honest” than their American counter parts at RFA.
This was followed by a press release and two letters to CTA from US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who stated: “I have reason to believe that he (Jigme Ngabo) was terminated for political reasons … 73 Tibetans have self-immolated since March 2011, Rep. Rohrabacher said, “It could not be clearer; the people of Tibet are dying for freedom and independence. RFA needs to continue to be the source for accurate information. Any suggestion of political censorship within RFA must be fully investigated.”
Perhaps on one level Jigme Ngabo’s dismissal may probably be nothing more than another deplorable, if all too frequent example of Dharamshala’s compulsive tendency to control media outlets and support groups in the exile world, and marginalize those who do not fall in line with it policies. In the last year or two this trend has markedly increased as noted in the editorial of the Tibetan Political Review “Are the Speaker and Kalon Tripa stifling free speech?” and articles in other publications, a noteworthy one being “Censorship and the struggle for Tibetan freedom” by Tenzin Nyinjey.
But when we examine exactly what kind of speech or opinion Dharamshala has been attempting to stifle, one overall pattern keeps appearing. CTA’s efforts have essentially targeted those individuals and organizations like the TYC who spoke up for Tibetan independence and who were active in challenging Beijing on this issue. This year Dharamshala went into overdrive with Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and speaker Pempa Tsering, whipping up public anger against the TYC for “hurting” the Dalai Lama, and religious-right groups began calling for the TYC to be shut down and its leaders to be attacked and beaten.
It is an article of faith with the CTA that if somehow all independence activism and discussion were halted or contained, then Beijing would agree to the “genuine autonomy” solution proposed in the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way policy; or would, at least, resume the negotiations it terminated two year ago. This is so unshakable a belief, that I think it may not be entirely based on wishful thinking. Some time or the other Beijing must have made an actual proposition to the CTA. Of course Beijing was playing them, like a fiddle or húqín to be precise, but Dharamshala’s predilection for a kind of self-serving naiveté in such matters is well known.
And its not that something like this hasn’t happened before. There is evidence that in 2002, Beijing had actually reached out to Dharamshala with the promise of further “negotiations” to ensure that the last state visit of then president Jiang Zemin to the USA was not disrupted. Tibetan prime minister Samdhong Rinpoche sent strict instructions to all Tibetans and support groups not to stage protests. But a few did all the same. When Tibetans and supporters in Vancouver staged an anti-Chinese rally, an official from the Chinese consulate in Vancouver came over to the protesters and scolded them saying, “didn’t your leaders tell you not to demonstrate.” At subsequent demonstrations in New York City activists were accosted by an official (of Tibetan origin) from the Chinese consulate in New York who yelled at them in Tibetan: “You are not supposed to do this. Didn’t your government (shung) tell you not to protest.”
Right now there is mounting concern in senior echelons of the Chinese Communist Party at the unending series of immolations in Tibet, which are causing unprecedented demonstrations and protests in such areas as Tsolho and Rebkong. China has thus far relied completely on large-scale, almost saturation, deployment of security personnel throughout Tibet to contain the immolations but it is beginning to realize that such measures are useless against a determined individual immolator, operating outside of any organized group. There is also growing awareness in the leadership that the immolations and the rising resentment within the entire Tibetan population could lead to serious destabilization of the entire Tibetan plateau, which could spill over into neighboring areas with unforeseeable results.
So it would not be unreasonable to assume that Beijing wants Dharamshala to stop this, or at least stop the “splittist” messaging from exile, particularly from RFA broadcasts, which it firmly believes is fueling the immolations and protests within Tibet. Dharamshala in turn probably shares Beijing’s concerns as the Tibetan Political Review editorial pointed out “The self-immolation crisis in Tibet and the resignations of the Tibetan Envoys have placed extreme pressure on the TGIE leadership’s signature Middle Way policy.”
On August 16 this year, Xiao Wunan, a senior CCP cadre and United Front leader, (the same department that had conducted the negotiations with the exile administration) visited India and was received in Dharamshala by the Dalai Lama, Lobsang Sangay, then ‘Kalon Tripa’ (prime minister). An Indian researcher Jayadeva Ranade (a former senior government official) in an article “A concerned dragon: China’s fresh overture to Tibetans” wrote that Xiao Wunan probably carried a personal message from a senior Chinese leader, possibly Xi Jinping. Ranade wrote that “He could have informed the Dalai Lama that he was welcome to spend his last days in Beijing provided he gave up ‘anti-China’ activities and expressed support for the Communist regime.”
The article also notes “Coincidentally, within a month of the meeting the designation of the Head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was changed from ‘Kalon Tripa’ (or prime minister) to the less controversial — from Beijing’s perspective —’Sikyong’ (or political leader).”
Ranade is speculating but his dots all somehow connect very nicely. What is not speculation is that New Delhi was not happy at CTA’s decision to meet Xiao Wunan, especially his meeting with the Karmapa. Incidently the young lama took offense at the tenor of Xiao’s questions and abruptly terminated the meeting. Before moving on from Ranade’s interesting theories, I should point out that I believe Beijing has probably reached out much earlier to Dharamshala on this issue. You don’t need to organize a dog and pony show like the Xiao Wuhan visit, in order to make whatever connections you need to get the deal done – and do it discreetly.
I have long maintained that China has for many years now manipulated Tibetan policy making within the CTA. I pointed out in an article in 1989 in the Tibetan Review how China has used certain politicians and individuals in the West as unconscious “agents of influence” to persuade the Dalai Lama to give up the struggle for Tibetan freedom and accept Tibet as a part of China. I named names, provided details, and even reissued the piece in a book of essays, but have not received any sort of denial or repudiation to date. Disdainful silence is the usual Dharamshala response to such indictments so I was intrigued at Sikyong Lobsang Sangay’s prompt letter denying any involvement in Jigme Ngabo’s dismissal.
Of course when the charges are being made by a sitting US Congressman and could affect the funding that CTA receives from the American government a prompt denial is probably wise, but I think much more needs to be done to remedy the situation and restore confidence all around. With such devastating but momentous events unfolding inside Tibet, the conspiracy to emasculate RFA could not have come at a worse time. It goes without saying that Jigme Ngabo needs to be reinstated immediately and everyone in the Tibetan Language section should resume their vital duties without delay. To reassure our American friends and supporters, the exile Tibetan parliament should set up a high-powered parliamentary committee to thoroughly investigate this issue. Of course the make-up of the committee would have to entirely non-partisan, hence the speaker Pempa Tsering should be excluded for starters. Such a response would not only go over well with American lawmakers but also contribute to the development of our own democratic process. I appeal to all readers to write directly to their chithue representatives and also send emails to Tibetan newspapers, journals and websites, calling for such an investigative committee.
If the CTA and the exile parliament do nothing then Tibetans in the USA need to write to their representatives in Congress calling on them to ensure that the US Congress’s noble and successful experiment to provide the Tibetan freedom struggle a powerful and independent voice, is not hijacked and perverted to serve as a covert propaganda outpost for the Ministry of Truth in Beijing.
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YESHE.
User deleted
29 novembre 2012
Ancora immolazioni per il Tibet, siamo a 89, 27 solo a novembre
Altre tre immolazioni in Cina nelle scorse ore che portano a 89 il numero totale di queste proteste dal febbraio 2009. L’ultimo a compiere questo gesto estremo e’ stato Tsering Tashi, 31 anni, padre di due bambini. L’auto immolazione e’ avvenuta a Luchu (o Kluchu) nella zona di Kalnho (Gannan per i cinesi), nella provincia del Gansu. L’uomo, che e’ morto a causa delle ferite riportate, si e’ dato alle fiamme stamattina dinanzi ai locali uffici governativi. Poche ore prima nella stessa zona di Kanlho ma a Tsoe, Wangdhen Khar di 21 anni si e’ dato alle fiamme gridando slogan in favore del ritorno del ritorno del Dalai Lama e per il Tibet libero. Anche il giovane e’ morto sul posto, monaci di un vicino monastero hanno preso il suo corpo e l’hanno posto sotto una foto del Dalai lama per i riti funebri. Ha invocato anche il rilascio del Panchen Lama, il leader politico tibetano rapito all’eta’ di sei anni nel 1995, Sangay Tashi, diciottenne che si e’ immolato martedi’ sera intorno alle 23 (ma solo oggi e’ stata diffusa la notizia). Il giovane si e’ dato alle fiamme chiedendo la liberazione del Tibet dall’occupazione cinese e il ritorno del Dalai lama, a Sangchu (Xiahe per i cinesi) nella provincia del Gansu. Con queste ultime, sono 27 le immolazioni avvenute questo mese di novembre, 75 dall’inizio di gennaio. E continuano anche le proteste di piazza nella regione del Qinghai contro il controllo cinese del Tibet. Secondo quanto riferisce Radio Free Asia, un centinaia di studenti della Tsolho Technical School di Chabcha (Gonghe in cinese) e’ uscito dal campus e si e’ recato in massa presso gli edifici del governo locale cominciando o a urlare ”liberta” e ”diritti per la lingua tibetana”. La polizia e’ intervenuta per disperderli, lanciando gas lacrimogeni per cacciarli, picchiandoli e arrestandone cinque. Secondo alcune fonti locali alcuni studenti sarebbero anche rimasti feriti. Due giorni prima, 1.000 studenti dell’istituto medico di Tsolho avevano protestato, sempre a Chabcha, per la pubblicazione di un libretto cinese che ridicolizza la lingua tibetana definendola ”irrilevante” e nel quale si condannano le ripetute immolazioni contro il dominio di Pechino sul Tibet, considerate come ”forma di stupidita”’. Durante le proteste i giovani studenti avevano bruciato il libretto invocando ”l’uguaglianza e la liberta’ di studiare la lingua tibetana”. E continua pure lo sciopero della fame di sessanta tibetani.
29/11/2012 11:45
TIBET – CINA
Tibet, un’altra auto-immolazione. E gli studenti scendono in piazza contro Pechino
Nella regione di Luchu un padre di famiglia si uccide con il fuoco per protestare contro l’occupazione cinese: sono ormai 89 i suicidi degli ultimi mesi. E nel Qinghai gli studenti si una scuola di medicina protestano contro “l’educazione patriottica”: 20 feriti negli scontri, di cui 4 in gravi condizioni.
Lhasa (AsiaNews) - Un uomo di 31 anni, sposato e con due figli piccoli, si è dato fuoco questa mattina nella parte orientale del Tibet per protestare contro l'occupazione cinese della regione e chiedere il ritorno in patria del Dalai Lama. Una fonte del Phayul conferma l'auto-immolazione, che porta il numero totale dei suicidi a 89. Nel frattempo, la popolazione scende in piazza contro il pugno di ferro adottato dalle autorità.
L'ennesima tragedia è avvenuta davanti agli uffici governativi della regione di Luchu. Tsering Tashi lascia la moglie Choekyong Tso e i figli Dorjee Kyi (7 anni) e Kalsang Dolma (3). Si tratta della terza auto-immolazione in 10 giorni in questa regione e la 27ma nel solo mese di novembre. Secondo diversi analisti, l'atteggiamento di Pechino spinge alla disperazione la popolazione locale: invece di ascoltarne le richieste, infatti, il regime ha ordinato una nuova stretta contro ogni forma di autonomia locale.
L'esasperazione dei tibetani è confermata anche dall'aumento delle proteste pubbliche contro le politiche cinesi. Lo scorso 26 novembre, migliaia di studenti di una scuola di medicina nella provincia tibetana del Qinghai si sono ribellati contro un questionario politico e le classi di "educazione patriottica" imposti dal regime cinese agli studenti tibetani. La polizia è intervenuta per bloccare le manifestazioni: con i gas hanno disperso gli studenti chiusi nella scuola e hanno iniziato a bastonarli. Le vittime sono circa 20, di cui 4 in gravi condizioni.
La protesta è esplosa nella Prefettura autonoma di Tsolho dopo che le autorità hanno imposto alla scuola una sessione di studio sulla "cricca separatista del Dalai Lama". Subito dopo, i funzionari inviati hanno consegnato dei questionari da compilare in cui erano presenti domande come "Qual è la natura delle auto-immolazioni?" e "Quali sono le conseguenze delle dimostrazioni illegali?". Pechino accusa il leader del buddismo tibetano di fomentare proteste e auto-immolazioni per "creare il panico" nella regione.
Le manifestazioni del Qinghai sono una spia d'allarme dell'insofferenza della popolazione nei confronti del regime comunista. Nel 2008, un'enorme manifestazione di massa guidata dai monaci buddisti ha scatenato gli scontri peggiori mai verificatisi in Tibet dal 1989, anno in cui l'allora Segretario comunista locale Hu Jintao - poi divenuto il leader della nazione - diede l'ordine di reprimere nel sangue le proteste.
Breaking: Young Tibetan burns self to death, Mass prayer service for self-immolators in eastern Tibet
Phayul[Thursday, November 29, 2012 15:32]
DHARAMSHALA, November 29: In more alarming reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire calling for the Dalai Lama’s return in Tsoe region of eastern Tibet on Wednesday, November 28.
Sources have identified the Tibetan man as Bendey Khar, 21 years of age.
“Martyr Bendey Khar set himself on fire on Wednesday, November 28 at around 7 pm (local time) in Tsoe region of Kanlho, eastern Tibet,” Zoegey Kangtsa Jampa, an exiled Tibetan told Phayul citing sources in the region. “He later succumbed to his injuries,”
According to eyewitnesses, Bendey Khar raised slogans calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, the release of Panchen Lama, freedom for Tibet, and the protection of Tibet’s environment.
He is survived by his father Tsering Thar, mother Kunsang Dolma and his elder brother Jampa and younger brother Sangay Dhondup.
Following his self-immolation protest, monks and local Tibetans reportedly gathered at his residence to offer prayers.
“Monks from nearby monastery are currently gathered at his residence in Yarki Sokdhi village some 20kms away from the Tsoe, to offer prayers and pay their last respects,” the same source said while adding that heavy restrictions in the region has affected the flow of information out of the region.
Also yesterday, around 500 Tibetans in Tsolho, eastern Tibet, publicly displayed a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and carried out a mass prayer service for the Tibetan spiritual leader’s long life and for all the Tibetans who have self-immolated.
According to exile sources, a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was placed on a throne at the Atsok Monastery in Tsolho, following which local Tibetans offered khataks (white Tibetan scarf).
Defying strict government orders, the gathering then offered long life prayers for the Dalai Lama and for the Tibetan self-immolators who have set themselves on fire protesting China’s continued occupation and demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 88 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 26 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and in Rebkong.
Breaking: Tibetan man burns self to death, Toll climbs to 89
Phayul[Thursday, November 29, 2012 14:58]
DHARAMSHALA, November 29: In fresh reports coming out of Tibet, a Tibetan man set himself on fire today in Luchu region of eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.
Sources have identified the Tibetan as Tsering Namgyal, 31, a father of two, from Zamtsa Lotso Dewa region of Luchu.
“Tsering Namgyal set himself on fire near the local Chinese government office in Luchu earlier today for the cause of Tibet,” Sonam, a Tibetan monk living in south India told Phayul, citing sources in the region. “Tsering Namgyal passed in his fiery protest.”
Further details on the self-immolation protest are not available at the time of filing this report
Tsering Namgyal is survived by his wife Choekyong Tso, their two children, Dorjee Kyi, 7, and Kalsang Dolma, 3, and his parents.
This is the third self-immolation protest in Luchu region in the last ten days. On November 26, Gonpo Tsering, 24, father of three children, all below the age of six, passed away in his fiery protest while raising slogans for Tibet’s freedom, human rights in Tibet, and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. Earlier on November 22, Tamding Kyab, 23, a nomad and former monk, passed away in his self-immolation protest in the same region.
Following the self-immolations, Luchu has been placed under heightened restrictions with the deployment of a large number of Chinese security personnel and armed forces.
89 Tibetans inside Tibet have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. The recent alarming escalation in the self-immolation protests has now witnessed 27 Tibetans set themselves on fire in the month of November alone.
Speaking to CNN, US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke in an interview broadcast on November 27, said the United States is “very concerned about the situation, the heightened tensions in the Tibetan areas, the deplorable self-immolations and of course just the Chinese policies of the Chinese government at all levels.”
“Preserving the ethnic, religious, linguistic identity of the Tibetan people is a top priority for the U.S. government just as we are very concerned about all human rights issues and we believe that human rights has to be a fundamental part of U.S. foreign policy and we, very much urge the Chinese government publicly and privately to adhere to the universal principles, universal declaration of human rights, which are also part of the Chinese constitution,” Locke said.
In September, Locke had visited two Tibetan monasteries in the Zungchu region of Ngaba in eastern Tibet as part of a broader business trip to the region.
www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-11292012212748.html
TIBET: QUATTRO NUOVE IMMOLAZIONI. SCIOPERI DELLA FAME IN SEGNO DI SOLIDARIETA’ IN MOLTE CITTA’ DEL PAESE
Dharamsala, 29 novembre 2012. Kalsang Kyab, Sangay Tashi, Wande Khan, Tsering Tashi: sono i nomi dei quattro nuovi martiri che si sono dati la morte con il fuoco nell’arco degli ultimi tre giorni. Sono in questo momento ottantanove i tibetani che hanno dato la loro vita per la libertà del Tibet. Ventisette casi in venticinque giorni e tutto lascia intuire che l’elenco è destinato ad allungarsi perché la protesta, lungi dal recedere o dall’esaurirsi, sembra crescere di giorno in giorno.
Kalsang Kyab, 24 anni, si è dato fuoco il 27 novembre di fronte a un edificio governativo nella città di Kangtsa. Ha cosparso il suo corpo di cherosene e si è avviato verso gli uffici del governo inneggiando alla lunga vita del Dalai Lama e chiedendo il ritorno di Kirti Rinpoche, il capo del monastero di Kirti in esilio. Poi si è dato fuoco. Nomade, ha lasciato i pascoli in cui viveva, ha reso visita al villaggio natale, a soli tre chilometri da Kangtsa, ed è arrivato la mattina presto in città. Ha compiuto il suo atto estremo attorno alle 18.00, ora locale.
Sangay Tashi, 18 anni, si è dato fuoco attorno alla mezzanotte del 27 novembre a Sangkhong. Era originario della regione di Sangchu. E’ morto gridando slogan a favore del ritorno del Dalai Lama e della liberazione di tutti i prigionieri politici, compreso il Panchen Lama. Prima di darsi alle fiamme ha telefonato ai suoi famigliari informandoli della sua decisione di morire per la causa del Tibet.
Wande Khar, 21 anni, si è dato la morte con il fuoco il 28 novembre a Tsoe (regione di Kanlho), attorno alle 19.00, ora locale. Prima di morire ha chiesto il ritorno del Dalai Lama in Tibet, il rilascio del Panche Lama, la libertà del Tibet e la protezione del suo ambiente naturale. Sfidando i divieti e le ritorsioni cinesi, i monaci del vicino monastero si sono recati al villaggio di Wande Khar, non distante da Tsoe, per pregare e rendere tributo al nuovo eroe.
Tsering Tashi, 31 anni, padre di due figli, si è dato la morte oggi, 29 novembre, a Luchu, nelle vicinanze di un ufficio governativo. Non sono pervenuti, al momento, atri particolari sulle circostanze del suo atto. La Contea di Luchu ha visto la morte di Gonpo Tsering (26 novenbre) e di Tamding Kyab (22 novembre). In seguito alle tre auto immolazioni, Luchu è sotto strettissimo controllo ed è presidiata da un gran numero si addetti alla sicurezza e personale militare.
Si è appreso che Sangay Dolma, la monaca diciassettenne immolatasi il 25 novembre di fronte a un ufficio governativo a Tsekhog, vicino a Rebkong, prima di darsi la morte ha lasciato un messaggio e una sua fotografia. Sulla fotografia ha scritto: “Il Tibet è una nazione indipendente”. Il testamento della giovanissima monaca, scritto in forma di poesia e intitolato “E’ritornato”(con riferimento al Dalai Lama), recita tra l’altro: “Amati figli del paese del leone delle nevi, non dimenticate che siete tibetani”. “Guardate in alto, alle montagne innevate, l’era della terra delle nevi è iniziata e il Tibet è libero e indipendente”. Sangay Dolma rende quindi omaggio al Dalai Lama e al Panchen Lama: “Sua Santità il Dalai Lama, che vive lontano, viaggia in tutto il mondo pregando perché cessi la sofferenza delle rosse facce dei tibetani e perché siano liberati dal buio”. “Il Panchen Lama, dalla prigione in cui è detenuto, prega per la pace e la felicità della mia terra delle nevi”.
In aperta sfida agli ordini emanati dalle autorità cinesi, 500 tibetani della regione di Tsolho hanno esposto pubblicamente una fotografia del Dalai Lama e partecipato a una preghiera collettiva per la lunga vita del Dalai Lama e per tutti i tibetani che si sono immolati. Almeno sessanta tibetani hanno iniziato, la sera del 26 novembre, in varie località del Tibet, uno sciopero della fame in segno di solidarietà con coloro che si sono auto immolati. Fonti tibetane riferiscono che lo sciopero della fame è in atto in varie città: dalla capitale, Lhasa, a Drango, Jomda, Zachukha, Tridu, Sertha, Siling, Rebkong, Kardze e Trindu. Alla manifestazione di protesta partecipano persone di varia estrazione sociale inclusi funzionari governativi, scrittori, monaci e uomini d’affari.
Fonte: Phayul
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YESHE.
User deleted
Breaking: Tibet self-immolation toll reaches 90, Fears over major protests in Barkham
Phayul[Friday, November 30, 2012 20:43]
DHARAMSHALA, November 30: In reports just in, a Tibetan man today set himself on fire in Shagdom region on Ngaba, eastern Tibet in an apparent protest against China’s occupation of Tibet.
The Tibetan man has been identified as Kunchok Kyab, 29, from Akyi region of Zoegey in Ngaba.
According to the exile base of Kirti Monastery in Dharamshala, the situation in the region, at the time of filing this report, is being described as 'very tense' with fears over eruption of major protests in the region.
“At around 9 am (local time) Kunchok Kyab set himself on fire near a gas station in the Shagdom region of Ngaba,” Kirti Monastery said in a release. “Shortly afterwards, Chinese security personnel arrived at the site and bundled him away after dousing the fire.”
“He was taken straight to regional headquarters of Barkham and it is not yet known whether he is dead or alive.”
According to the release, a group of young Tibetans, after seeing Kunchok Kyab being taken away, immediately followed the Chinese police vehicles. The wellbeing and whereabouts of those young Tibetans are also not yet known.
“According to latest reports coming in at 7 pm IST, a large number of local Tibetans have gathered to demand for the return of Kunchok Kyab and the young Tibetans,” Kirti Monastery said. “The crowd is planning to carry out a major protest and the situation has become very tense.”
Kunchok Kyab has two children, a nine-year-old and a six-year-old.
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 90 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 28 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and Rebkong.
France calls for EU ‘policy coordination’ on Tibet
Phayul[Friday, November 30, 2012 18:46]
DHARAMSHALA, November 30: France senate has called for the promotion of policy coordination in the European Union for “coherent actions” to support the Tibetan cause and advancing human rights and freedoms of Tibetans.
The upper house of the French Parliament, Sénat, on Tuesday, November 27, adopted a resolution in view of the deteriorating human rights situation inside Tibet and called on the EU to give priority to Tibet issue within the mandate of its recently appointed EU Special Representative for Human Rights.
The Sénat resolution requested the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to entrust the Special Representative of the Union for Human Rights Tibet issue as a priority, with a mandate to promote policy coordination on Tibet in the EU.
The resolution called for “coherent actions to advance human rights and freedoms of Tibetans, including their right to preserve their own identity, in its religious, cultural and linguistic.”
It further urged for EU policy coordination in promoting “consistent support for dialogue between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and envoys of the Dalai Lama,” and for “coherent actions supporting Tibetan exile community in its efforts, under the direction of the Central Tibetan Administration, in development of education services and health, guarantee a sustainable livelihood to its members, as well as for the preservation of Tibetan culture in exile, in all its aspects.
The resolution was proposed by the Group for Question on Tibet, an all-party parliamentary support group for Tibet in the French Sénat. It was cleared by the Sénat Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, November 22.
The latest calls for policy coordination falls in line with earlier demands made by parliamentarians, Tibet activists, and human rights organisations for the need of a contact group on Tibet.
In September, the global rights group, Human Rights Watch had urged governments www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32192&t=1 concerned about the worsening human rights situation in Tibet to meet on the sidelines of the then UN General Assembly to discuss the formation of a Tibet contact group.
HRW noted that a Tibet contact group could “press the Chinese government to consider resuming meaningful negotiations with Tibetan representatives, and visibly demonstrate heightened international concern about deteriorating conditions.”
The deepening crisis inside Tibet has witnessed large scale anti-China protests and a series of self-immolations that has now seen 89 Tibetans set themselves on fire, since 2009, demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
November alone has reported 27 self-immolations and protests by thousands of Tibetans, including by school students in Chabcha and Rebkong.
http://tibettruth.com/2012/11/30/myopic-hu...-test-on-tibet/
Self-Immolations Hit 90 Mark
2012-11-30
Another Tibetan burns himself to death amid calls for multilateral action to pressure China.
Another Tibetan burned himself to death in protest against Chinese rule on Friday, bringing the self-immolation toll to 90 so far with 28 occurring this month alone, triggering calls for multilateral action to pressure Beijing to ease the clampdown in Tibet.
The latest burning protest was by a 29-year-old Tibetan man and occurred in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province.
Kunchok Kyap, who "doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire in protest against Chinese policies" was immediately whisked away by Chinese security forces, said India-based exile monk Kanyag Tsering.
"Not long after the self-immolation, the police arrived and took him away to Barkham (Ma'erkang) county. There is no information about his present condition. "
A native of the Upper Zaru nomadic area in Akyi township in Dzoege (Ruo'ergai) county, Kunchok Kyap self-immolated at a gas station located near Shakdom township in Ngaba.
Several Tibetan youths pursued the vehicle which took Kunchok Kyap away but they too have been missing, Kanyag Tsering said.
"The area is reported to be very tense and volatile," he said.
Chinese authorities have beefed up security and clamped down on the Internet and other communications in the areas where self-immolations have occurred, sources said.
Most of the self-immolation protests since February 2009 have been aimed at highlighting opposition to Chinese rule and seeking the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after a failed national revolt against Chinese occupation in 1959.
The rise in the burning protests in recent weeks highlights the failure of Chinese authorities to address Tibetan grievances and required urgent international action, human rights and other groups have said.
'Political repression'
The Central Tibetan Administration, as the Tibetan government-in-exile in India is called, said the self-immolations underscore "political repression, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation" in Tibet.
Students for a Free Tibet, a global grassroots network of students and activists pushing for human rights and freedom in Tibet, on Friday issued an "urgent call for multilateral action on the Tibetan issue" as the number of self-immolation protests has "dramatically escalated."
Since Nov. 22, 11 Tibetans, including three teenagers, have self-immolated.
"The humanitarian disaster unfolding inside Tibet —where 28 of my people have been driven to light their bodies on fire in a single month —demands immediate and coordinated action by world governments," said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
"Multilateral action is the only immediate way to pressure Beijing to end the repression that drives increasing numbers of Tibetans to give up their lives in these heartbreaking acts of protest."
"How many more Tibetans will die before the international community takes action?" asked Kate Woznow, International Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
"Chinese leaders are crushing the Tibetan people under their repressive policies while easily ignoring the weak protestations being raised by a handful of countries. At this point, the only thing that will grab Beijing's attention is a concerted, multilateral effort by the international community to meaningfully address the Tibetan issue," she said.
In August, U.S. Congressmen Frank Wolf and James McGovern wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggesting Washington host an international conference on Tibet, hold periodic public meetings such as a "contact group" on Tibet and discuss setting up a group of like-minded governments at the U.N. General Assembly.
Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.
http://tibet.net/2012/12/01/rights-group-a...ll-rises-to-90/
30 novembre 2012.
Il Tibet che nessuno vede
Lo sguardo offuscato
Cosa colpisce di più dell’ultima immolazione in Tibet, avvenuta ieri? Il fatto che a darsi fuoco sia stato un giovane uomo di 31 anni? O che il totale dei suicidi salga a 89? O, ancora, il trend – assolutamente allarmante – di 27 immolazioni nel solo mese di novembre?
Non ci dovrebbe essere bisogno di spingere sul pedale della retorica per conquistare l’attenzione del lettore. I fatti sono lì, parlano da soli. Analogamente, il popolo tibetano non dovrebbe essere costretto a gesti tanto eclatanti quanto sbagliati (una vita bruciata è una vita sprecata) per attirare lo sguardo del mondo. Eppure. Quanto sta accadendo dice che il Dalai Lama, da sempre contrario ai gesti estremi di protesta, sembra sempre più incapace di bloccarne il tragico ripetersi.
Ma, ancor di più, mostra che all’indomani della chiusura del 18mo Congresso del Partito comunista cinese, la nuova dirigenza non sa (o non vuole) porre fino allo stillicidio di soprusi e violenze che da anni si perpetua in Tibet. È come se il problema non esistesse. Del resto, la delegazione tibetana al Congresso pare abbia presentato un quadro della realtà totalmente falsato. Ma allora non si capisce perché solo pochi giorni prima le autorità di Pechino avessero introdotto un sostanzioso premio economico per gli informatori in grado di dare notizie ai presunti 'candidati all’immolazione'.
La verità è che 'Tibet', in Cina, è una parola-tabù. Una ferita che sanguina da tempo. Dal lontano1959. Di recente il mondo è tornato ad accorgersene nel marzo 2008, quando, alla vigilia delle Olimpiadi di Pechino, i tibetani avevano provato a far udire la loro voce con una grande manifestazione di protesta, purtroppo repressa nel sangue. Da allora la stretta di Pechino sul Tibet si è fatta, se possibile, ancora più pressante.
Solo pochi giorni fa, il 26 novembre, migliaia di studenti di una scuola di medicina nell’area tibetana del Qinghai hanno protestato contro le classi di 'educazione patriottica' e un questionario politico imposti dal regime agli studenti tibetani. La polizia è intervenuta: una ventina di vittime, alcune delle quali in gravi condizioni. Ma se riavvolgiamo il nastro degli ultimi mesi, scopriremo che il 6 gennaio era ricominciato il rito delle auto-immolazioni, in quel caso nei pressi del monastero di Kirti. Proprio lì, nell’ottobre 2011, si uccise, dandosi fuoco, la prima donna, una monaca.
Non è un caso, quindi, che dalla primavera scorsa i monasteri siano finiti nel mirino dei capi di Pechino: esautorati i monaci, i 1.800 templi sono stati posti sotto controllo diretto di funzionari del governo. Una scelta a dir poco bizzarra, per un regime che si fregia di essere ateo. E ora, cosa accadrà? «Le proteste sono destinate a continuare nel tempo fino a quando i leader mondiali continueranno a chiudere gli occhi davanti alla situazione disperata in cui versa il Tibet », ha dichiarato un analista. Il punto è proprio questo: o la comunità internazionale prende finalmente coscienza che in Tibet è in atto un’autentica colonizzazione che violenta le tradizioni culturali e religiose di quella gente, penalizzandola socialmente, oppure Pechino continuerà indisturbata nella sua strategia di assimilazione forzata di un popolo e di tutti i suoi tesori.
Certo, da quando la Cina è diventata la seconda economia del mondo è sempre più difficile pestare i piedi in nome dei diritti. Ma tanto gli Usa e l’Europa quanto i Paesi emergenti (i famosi Bric che da 'stelle' dell’economia puntano ad entrare da protagonisti nel salotto buono della politica mondiale), dovrebbero trovare il coraggio di chiedere alla Cina un’autentica inversione a U sulla via del Tibet.
Gerolamo Fazzini (www.avvenire.it/Pagine/default.aspx)
http://it.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/11/c...dominio-cinese/.