Can't Spell Torture Without Torch -- Updated

I was going to offer a lighter, humorous post for the weekend, but ain't nothin' funny about the bits of news I'm getting about the ongoing Chinese crackdown in Tibet. First I offer a wonderfully simple editorial cartoon from Steve Benson that I'm surprised and delighted appeared in The Arizona Republic (thanks for the tip, Gail!):

Reading the fine print on the internet, I have learned that Chinese paramilitary action (against unarmed Buddhist monks and nuns, lest we forget) is now directly affecting our mother Palyul Monastery. An old acquaintance, Rick, now working for Radio Free Asia (excellent, up-to-the-minute info on their site), has posted two comments on a blog that I read, Rinchen Gyatso's "A Monk Amok," directly related to Palyul. In the shock of reading them, I beg for your ongoing prayers for Tibet and constant activist pressure on China as they may prove the most shameful host in Olympics history. Here's what Rick has reported from his sources:

One is recent, from April 2:

"An interesting piece of news: We learned today that a group of about 2,000 Chinese People's Armed Police is at Palyul monastery in Kham. They've ordered the monks there to fly the Chinese flag from a monastery roof, but the monks have so far "not complied." PAP detachments are also stationed near Kathok and some other large monastic centers in Kham, according to people we've talked to."

One is from March 22:

"We are receiving regular updates and witness accounts from inside Tibet and are posting these on our Web site www.rfa.org. Among other things, we have just learned that monks at Palyul Darthang, an important Palyul branch monastery, had a demonstration five days ago. Chinese security forces have surrounded the monastery, and many monks are now hiding in the mountains nearby. We'll post updates on this as they come in to us."

I'm just in agony about this; these are my closest brothers and sisters. They're in trouble at the very source of every blessing I've ever had. There's so little I can do other than tap out these SOS's and send them into the ether in the hopes that other people of conscience will keep up the pressure on China to relax their vicious grip on people who just want to learn philosophy and meditate in freedom.

And they're not alone. As China has called for intensified "patriotic education sessions" in Tibet (anyone who recalls or has heard about the bloody, sometimes lethal thamzing, or struggle sessions, of the Cultural Revolution should quake in fear about this), the AP reports that one brave abbot at Tonkhor Monastery in Garze simply locked his doors and wouldn't let the "educators" in. The Chinese solution? They came back with 3000 paramilitary troops and arrested two monks for the High Crime of possessing photos of HH the Dalai Lama. The article continues:

"Soon afterward, the monastery's 370 monks marched on local government headquarters to demand their release, joined by about 400 lay people, [Matt] Whitticase, [spokesman for London's Free Tibet Campaign], said. The group left after being told the two monks would be freed at 8 p.m., but returned after officials reneged. Along the way, they were confronted by troops at a road block, who opened fire on the crowd, Whitticase said.

Whitticase provided the names of six of the eight people reportedly killed, who included at least three women and one monk. He said information on the incident had been relayed by a monk at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in southern India, who received it from anonymous contacts in Garze."

(UPDATE: A fuller picture of what happened here is offered by the London Times. While we are grateful for their coverage, truly, could they please stop using the antiquated term "god king" for the Dalai Lama and use the Tibetan spelling of the monks' names instead of the Chinese? You may suggest this to them in the comments section after the article, as I did.)

Now, ruminate on that for a minute. At Palyul, the Chinese deployed 2000 troops at a Buddhist monastery to enforce an order to fly a hated flag. Now, admittedly, Palyul is large and the monks, unarmed though they would be, probably outnumbered the cops. But at Tonkhor Monastery, the Chinese deployed 3000 troops at a monastery that houses 370 monks, in order to enforce an order to submit to hated "education sessions" that would certainly include extreme pressure to write denunciations of their revered Dalai Lama.

Are the Chinese seriously laboring under the misconseption that such actions will quell unrest? Man, wait until that torch shows up (warning: graphic animation).

Please join protests as the tainted Olympic torch appears where you are (April 6: London; April 7: Paris; April 9: San Francisco). Please keep writing letters to the IOC, your elected officials, your local newspapers, etc. Please don't stay silent while such gross human rights crimes are in progress.

Comments

[Carol of Seattle]

Konchog,
Thank you for continuing to bring this to our attention. The drawings are particularly moving, and the news breaks my heart.

I was surprised to get an email today that I am the 'user of the day' for Rosetta. It's an at-home, parallel processing program that uses peoples' computer power to crunch large scale protein folding calculations. So I put a message on my profile for folks to read the news and take compassionate action. At least I'll get 24 hr coverage that way. I had forgotten that my team name is 'free tibet', maybe that's any they chose me!

[yeshe lhamo]

Konchog..this is horrifying and heartbreaking and so terribly wrong. We need this kind of specific information, I think, to really get the attention of people, as the news is all about "unconfirmed reports."

At least the major media do seem to be keeping up the attention, so if a more direct connection to getting them this information can be established, that might actually intensify the scrutiny.

One thought...YouTube videos get phenomenal play through electronic word of mouth. I don't know if this is even possible since you are in Mongolia, but what if a short video of you sharing this information could be posted?

[Rinchen Gyatso]

I amazed that the PRC actually thinks forced displays of patriotism means anything. The paranoia of an authoritarian system leads them to squeeze those they oppress in order to strengthen their grip on power. The power they seek only slips through their fingers in the end. I just hope that end comes before it's too late for the Tibetan people.