Tibet Weekly Update – July 18, 2014

 

Tibetans seriously injured after violent attack by police at checkpoint in Dzoege

Details are emerging of a violent assault against a group of Tibetans at a police checkpoint in Dzoege, Ngaba, on July 7. Around ten villagers were beaten severely by police, including special forces, after a truck carrying materials for rebuilding a temple was stopped at a checkpoint. According to Tibetan sources, several Tibetans were hospitalized, and one was sent to the provincial capital Chengdu for emergency treatment. He is believed to be in critical condition. For more details please see the ICT report here.
 

More details reveal how Tibetans celebrated the Dalai Lama’s birthday inside Tibet

ICT found that Tibetans across Tibet celebrated the Dalai Lama’s 79th birthday two weeks ago despite tightened security restrictions including a ban on large gatherings and an intensified deployment of troops in some areas. Images and footage from the eastern Tibetan areas of Amdo and Kham depict large pictures of the Dalai Lama displayed during picnics in the grasslands, horse races, hoisting of prayer flags on sacred mountains and burning of incense. Tibetan songs in honor of the Dalai Lama were uploaded onto YouTube, and poems posted on Tibetan blogs. For more, including images and song lyrics, please read the full report.
 

Senior Tibetan monk, an accomplished Buddhist scholar, arrested in Driru

Word of the May 2014 arrest of Tenzin Lhundrup, a monk from Gom Gonsar monastery, has only recently reached the outside world due to strict controls on the restive Driru area. The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy [TCHRD] reported that Lhundrup was arrested while he was giving a lecture on the “status of Tibetan language and nationality” to villagers in Nagchu. According to a source who spoke to TCHRD, “every Wednesday, which is celebrated in many parts of Tibet as Lhakar, or the ‘soul day’ of the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Lhundrup used to give Buddhist teachings to the local Tibetans, help arbitrate disputes, and advocate vegetarianism. He is known also for zealously advocating the need to preserve Tibetan identity.” Tibetan resistance has been especially pronounced in Driru over the last year, with ongoing protests and harsh crackdowns by local authorities.
 

Tibetan monk arrested after solitary protest in Serthar

Radio Free Asia has reported the arrest of a monk in Serthar, eastern Tibet, following a brief protest in the town center. Sherkyab, who threw leaflets and shouted slogans, was promptly arrested by Chinese police, and his current status is unknown. The slogans he shouted were reportedly for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama.
 

ICT releases report on Chinese policy and the birthplaces of the Dalai Lamas

Presenting new information and examining how the homes of previous Dalai Lamas are treated, ICT found that Chinese authorities seek to represent the renovation of the 14th Dalai Lama’s birthplace, and restoration work on other homes of earlier Dalai Lamas, as an assertion of control and ‘ownership’ of the Dalai Lama lineage. This is linked to Beijing’s objectives of controlling and managing the successor of the Dalai Lama. The Beijing leadership takes the enduring influence of the Dalai Lama seriously and in recent years has stepped up its efforts to strengthen its position as the ‘official’ arbiter of Tibetan Buddhist culture. Consistent with this approach, the Chinese authorities have referred publicly to their imperative of ‘recovering’ the home of the Sixth Dalai Lama, situated outside Tibet in the sensitive border area of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India, which Beijing claims as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Please see the full report here: Chinese policy and the Dalai Lama’s birthplaces.