Cause and Effect World

No Torch in Tibet

The children of Tibetans are dedicated to the cause, as we learned during our interview with Dr. Lobsong Sangay last Saturday on the radio show.  Think about it.  Your parents escaped their country in 1959.  You were born in another country; perhaps India.  Your family ended up here in America.  And now you are actively working in support of a country you have never lived in.  The young man I spoke with in setting up the interview with Dr. Sangay, Dhondup Phunkhang, has a half-brother in Tibet he’s never met - his father had to leave his wife and children when he escaped.

Today, March 31st the Olympic torch is scheduled to arrive in Beijing.  The children of Tibet (now adults) are hoping you’ll stop your daily routine for just a bit to help out:

TIBETANS AND SUPPORTERS DEMAND “NO TORCH IN TIBET”

Boston – Protests, daily vigils (5:00p.m. to 8:00p.m., Harvard Sq.), and prayer ceremonies for Tibet will take place around the world on 31 March, when the Olympic Torch will arrive in Beijing, to highlight the suffering of the Tibetan people during China’s current crackdown.

Tibetans in exile and Tibet supporters are calling for all Tibetan areas to be withdrawn from the Torch Relay, stating that celebrating China’s Olympic Torch and its so-called “Journey of Harmony” in Tibet whilst the Tibetan people have been crushed by China’s military forces is an abomination that must be stopped.

Tibetans in exile and Tibet supporters in the U.S. and all around the world will participate in the Global Day of Action for Tibet as follows:

Date: 31 March 2008
Time: 1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m.
Place: In front of the State House, Boston

More than 150 Tibet support organizations called on the International Olympic Committee President in a letter two weeks ago to cancel the planned visits of the Olympic torch to all Tibetan areas. The organizations also sent letters to the Torch Relay sponsors – Coca Cola, Lenovo, and Samsung – calling on them to withdraw their sponsorship unless Tibet is dropped from the route, and will now be appealing to National Olympic Committees to support their demands.

In view of the present crisis in Tibet, we urgently appeal to the UN and the International community to:

• Immediately dispatch independent fact finding delegations to Tibet
• Immediately allow free press to cover the whole of Tibet, not just guided tours
• Immediately end the brutal killings in the whole of Tibet
• Immediately release all arrested and imprisoned Tibetans
• Extend immediate medical assistance to the injured Tibetans
• Allow free movement of people and provide access to daily needs

Nearly three weeks have passed since Tibetan monks from Drepung Monastery carried out peaceful protests demanding their freedom. Their action spread to Sera Monastery and then to the streets of Lhasa and into the hearts of Tibetans across Tibet and around the world, igniting a nationwide uprising. Despite massive military presence, widespread incarceration, and torture, Tibetans continue to rise up.

Day before yesterday, a group of monks disrupted a tightly controlled Chinese government media tour of Lhasa - the only foreign media allowed into Tibet since the national uprising started on March 10th. As dozens of journalists and their government handlers toured the Jokhang temple, thirty monks burst out of a room to tell the journalists that “Tibet is not free” and not to believe China’s lies.

*With roughly 470 Tibetans in Massachusetts. Tibetan Association of Boston (TAB) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

Go to www.bostontibet.org for more information.  For pictures of events in tibet, go here and here.

Dhondup Phunkhang sent a letter to fellow Tibetans who had apparently expressed the desire to last out against Chinese authorities here in this country.  Dhondup urged restraint, as follows:

Hi Duggy and friends,

A group of us younger Tibetans in Boston started a candle light vigil in Harvard Square 12 days a go. The Tibetan community here has been very responsive we get a 100 to 150 people mainly Tibetans coming ever night. The younger school kids hand out flyers, get the public to sign petitions and help with making banners and lighting candles. To date we have sent out 2500 letters to local congressmen, senators and the governor.

We make a circle, say prayers, hold flags, banners, sing protest songs, the national anthem and give updates to the public on daily events inside and outside Tibet. It feels like there is a real need for Tibetans and friend to get together to morn so many deaths and the on going suffering of our people in Tibet. A peaceful candle light vigil shows solidarity with Tibetans. It’s also a very empowering experience for our younger Tibetans to get involved in any small manner and find some personal connection with our cause. We also emphasis daily at the vigil that we are not against the Chinese people, for they too suffer at the hands of Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

It’s important not to play in to the hands of the CCP’s propaganda and ploy to discredit HH the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people world over as aggressive violent people. Tibetans everywhere are very angry at the crack down by the Chinese government and want to retaliate. In Tibet people have no choice and out of desperation have started to protest risking not only their lives but also the lives of their families. But outside Tibet breaking criminal laws by throwing stones, charging the police and Chinese embassies etc.. may not be the wisest thing to do. Aside from bad publicity and individuals getting arrested I’m not sure we can
achieve anything positive. More over China is using these images as a propaganda tool to show Chinese citizens that Tibetans are a threat and hate China, hence promoting Chinese nationalism and justifying its suppression in Tibet. Now Tibetan monks have to disrobe in Mainland China in fear of being attacked by Han Chinese. There are numerous reports that Chinese paid informants and spies are instigating violence in Nepal, India and else where by getting amongst peaceful protesters and throwing stones at the police. Inside Tibet, China has been doing the same thing and also staging images of sword wielding Tibetans who are actually under cover Chinese police.

This is nothing new; they have been using these methods for a long time i.e.. Tiananmen Square dressing dead students as soldiers, Falun Gong etc. We need to be aware of this and let people know. CCP is also conducting cyber warfare against Tibet support groups, and organizations critical of China. Please beware of e-mails disguised as Tibet support groups from unknown senders they may have viruses.

Please choose to participate in any way or form.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the
side of the oppressor”-Archbishop Desmond Tutu