Tibetan Headlines
Sep 27: Monks Warned
The heads of Buddhist monasteries in Trika, in Tsolho in the Qinghai province have been summoned for a briefing about the use of social media to view or spread “illegal content” during Communist Party meetings next month in Beijing. They were warned of “severe consequences” for monks or nuns using and sharing photos or video clips on social media, or enticing others to do so.
Sep 25: Travel Banned
Travel into the Tibet Autonomous REgion is being banned from October 18 - 28, while top level government meetings take place in Beijing and Lhasa. As well as foreigners, Tibetans living in Amdo will not be allowed to enter the TAR. This ban will be a blow to the local tourist industry as October is a popular month for tourists.
Sep 24: SFT Demo
Students for a Free Tibet marked World River Day with Indus Water, an initiative to draw attention to the India-Pakistan water treaty of 1960, which is regarded as one of the most successful water treaties in the world. The SFT campaign Tibet’s River Asia’s Lifeline calls for binding treaties with China to secure water supplies for the nations downstream from Tibet.
Sep 24: More Threats
Tibetans living around the Guchu River in Rebkong in Tibet have received a letter notifying them they must handover their homes and land. The Rebkong County Government says the land is needed to modify, urbanise and beautify the area but locals are sceptical, based on experience of similar land grabs in the past. “Tibet is being turned into China”, lamented one local Tibetan.
Sep 23: Support from Germany
The major German political parties have expressed their concern over the worsening situation in Tibet, support for HH the Dalai Lama and for pushing China to restart a dialogue with His Holiness’s representatives, and concern about environmental issues including mega dams being built in Tibet. The support was reaffirmed in response to questions presented to them by the German chapter of the International Campaign for Tibet.
Sep 22: Quiet Parliament
More than two thirds of the Members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile walked out of Parliament in protest against a remark made by a legislator: a Member complained about another who has been given the Songtsen award despite being accused of corruption. The row abated when it was made clear that the award was unrelated to the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Sep 21: New Regulations
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the advocacy group based in the United States, has said the Chinese government’s revised regulations on religion enhances the power the communist party and threatens the survival of Tibetan Buddhism, saying they provide a “legalistic framework” of “compliance and punishment” with regards to religious faith . China says the new regulations “protect citizens’ freedom of religious belief and maintain religious and social harmony”.
Sep 21: No Funding
China says it will not fund students attending the University of California in San Diego, America because it invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to speak at the graduation ceremony a few months ago. The China Scholarship Council, a branch of China’s Ministry of Education, has withdrawn state funding and will no longer process applications to study there.
Sep 20: Fourth Parliament Session
The 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-exile based in Dharamshala has begun its 4th session. The session will see the presentation and discussion of the annual work reports of the seven departments of the Central Tibetan Administration and discussion over the pressing issues prevailing inside Tibet and exile Tibetan community. Independent petitioners filed their pleas to the parliament on the first day. The session will conclude on September 29.
Sep 20: Passports Held
Many Tibetans whose passports were seized earlier this year have not had their documents returned, reports Radio Free Asia. The passports were seized as part of China’s measures to prevent pilgrims from travelling to India to attend the Kalachakra in January, the authorities promised to return them by March. Additionally, no new passports are being issued.
Sep 19: No Pensions
Tibetan veterans of the Special Frontier Force – an elite paramilitary force of Tibetan refugees recruited by India in 1962 and who saw years of active service – are not getting the pensions they are due despite a long campaign which, despite assurances that the pensions will materialise, is bogged down in official red tape.
Sep 18: Canadian Candidate
Bhutila Karpoche, a Canadian Tibetan woman, has been nominated as the candidate for the New Democratic Party of Canada Member for the Provincial Parliament in Ontario elections next year. She is a mother of one, living in Toronto and has been actively involved in the Tibetan movement for over ten years. Karpoche wrote on her Facebook page, “Let's build a fairer Ontario”.
Sep 16: Prayers for Rinpoche
A prayer service was held at Pal Shenten Menriling monastery in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh, in rememberance of the 33rd Kyabje Gyalwa Menri Trizin, the spiritual head of Bon tradition, who died on September 14. Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, lauded Rinpoche’s lifelong efforts at the restoration of Tibetan culture through the Bon tradition.
Sep 15: American Tragedy
A Tibetan family living in Colarado in America, has won the hearts of Americans with their response to the death of their two year old son who was the victim of a hit and run: “…this loss…gives us an opportunity to practice compassion…As a Buddhist family, we forgive the person responsible for our great loss. Please keep our young son in your prayers”. The driver has handed himself in.
Sep 14: Menri Trizin Rinpoche
The 33rd Kyabje Gyalwa, Menri Trizin, the spiritual head of the Tibetan Bon religion, has died at Pal Shenten Menriling monastery in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh. He was born in 1929 in Amdo in Tibet where he began his lifelong study of Bon as a child. He left Tibet in 1959 and has studied and taught Bon, traveling extensively and establishing Dolanji monastery as a Bon centre.