THE SNOW LION BUDDHIST NEWS & CATALOG

Monks Reveal Brutal State Crackdown

by Richard Spencer
The Daily Telegraph
February 20, 2007

Tibetan monks suffer harassment and imprisonment at the hands of the authorities, who attempt to force them to renounce the Dalai Lama.

They are rarely able to talk openly about their experiences under Chinese rule. But The Daily Telegraph used new rules relaxing reporting restrictions in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics to meet monks without information ministry minders being present.

"The situation here is tense," said one monk. "We have 20 police living in my monastery—they keep check on us. They told us we all had to say we opposed the Dalai Lama. Of course, we cannot do that. How can we?

"We all revere the Dalai Lama. Five lamas who refused were taken away by police. They are all still under house arrest at home or at the police station. They have not come back."

Monks are particularly opposed to the "Chinese Panchen Lama." In 1995, the Dalai Lama's representatives identified a five-year-old boy as the new Panchen, Tibetan Buddhism's second highest figure. The authorities arrested the child and appointed their own Panchen.

"I was sent to prison for five years for disseminating literature opposing the Chinese Panchen," said another monk. "I have not been allowed to return to a monastery. My monastery was closed. While in prison I was beaten, but I survived. Another monk was killed."

Small pictures of the Dalai Lama are sometimes displayed illegally at remote monasteries, but in the principal places of worship there is only the "Chinese Panchen" on display. Monks are reminded of their duty to the state at patriotic education classes.