Gulag on the roof of the world

When was Tibet invaded? Different dates are mentioned. Many like to see the 1950 loss of Chamdo, a major eastern front of Tibet as the turning point. For some 1951 was the year of invasion since Tibet signed the 17- Point agreement that year. I, however, would like to push the date back by two years to 1949, the year when Chairman Mao Zedong declared that China would restore the motherland, implying Tibet and all other independent countries of that time, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Manchuria under the encompassing umbrella of China.

One must not become confounded with the liberation narrative that Beijing propagates through its well-oiled propaganda machine, United Work Front Development (UWFD), which, as the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says, “co-opts and neutralises sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Tibet witnessed unprecedented use of force. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of the PRC, deployed veteran regiments (which took part in the Korean war) to attack Lhasa and to consolidate the occupied territories through a wave of repression. Tibetans protested. Chinese General Zhang Jingwu, who was also the Tibet CCP committee secretary, invited the 14^th Dalai Lama to a cultural performance.

The invite sparked off fears that the Dalai Lama could be abducted. For two reasons. One the General wanted to keep his visit to Lhasa under wraps. Two the Dalai was asked to “come without his usual retinue of senior abbots, courtiers and bodyguards.” As recounted in the highly readable book on the spirit of Tibet by A.A. Shiromany, the General’s invitation culminated in the March 10 uprising, and the exile of the Dalai Lama along with 80,000 faithful in India.

DIVISION- DEMARCATION

In 1965 Beijing decided to demarcate Tibet into various provinces, autonomous regions and autonomous prefectures. It neither consulted the Tibetans nor took on board their sentiment. The exercise created a partition like situation. Sadly, the world of academia has not paid much attention to this development for reasons, which are not clear. In my view, this is a subject fit for further research and analysis. Because it resulted in five entities -Tibetan Autonomous Region, (TAR), Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu, whereas Tibet is a land of 3-Cholka (three provinces) namely U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo.

The Cultural Revolution was a period of nightmare for more than a decade. It was marked by denunciation rallies, Thamzing (struggle sessions), destruction of religious structures, arbitrary imprisonment of religious and political leaders. All this occurred simultaneously and on a large scale.

In his ‘Forbidden Memory’, Tsering Woeser writes, “When Red Guards arrived in Tibet just a year after the demarcation of Tibet intent on creating a classless society, they unleashed a decade of revolutionary violence, political rallies, and factional warfare marked by the ransacking of temples, the destruction of religious artifacts, the burning of books, and the public humiliation of Tibet’s remaining lamas and scholars.”

PROTESTS

The recorded history shows that the Tibetans never accepted the Chinese rule and staged protests frequently. Well, most of these protests went unreported to the outside world largely because of an ‘embargo’ on non-Chinese visit to Tibet. But the fact remains that since 1949 Tibetans had raised the banner of affirmative disinclination to Beijing. The western media captured the ground realities only after Deng Xiaoping opened China to outside world from the late 70s.

1987 saw Lhasa erupt in protests from 27th September. Among the protesters was Ngawang Woebar, a monk from Drepung Monastery. Recalling the times, he said years later: “As we were marching around the Barkhor, kids were running after us. Young people were looking at us in curiosity. And some elderly people were afraid when they saw us as they had faced so much trouble in the past, such as during the Cultural Revolution. Some old people were praying with palms clasped together. Many of these people were begging, in tears, for us to run away to avoid arrests. Gradually more and more people joined us”6.

This protest, according to several scholars, inspired the Chinese in the mainland to stand up against their leaders, and propelled them to stage the historic Tiananmen protests. The Tiananmen massacre was a gory event with few parallels in the world history. It, however, remains, censored with no public regret expressed by Beijing till date.

Summer Olympics in 2008 did not bring about any perceptible change in the ground situation. In fact, repressive policies were accelerated. On their part, the Tibetans adopted to the ultimate form of non-violent protest, self-immolation. Tapey of Ngaba County from the Kirti Monastery was the first to take the plunge on the 27th day of February in the Year 2009. He survived the self-immolation and is presently languishing in the Chinese custody.

Interestingly, Kirti monastery contributed the early practioners of the protest. Others had come Karze Monastery, Karma monastery, Darlag monastery, Lab Monastery, Rongpo monastery, Gedhen Tenpheling Monastery, Dzogchen monastery, Ngoshul monastery, Tawu Gaden Choeling nunnery and Mamae Dechen Chokhorling nunnery amongst others.

In all 131 men and 26 women have taken recourse to self-immolation to register their protest. The Year 2012 saw the maximum number of such protests at 85. This year 2022 witnessed two Tibetans emulating Tapey way, which underscores the fact that Tibetans have not given up their hope of seeing light. Flip-side of the story is that some of them were ‘saved’ with heavy burns, saw their body parts amputated and jailed for life in the Chinese blackholes.

ZERO COVID – QUARANTINED

The latest oppression in Tibet is on account of Zero-Covid policy. The authoritarian lockdown is ostensibly to prevent and control Covid-19 but it has suffocated people. Scores are pushed to take refuge in suicide due to inhumane quarantine conditions. Between 23 and 25 September, for instance, five people committed suicide in the Lhasa city alone. Videos of some of them jumping to death from atop buildings have gone viral on social media, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

Many Tibetans have come out on the social media virtually risking their lives since the Chinese authorities are notorious for censorship of such posts and brutality on the authors of the posts.

“The food provided is worse than the animal feed; it is very unhygienic,” lamented a post in Tibetan.

One woman, who is lodged at an isolation centre, tweeted an advisory. It is based on her first-hand experience. “I called everywhere but there is no one sending us food (in the quarantined centre). I pray that you are not sent to an isolation center, but, if you are, then you should prepare to bring along your own supply of food and medicine as there is nothing provided here.”

Said another post: “I request the authorities to stop deceiving the masses. The masses have suffered too much. The China Central Television and People’s Daily [major state media] may not see this but I thought everyone should see the situation posted below”.

This Weibo post appeared on the evening of 24 September along with a picture of an apartment building in Gakyiling neighbourhood. A day later, on Sept 25, another post carried the picture of a dead body on a stair case with the message: “Despair. Desperation. These lives must be happy in heaven because they have escaped this hell realm.”

Most of these ‘negative’ posts stand deleted by the censors. One comment still reverberates: “Extreme repression cannot be tolerated further”. The fact remains as a Weibo user wrote, “Even if someone speaks, it doesn’t go beyond the Dangla mountains (Central Tibet)”.

Han Chinese and Tibetans living in Lhasa had hit the streets in October protesting against inadequate food and medicines under the lockdown regime. The security forces crushed the demo. Soon afterwards, the city witnessed the largest ever protest since the 2008 uprising, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). Around 200 people were detained.

China has unveiled the next stage of hell in Tibet with its campaign to create a biological database of all Tibetans. It is a broad-based drive. It covers fourteen distinct localities across seven prefectural-level areas.

Bio-security plank is not new to Communist China. Under President Xi Jinping, China has created the world’s largest forensic DNA database with more than 100 million profiles. And has become the party-state that controls its population. This is no more than bio-surveillance, which, as renowned thinker, Michael Foucault, says, is utilised “to bring stability for themselves” rather than the people they claim to serve.

No surprise, Tibetans, living outside Tibet but having family links with Tibet, are advised to be “apolitical”. And thus, remain away from the direct clutches of Beijing while saving those back at home from being “questioned, threatened and even sentenced due to your actions.”.

Often cited in this context is the experience of Tenzin Woeser, a former political prisoner. His mother faced music after he crossed the Himalayas in 2018. For more than a fortnight she was held in detention with the authorities demanding the return of her son.

ChinaTibet is witnessing what may be called gulag and gestapo like polices. Like in dark ages. This 21^st century reality has few parallels. The slide does not seem to stop though China is celebrating its 73^rd founding anniversary this year and coronated President Xi Jinping with an unprecedented third term.

Tibetans were forced to watch the 20th National Congress proceedings from the confines of their homes. No Tibetan has ever been a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, the highest level of decision-making body. Well, this highlights the level of distrust of Tibetans and spotlights the intensity of discrimination towards the Tibetans.

— *Tenzing Dhamdul
The writer is a research associate at the Delhi based Foundation for Non- violent Alternatives, FNVA.

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REFERENCES

https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China%27s%20Overseas%20United%20Front%20Work%20-%20Background%20and%20Implications%20for%20US_final_0.pdf .

https://www.outlookindia.com/national/explained-the-china-tibet-17-point-agreement-the-conflict-history-and-india-place-news-198184

The Spirit of Tibet: Vision for Human Liberation – Selected Speeches and Writings of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama edited by A.A. Shiromany – Introduction xiii.