By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, July 24: Chinese authorities have reportedly mandated that parents of over 300 students, aged 6 to 14, of Lhamo Kirti Monastery School in Dzoge County in so-called Sichuan Province, to enrol their children in state-run boarding schools, as reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Two sources in Tibet told RFA that parents were compelled to sign documents confirming their children’s enrolment in these state-run braiding schools. They were also instructed not to enrol their children in any other schools or monasteries until adulthood, in accordance with Article 16 of China’s Law on the Protection of Minors. This law states that parents unable to fulfil their guardianship duties must appoint other capable adults to act as guardians.
Additionally, authorities have prohibited Lhamo Kirti Monastery School from reopening since May this year. Despite parents pleading for the school to be reopened, citing compliance with Chinese law, the authorities refused and accused them of brainwashing their children. Efforts were made to allow another 200 students, aged 15 to 18, to continue their education at the monastery school, but only until September, according to one source. The authorities have also imposed stringent restrictions on the monastery, subjecting the students’ parents to various forms of harassment.
Founded in 1986, Lhamo Kirti Monastery School initially offered classes to the monastery’s monks. In 1993, a separate school called Taktsang Lhamo Tibetan Culture School was established. However, it faced interference from the Chinese government, which intensified restrictions on the study of the Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy, eventually leading to its closure. The monastery’s primary school later reopened to serve novice monks under the age of 18.
On February 6, 2023, UN experts warned that around a million Tibetan children were being affected by Chinese government policies aimed at assimilating Tibetan people culturally, religiously and linguistically through the residential school system. These residential schools provide educational content and an environment centered around Han culture, according to the independent experts.
The experts also were concerned about the substantial increase in the number of residential schools operating in and outside of the so called Tibet Autonomous Region, and the number of Tibetan children living in them. The percentage of students in boarding schools in China is more than 20 per cent, but the experts said according to the information they received, the vast majority of Tibetan children, around a million are forced into these institutions.
One Response
I fail to understand the genial attitude of some of the exiles towards the Chinese communists! It is human nature to hate those who have done us unimaginable harm! The Chinese communist party led by its murderous and corrupt leaders have done unimaginable harm to the Tibetan people by illegally occupying our country with brute force. After seventy years of military occupation and murdering more than 1.2 million Tibetans, it continues its assault on the hapless Tibetan people. Most exiles have never experienced the full force of Chinese jackboot occupation. So, they are ignorant of the brutality of the Chinese communists and seem to be totally ignorant of their callous disregard for human life and deceitful ways. For the Tibetan people the Dharma has been the single most important aspect of their lives. Yet for the Chinese communists, it is the single most despicable thing in their Marxist ideology of hate! It is because of this hatred, religious people and their monasteries have been the vicious target of the Chinese communists for years. The Tibetan resistance branded them as enemy of the faith (བསྟན་དགྲ་རྒྱ་དམར་) As the communists invaded Amdo on the north east part of Tibet which in geographic terms classed as Tibetan still account for more than 97% of the total area of Qinghai today. These include Tsolho, Malho, Tsojang, Golok and Yulshul. This area remained traditional Tibetans with their nomadic life style until 1958 when the Chinese communists over ran this area and used it as the Chinese communist gulag for thousands of political prisoners to be “reformed by labour”. The communists transformed it into a land of carnage and famine. They hurriedly forced collectivisation upon the inhabitants of this region. 90% of the farmers were forced into collectives. The respected and welknown Tibetan teacher Geshe Sherab Gyatso who was Vice-Governor of Qinghai at the time voiced his concern at the National People’s Congress pleading to “pay attention to the unique feature of “ethnic minorities” during the height of collectivisation”. His words fell on deaf ears. The communists took away everything from the people and the people were left with nothing. This was naturally met with resistance by the Tibetans and later they were joined by other groups such as the Salars, Mongolians and Han Chinese, Hui, Bonan and Dingxian in Eastern Qinghai. The Tibetans had already rebelled against collectivisation. Now, Mao wanted the system of Agricultural Producers Co-operatives to be imposed all over the province. Knowing that the Lamas are venerated by the Tibetan people, the communists abducted Jnana Rinpoche under the pretext of “study classes”. He was revered by the Tibetans since he was the tutor of the Panchen Lama. Stung by the collectivisation and coo-operative drives against the will of the people, Tibetans led by Nori Pon revolted against the Chinese communists demanding to halt the collectivisation and the release of Janana Rinpoche. Collectivisation by the CCP means, wholesale confiscation of all personal wealth without compensation. YOU OWN NOTHING AND THE STATE OWNS EVERYTHING! ITS STATE SANCTIONED ROBBERY! The PLA was sent and when the rebels came to know of the PLA’S arrival, they fled leaving behind women and children. The PLA went on the rampage without even checking whether people were armed or not and killed thousands of unarmed civilians! They called such barbarism “pacification of armed counter-revolutionary bandits”. When Janana Rinpoche heard of the appalling tragedy, he committed suicide! He knew that he would be killed but the communists twisted the story by saying, he killed himself in order to “evade punishment”. After the mass murders, the communists meted punishments to what they called “Xunhua bandit uprising”. There were 10,840 participants in the rebellion according to CCP records. “THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT WAS METED TO THE MONASTIC RELIGIOUS PERSONAL” which means of course the monks and nuns! “They were without exception sentenced to long term imprisonment and paraded before the masses as living teaching materials or caricatured in cartoons”!
The Chinese rubber stamp parliament so called National People’s Congress issued virtually a killing licence of Tibetans by calling for the suppression of ethnic minorities to “rectify and criticise local nationalism”. Thousands of monks and nuns were locked up and said they were given “special trainings”. These were in fact secret prisons where they were tortured, starved or beaten to death! According to CCP’s own documents 23,260 Tibetans and others were slaughtered by “wrongful arrests,wrongful verdicts, and collective training” which is a euphemism for mass murder! These were admitted after the Panchen Lama wrote his 70,000 word petition to Mao!
The CCP’s number one enemy is Tibetan Buddhism when it deals with Tibet because the real resistance comes from the flag bearers of Buddhism-who are the monks and nuns. This is supported by the fact that more than 70% of self-immolators in occupied Tibet are monks/nuns or ex-monks! No wonder then, that even the schools either found by Lamas or monks or schools associated with a monastery are being closed. The CCP detest monks and nuns and don’t even call monasteries but “reactionary dens”! The CCP’s official plan is “to plant red banner of the communist party throughout China”. This was a policy instituted in May 29th 1958 and today, it has succeeded in having the blood soaked CCP flag on every monastery including the holy Potala! Is the CCP satisfied with just raising the blood drenched CCP rag on the monasteries? A thousand times NO! ITS ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO ERADICATE THE DHARMA FROM THE DEEP RECESSES OF EVERY TIBETAN AND MAKE EVERY TIBETAN A HEATHEN ཀླ་ཀློ་ The Chinese hold grudge against the Japanese and bristles at every thing Japan has allegedly done to China. They continue to brainwash Chinese children about Japanese alleged “atrocities” which has resulted in the attacking of a Japanese mother and child when they were boarding a bus in China. A good Chinese Samaritan Hu Youping tried to protect the Japanese victims but she herself was killed by the knife wielding Chinese communist thug! Two weeks before this incident two American teachers were stabbed by communist thugs who are brainwashed by anti-American racist slogans by the CCP. The hatred against Japan is so alarming that when Hu Youping died in her sacrifice to save Japanese lives, Chinese social media frowned upon her for saving the Japanese mother and child! However, in the Tibetan exile community, nobody seems to care for the suffering inflicted by communist China upon the innocent Tibetans and instead are sucking up to the CCP and Chinese in general. Is this not betraying the 1.2 million Tibetans slaughtered by the evil CCP! Are Tibetan exiles indifferent to the terrible sufferings Tibetans have been subjected to by the CCP for the last seventy years? What happened to their humanity to the more than one million Tibetans whose lives were snuffed out through terror and horror by the enemy? Owing to such callous disregard for the suffering of our own forefathers, now we are seeing more and more Tibetan collaborators and CCP spies in our midst!!! Many of them are going to occupied Tibet with a visa which brands Tibetan exiles as “oversea Chinese”! Is it not a shame that you forget your own people’s suffering and yet try not to hurt the sentiment of the enemy! What kind of logic is this? If Tibetans don’t guard themselves, the present attitude will only create more traitors, turncoats and collaborators among the exiles! Every Tibetan should learn about the atrocities the CCP has committed and learn to recognise the enemy and be determined to do unto them what they have done unto us! This is human nature! Ultimately, no matter whatever it takes, without independence, Tibetan language, culture, Buddhism and civilisational heritage will not survive! THE CCP IS HELL BENT TO ELIMINATE IT WITHOUT A TRACE! IT IS DETERMINED TO EXTERMINATE THE TIBETANS AS A PEOPLE! KNOWING THE ENEMIES GAME, WE MUST NEVER FORGIVE OR FORGET THE ENEMY. IF WE DO, WE ARE DOING IT AT OUR OWN PERIL!