More protests in Tibet

March 1st, 2009 § 4

Sey monastery in Ngaba in Tibet

Sey monastery in Ngaba in Tibet

It just doesn’t stop.

I got a call early this afternoon from a Tibetan with an eyewitness account of another protest at a monastery in Amdo, Ngaba (Aba). This monastery is just a few kilometers away from Kirti monastery where the other protest took place on the 27th. It took all day to piece the following story together:

This morning hundreds of monks at Sey monastery managed to gain entry into the monastery’s main prayer hall by saying that they had to get their belongings from inside. Once inside they sat down and began the Monlam Chenmo (New Year prayer ceremony) even though the monasteries have been ordered not to hold any religious gatherings in the month of March. They are not even supposed to open up the prayer halls. » Read the rest of this entry «

Our Nation Episode 14 – all about Tape’s protest

March 1st, 2009 § 0

Tendor and I talk about Tape’s self-immolation and what drives a human being to take such an extreme action.

Monk shot by police after self-immolating in Tibet

February 28th, 2009 § 2

A Tibetan monk from Kirti monastery named Tape was shot by Chinese police in Tibet yesterday when he self-immolated at the crossroads of the main market in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) town. We don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but we assume he is dead. Reports indicate that hundreds of Tibetans have already gone to his home village to conduct prayers.

This is the first time that I have ever heard of a self-immolation protest in Tibet although it has happened in India a number of times. In 1998, a Tibetan man named Thupten Ngodup died after he self-immolated in New Delhi at the Tibetan Youth Congress organized hunger strike. It was an awful scene caught on tape that haunts every Tibetan who has seen it.thuptenngodup

When the Indian police saw the Thupten Ngodup was on fire, they tried to save his life. When the Chinese police saw that Tape was on fire, they shot him.

Losar vigil in Tibet

February 28th, 2009 § 0

Monks in Mangra protest on first day of Losar

Monks in Mangra protest on first day of Losar

On February 25th, the first day of the Tibetan New Year, around 100 monks in Mangra (eastern Tibet) held a candlelight vigil and protest march from Lutsang monastery to the local town center.

Following this daring protest, the monastery was surrounded by People’s Armed Police and reports now indicate at least 3 of the monks have been detained.

Despite overwhelming repression and a heavy Chinese military presence in Tibet, Tibetans continue to resist Chinese rule. The ‘No Losar’ movement is one of the most creative civil disobedience campaigns ever seen in Tibet. Despite the Chinese authorities’ best attempts to stop them, Tibetans right across the plateau canceled traditional Tibetan New Year celebrations and turned this normally festive time into a somber time of mourning for those killed and imprisoned since last year’s protests.

Our Nation: News & Analysis on the State of Tibet.

February 24th, 2009 § 1

Click here to go to the SFT HQ blog and watch episodes 1-9.

10 days in jail for holding up a flag

August 22nd, 2008 § 5

On Wednesday night, a lone Tibetan, with two supporters at his side, flew the Tibetan flag near the Bird’s Nest stadium as the men’s 200 metre dash finals were ending. Norbu, a Tibetan from Germany, raised the flag while two American men, John and Jeremy, raised their fists in the air and bowed their heads in an act of defiance modeled after John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s protest at the Olympics in 1968 in Mexico City after the same event. Nearby, Briton Mandie McKeown observed and tried to document the simple action with her camera.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. Norbu, John and Jeremy were tackled to the ground by plain clothes police. The police descended on Mandie almost immediately, taking her camera and her phone. This is one of only two photos we have to document this powerful action: the Associated Press photographers on the scene were detained and roughed up and their memory cards were confiscated. » Read the rest of this entry «

Action and detentions in Beijing; repression in Tibet and China

August 21st, 2008 § 0

My thoughts on the latest action and ongoing detentions in Beijing as well as the latest news from Tibet and China.

Artists and citizen journalists detained in Beijing

August 20th, 2008 § 2

James PowderlyThere are some incredible people in detention in Beijing right now. It’s been 50 hrs since they were taken into custody and we still have no word on them. James Powderly has to be one of the most righteous and visionary people I’ve ever met. He is an artist and an activist and was detained sometime around 3am on Tuesday morning for planning a beautiful laser light show in Beijing to speak out in solidarity with the Tibetan people and for the cause of freedom of expression in China.

At some point around the same time, 5 citizen journalists and activists were taken by the Chinese authorities. Brian Conley, creator of the well-known videoblog “Alive in Baghdad,” was detained with Jeffrey Rae, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant. And what was their crime? They were in China doing one of the most honourable things you can do: documenting the fight for freedom and justice in the face of incredible oppression. » Read the rest of this entry «

Light in the darkness

August 19th, 2008 § 5

Chinese forces killed two more Tibetans in eastern Tibet. A nun named Sonam Yungzom is reported to have been shot while shouting slogans in Kardze town on August 10th. One source says she yelled out: “There are no human rights in China, there is brutal oppression in Tibet, still the Olympics go on in China.” She was hit by 5 to 6 bullets and then her body was thrown in a vehicle and taken away. An unidentified man is reported to have been shot and killed a few days earlier in the same town after he brought a photo of the Dalai Lama and protested. » Read the rest of this entry «

Banning Tibet during the Olympics

August 18th, 2008 § 2

Here is a piece from the New Statesman by the Tibetan writer and poet Woeser. Woeser lives in Beijing and is fearless. She is even suing the Chinese government. This piece pretty much says it all.

Banning Tibet

Published 31 July 2008

A great cry, a noise that can be produced only by those who live in the grasslands, sounded from the Tibetan lands in March 2008, shocking the world. The Chinese media called it “the wolf howling”.

When the Olympic torch passed through Lhasa, Tibetans were not allowed to leave their homes unless they had special passes. My friends in Lhasa wondered: “If Chinese citizens can watch the torch when it passes through other cities, why can’t we? Are we not citizens of this country?” » Read the rest of this entry «

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