MB Civic

Monasteries have water cut off and monks running out of food. Residents are NOT allowed to bring in food while some residents are being taken out of their homes by gun point and arrested for reasons unknown..

Jokhang monks’ peaceful protest changes
course of Beijing propaganda offensive
————————-
ICT report, March 27, 2008

There are serious fears for the welfare and
whereabouts of a group of monks at the
Jokhang Temple in central Lhasa who
spoke out to journalists on a tightly
controlled media trip to Tibet today.
Images of the young monks gathering
around press and calling for Tibetan
freedom and in support of the Dalai Lama,
with one monk breaking down in tears,
were broadcast all over the world today on
international networks.

Chinese officials assured press afterwards
that they would not be punished for
their ‘outburst’. The monks’ peaceful
protest shattered the authorities’ plans to
convey an image that the situation in Lhasa
was under control after recent
demonstrations and rioting, which Beijing
says was instigated by the Dalai Lama.

The three major monasteries in Lhasa,
Ganden, Sera, and Drepung, remained
under lockdown today and journalists on
the official trip were not allowed to visit,
despite repeated requests. The Ramoche
temple in central Lhasa was also closed to
the press group and after the Jokhang
protest, the area was also closed to outside
observers. Reliable reports from the city
indicate that the water has been cut off at
Ganden, Sera and Drepung, and monks are
running out of food. Sources said that local
people are not allowed to take food in for
the monks, and one Tibetan source said
that monks who tried to leave Sera were
forced to go back after they had guns
pointed to their heads.

Further reports reached ICT over the past
few days of mass arrests of Tibetans in
Lhasa, including in particular Tibetans from
the Kham and Amdo areas of Tibet
Tibetans known to have studied in exile in
India, base of the Dalai Lama, and former
political prisoners. Some sources said that
during house to house searches, Tibetans
had been taken away at gunpoint. In
scenes reminiscent to some observers of
the Cultural Revolution, officials are
searching for images of the Dalai Lama as
well as taking Tibetans away. One source
close to the monastic community in Lhasa
expressed their fears for Tibetans in
custody, saying that they had been told by
two Tibetans released from temporary
detention that Tibetans in custody were
beaten terribly, and that none had enough
water or food.

As the crackdown continues, other sources
have reported seeing large numbers of
Tibetans being herded into trucks, and in
one instance, forced to board a train from
Lhasa station and removed from the city. A
Tibetan source, who is in exile but in close
contact with Tibetans inside, reported
hearing from an eyewitness that a group of
several hundred Tibetans, escorted by
armed security personnel, had boarded a
train at Lhasa’s new railway station. The
source told ICT, “The eyewitness reported
seeing large numbers of monks in the
group, and said that many were not
wearing shoes. The reports of the removal
of prisoners from Lhasa are chilling for
many older Tibetans, who remember the
purges after 1959 and beyond when so
many Tibetans were taken to labor camps
and prisons in Gansu and Qinghai. Some of
them were never heard of again. There are
many families now in the situation of not
knowing where their relatives are, or how
long they will be in prison.”

The journalists from international agencies
who arrived in Lhasa this morning on a
highly controlled press trip organized by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing
questioned Chinese officials tonight at an
hour and a half long press conference
about the Jokhang monks who had carried
out the protests. Charles Hutzler of
Associated Press reported Tibet
Autonomous Region Vice Governor Baima
Chilin [a Chinese transliteration of a
Tibetan name] telling reporters: “We will
never do anything to them. We will never
detain anyone you met on the streets of
Lhasa. I don’t think any government would
do such a thing.” (Associated Press, March
27, 2008). The journalists also called upon
the Chinese officials to provide evidence
that the Dalai Lama had “instigated” the
protests, as Beijing claims.

The Jokhang monks who protested today
made the point that what has happened in
Lhasa “has nothing to do with the Dalai
Lama”, according to journalists who
witnessed the protest. During the protest,
which lasted approximately 17 minutes,
one monk said: “They want us to curse the
Dalai Lama and that is not right.” One
monk is shown on camera bursting into
tears during the protest. Others told the
journalists that they knew that they would
be arrested but were prepared to face the
consequences.

Sources who have recently left Lhasa told
ICT that many Tibetans are distressed by
Chinese allegations that the Dalai Lama
instigated violence. “They don’t believe it,”
said one Western source who has spoken
to many Tibetans in Lhasa over the past
two weeks. “For them, the distinction
between the Dalai Lama as a spiritual or a
political leader made in the West matters
little. For them, he is their leader, full stop.”
The same source said that searches are
being made house to house by soldiers and
armed police in every Tibetan
neighborhood. “Often Tibetans are taken
away in the middle of the night,” the
source told ICT after leaving Lhasa. “They
are definitely taking people who they know
have studied in India, including those who
learnt English at exile schools. I saw
truckloads of Tibetans being taken away.
Friends watched guns being held to the
head of Tibetans who were taken into
custody.”

This source, and others, referred to Tibetan
distress too about some Tibetans resorting
to violence against Chinese people and
property after rioting broke out on the
streets of Lhasa on March 14. A well –
informed source from Lhasa commented by
email to ICT on the reporting of violence
by Tibetans against Chinese that has
dominated the Chinese state media,
saying: “Sadly, there is plenty of proof of
Tibetan-instigated violence in Lhasa.  This
is so very sad for Tibetan people but shows
just how desperate we are. Some stupid
people could not see any other alternative.
There is no doubt that Tibetan murderers
and attackers should be punished under
the law, but the hundreds and likely
thousands of innocent Tibetans who are
now being arrested should not be treated
in the same way.”

There is evidence that the authorities are
also attempting to prevent Tibetans
expressing their views in the West through
intimidation of their families in Tibet.
According to a reliable report from a
Tibetan exile, families in some areas of the
Tibetan region of Amdo who have relatives
and children living in exile have been
warned in recent days that they will face repercussions if these Tibetans participate
in peaceful demonstrations outside China.

Various reports indicated that the
conditions in Lhasa today were slightly less
restricted earlier today immediately prior
to the arrival of the foreign media. The
website of one business in Lhasa
reported: “We couldn’t see any more
patrolling along the Beijing East Road since
yesterday, what a fresh change! About four
hours ago, it’s almost 9.30 pm but there
are still many people walking around,
much better than the lonely spirit in the
past few days”. (Website of the Spinn café).

China’s state media has reported that 280
people “turned themselves in” to police in
Tibet’s capital, while another 381
surrendered in southwest Sichuan
province. Beijing also made the first known
official acknowledgment of arrest for
peaceful protest two days ago with a
reference in Tibet Daily on March 25 of the
detention of Tibetans in Lhasa for
chanting “reactionary” slogans and
displaying the Tibetan flag. In contrast,
official statements in the past few days on
detentions have described the offences as
linked to burning, looting or acts of
violence.

One of the foreign correspondents on the
press trip commented today: “Everything
we’ve been shown is isolated to fit a
narrative that [the Chinese authorities]
have constructed. We all came in here with
our eyes open. We know there’s an
attempt to use us to convey a particular
representation.” Western media reports
today from Lhasa, however, focused solely
on the protest of the monks and their
comments in defence of the Dalai Lama and
against religious repression.