DHARMSALA, India - Tibetan exiles saw a chance to put China on the spot ahead of the Beijing Olympics, but never expected their protests to spread to Tibet and turn violent. Now the Dalai Lama is threatening to quit if his people don’t return to peaceful resistance.

It’s a warning he has used before — telling Tibetans to return to peaceful protests during 1989 unrest — but this time it comes amid deep divisions within the Tibetan community between those who back his pacifist approach and an angry young generation that demands action.

While the situation inside Tibet remains unclear, much of the violence last week appears to have been committed by Tibetans against Han Chinese — a fact that troubles the 72-year-old Dalai Lama, who has long called for Tibetans to have significant autonomy within China.

“Whether we like it or not, we have to live together side by side,” the Dalai Lama told reporters Tuesday in the northern Indian hill town of Dharmsala, seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. “We must oppose Chinese policy but not the Chinese. Not on a racist basis.”

Though fearful of a Chinese crackdown — he compared the plight of Tibetans to that of “a young deer in a tiger’s hands” — the Dalai Lama insisted he could not abide violence by his own people. Peaceful protest is the only way, he said.

He said that if the situation gets out of control, his “only option is to completely resign.”

An aide later clarified that the Dalai Lama meant he would step down as the political leader of the exile government — not as the supreme religious leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

Regardless, his call for Tibetans to work with the Chinese stands in stark contrast to the “Free Tibet” chants of thousands of Tibetan youths, Buddhist monks and nuns who have marched the steep paths of Dharmsala in recent days, angry faces painted with Tibetan flags and chests smeared with blood-red paint.

They want action not diplomacy, independence not autonomy.

Youth activist cites frustration
“There is growing frustration among the younger generations. They have been talking for 20 years and nothing came out of it,” said Tsewang Rigzin, head of the Tibetan Youth Congress.

He urged “the protesters in Tibet to continue in their protests until China gets out of Tibet.”

While hesitant to directly criticize the Dalai Lama — who is deeply revered by Tibetans — and careful not to endorse violence, the younger activists warn that patience with his approach is running thin.

“I certainly hope the middle way approach will be reviewed. The Tibetan nation and Tibetan culture are on the verge of extinction,” Rigzin said.

Another activist, Tenzin Choedon, a 28-year-old student, said: “It is time for a change in Tibet and the Tibetan movement.”

The activists argue that the Dalai Lama is squandering a golden opportunity by not opposing China hosting the Olympics.

“We have to seize the opportunity of the Olympics,” said Rigzin. “We have to shift the spotlight while the whole world is watching to show the true color of China.”

The Youth Congress and other exile groups began a Dharmsala-to-Tibet walk on March 10 — just before Beijing was to kick off its Olympic celebrations with a torch run through Tibet. It was also the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising in Tibet that forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India.

When Indian authorities stopped the first march just days after it began, the exiles embarked on a second attempt.

It’s a far more antagonistic approach than the Dalai Lama prefers. On Tuesday, he urged the marchers to abandon the project, saying it would only spark confrontation with Chinese troops at the border. “Will you get independence? What’s the use?” he asked.

Yet even the Dalai Lama understands the anger of the young.

“In recent years our approach has had no concrete improvement inside Tibet, so naturally (there are) more and more signs of restlessness, even inside Tibet,” he said.

The turmoil in Tibet also has laid bare the inability of Tibetans to capitalize on the intense exposure to their cause and extract concessions from China.

“We are helpless,” said Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan exile government, echoing comments by the Dalai Lama.

The government announced Monday that it was setting up a committee to coordinate the actions of Tibetan groups during the crisis. But word has not reached every group.

“So far we have not heard from them,” said B. Tsering, head of the Tibetan Women’s Association, which is taking part in the march to Tibet.

Despite China’s charge that the Dalai Lama and his supporters planned the uprising, the protests in Tibet and cities around the world were spontaneous — organized by local Tibetan groups and their sympathizers, B. Tsering said.

“If this continues I’m afraid the Tibetan people might lose control. It could get difficult,” she said. “Lots of demonstrations are decided on by the young people and we can’t control them.

The Dalai Lama insists pacifism is the only path to saving Tibet from the “cultural genocide” that he sees being inflicted by Han Chinese migration to Tibet and the communist regime’s religious restrictions.

“Our only strengths are justice and truth,” he said. “Force is immediate, but the effects of truth sometimes take longer.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23686441/

BEIJING - The Dalai Lama called Sunday for an international investigation into China's crackdown against protesters in Tibet, which he said is facing a "cultural genocide" and where his exiled government said 80 people were killed in the violence.

The demonstrations were the fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule in the region in nearly two decades, leading to sympathy protests elsewhere and embarrassing China ahead of the Olympic Games.

Along with 80 killed, some 72 people were injured in the protests, said Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the exiles. He said the figures were confirmed by multiple sources inside Tibet who had counted corpses. China's state media said 10 people died.

Meanwhile, hundreds of armed police and soldiers patrolled the streets of Lhasa two days after Tibetans torched buildings and stoned Chinese residents. Hong Kong Cable TV reported some 200 military vehicles, carrying 40 to 60 armed soldiers each, drove into the city center of Lhasa on Sunday.

Streets mostly empty
Footage showed the streets were mostly empty other than the security forces. Messages on loudspeakers warned residents to "Discern between enemies and friends, maintain order" and "Have a clear stand to oppose violence, maintain stability."

The Tibetan spiritual leader, speaking in Dharmsala, the north Indian hill town where Tibet's government-in-exile is based, said "Some respected international organization can find out what the situation is in Tibet and what is the cause."

"Whether the (Chinese) government there admits or not, there is a problem. There is an ancient cultural heritage that is facing serious danger," the Dalai Lama said. "Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place."

It was not immediately clear if he was referring to China's overall policies in Tibet when he spoke of a genocide, or the recent crackdown.

The violence erupted just two weeks before China's Summer Olympic celebrations kick off with the start of the torch relay, which passes through Tibet. China is gambling that its crackdown will not draw an international outcry over human rights violations that could lead to boycotts of the Olympics.

Travel alert
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on China "to exercise restraint in dealing with these protests," while the State Department issued a travel alert for Americans in the region. Her statement also called for China to release monks and others jailed for protesting.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported at least 10 civilians were burned to death on Friday. But the Tibetan exiles said that, of the 80 they confirmed were killed, 26 alone died Saturday next to the Drapchi prison in Lhasa. Five girls were killed in the town's central Tibetan neighborhood, said Tenzin Taklha, the senior aide to the Dalai Lama.

China restricts access to Tibet for foreign media, making it difficult to independently verify the casualties and the scale of protests and suppression.

The latest unrest began Monday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950.

Initially, the protests were led by Buddhist monks demanding the release of other detained monks. Their demands spiraled to include cries for Tibet's independence and turned violent Friday when police tried to stop a group of protesting monks. Pent-up grievances against Chinese rule came to the fore, as Tibetans directed their anger against Chinese and their shops, hotels and other businesses.

Amid the clampdown that followed, foreign tourists in Lhasa were told to leave, a hotel manager and travel guide said, with the guide adding that some were turned back at the airport.

Sympathy protests
Even as Chinese forces appeared to reassert control in Lhasa, sympathy protests had erupted on Saturday in an important Tibetan town 750 miles away in Gansu Province. Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans after they marched from the historic Labrang monastery and smashed windows in the county police headquarters in Xiahe, witnesses said.

On Sunday, Gansu provincial Governor Xu Shousheng called the protests "a planned and organized destructive activity" and blamed the "outside Dalai group" for instigating the riots.

Also in recent days, demonstrations by Tibetan exiles and their supporters sprouted up in neighboring Nepal, New York, Switzerland and Australia.

The Chinese government is hoping a successful Olympics will boost its popularity at home as well as its image abroad. But Beijing's hosting of the Olympics has already attracted scrutiny of China's human rights record and its pollution problems.

So far, international criticism of the crackdown in Tibet has been mild. The U.S. and European Union called for Chinese restraint without any threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions.

"What is happening in Tibet and Beijing's responses to it will not affect the games very much unless the issue really gets out of control," said Xu Guoqi, a China-born historian at Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Saturday he opposed an Olympic boycott over Tibet. "We believe that the boycott doesn't solve anything," Rogge told reporters on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. "On the contrary, it is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing."

The details emerging from witness accounts and government statements suggested Beijing was preparing a methodical campaign to deal with the unrest _ one that if carefully modulated would minimize bloodshed and avoid wrecking Beijing's grand plans for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.

In Lhasa, law-enforcement agencies issued a notice offering leniency for demonstrators who surrender before the end of Monday and threatening severe punishment for those who do not.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23655386/

Dehra, India — More than 100 Tibetan exiles began a hunger strike Thursday after police in northern India dragged them away from a six-month march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games.

The demonstrators had vowed to march from India to Tibet to coincide with the start of the Aug. 8-24 Games. Indian officials — fearing the march would embarrass China — banned the exiles from leaving the Kangra district that surrounds the city of Dharmsala — the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.

The exiles resisted arrest by sitting or lying down, but they were hauled into police buses here in the town of Dehra, about 12 miles from the district boundary. Some wept or shouted “Free Tibet!” and other slogans, but there was no violence, witnesses said.

Senior police official Atul Fulzele said the protesters were charged with threatening the region's “peace and tranquility.” Hours after being charged, the protesters began a hunger strike.

The Tibetan exiles appeared before a magistrate late Thursday and were asked to sign a statement promising to refrain from political activity “now and in the future,” Tenzin Palkyi, a march coordinator, told The Associated Press.

In the past, protesters charged with similar offenses have been released after formally pledging not to carry on demonstrating.

But the marchers refused and were told that they would be detained for 14 days, Palkyi said. They were being held in a hotel because the jail cannot accommodate them all.

No government official was immediately available to verify Palkyi's comments.

Nine people from the U.S., Scotland, Germany, Poland and Australia, who were marching with the Tibetans but were not arrested, began a hunger strike of their own, said Clay Di'Chro, a U.S. citizen.

Despite the arrests, organizers vowed to continue the march.

“We will have to find a way,” said Palkyi. “Our legal team will deal with the police.”

The march began Monday, the day Tibetans commemorated their 1959 uprising against China. Demonstrations took place around the world, including a protest by 300 Buddhist monks in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. That protest is believed to be the largest in the city since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989.

Soldiers and police were deployed around two Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa, witnesses and residents said Thursday.

A man who answered the phone at the Sera Monastery said monks had been confined inside. Another Lhasa resident, who also refused to be identified, said the Sera and Drepung monasteries were encircled by army personnel and police.

It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of the events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area.

Earlier Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang confirmed that protests had taken place, but said the situation had “stabilized.” Qin accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of inciting separatism, though he provided no evidence.

Qin also said China's determination to “safeguard national unification” is firm, so further protests “will not take place.”

Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically part of China, but many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group.

http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=1902bb4c-ad15-493d-b263-a80381793758

Jummas

'Jumma' is the collective name for the eleven tribes of the CHT.

How do they live? The two largest tribes, the 350,000-strong Chakma and the Marma, are both Buddhist, while other tribes are Hindu, Christian or practice their own religions. The Hill Tracts are rugged and steep, making it difficult to grow food. To make best use of the land, the Jumma tribes practise a form of 'shifting cultivation', growing food in small parts of their territory, before moving on to another area and allowing the land to recover. This is known locally as 'Jhum' cultivating, the origin of the term 'Jumma'. The Mru people live further away from the other Jumma peoples, on the hill-tops. They generally live in houses built on tall stilts.

What problems do they face? The Bangladesh government has long seen the Chittagong Hill Tracts as empty land onto which it can move poor Bengali settlers, with scant regard for the area's Jumma inhabitants. In the last 50 years, the Jummas have gone from being practically the sole inhabitants of the Hill Tracts to being almost outnumbered by settlers. As well as being displaced by the settlers, who are given the best land, the Jummas have long faced violent repression from the Bangladesh military. Ever since Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, the Jummas have experienced waves of murder, torture and rape, and had their villages burnt down in a genocidal campaign against them. A Jumma political party, the Jana Samhati Samiti, with a military wing, was formed in response to these attacks. In 1997, the Jummas signed a peace deal with the government which put an end to some of the worst atrocities. But although matters are improving, the Jummas still experience violence and the theft of their land.

How does Survival help? Survival has been working with the Jumma peoples for many years, protesting against violations of the Jumma's rights and the violent repression they experience. Survival's work put pressure on the Bangladesh government, helping to push them into signing the peace deal in 1997.

A Jumma spokesman told Survival that, 'Only because of your efforts we have a ray of hope for our survival. You have brought about a sea change in the situation, now we have a hope for survival and a chance to reclaim our traditional homeland.' Although matters have now improved somewhat, the Jummas' problems are not yet over, and Survival continues to work with the Jummas, calling for the return of the land stolen from them, an end to military occupation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and some autonomy for the Jumma peoples, so that they can regain control over their land and future.

Help Now

MAE SOT, Thailand - The young Buddhist monk arrived here by boat last week from Burma, exhausted and disheveled, with no passport, the stubble of his hair dyed blond for a disguise, and wearing a traditional Burmese longyi wrap instead of his saffron-colored robe. He had to elude capture by running barefoot, racing two miles down a highway, and jumping into bushes when cars passed.

Burmese troops had been hunting Ashin Kovida for three weeks, since he helped lead pro-democracy protests in Burma's largest city, Rangoon. Ashin Kovida, 24, came to the safety of this mountain town on Thailand's western border, joining about 20 other refugees, many bringing with them new details of the ongoing crackdown in Burma, stories of dramatic escapes and fresh insights into the weeks of peaceful protests that prompted the military junta's violent response.

From the refugees' stories, a fuller picture is emerging of how a peaceful and apolitical movement by Burma's revered Buddhist monks morphed into the most serious challenge to the junta in two decades. After at least tacitly allowing the demonstrations to take place, the government launched its crackdown when a banned student group and the country's largest opposition party openly joined in and hoisted their banners.

The refugees also offered first-person accounts of seeing unarmed protesters shot and killed. These accounts could not be independently verified, and Burma, which the generals call Myanmar, remains largely closed to foreign journalists. The government has yet to give a full accounting of recent events.

'Blood was like a stream of water'
The monks had always planned for the demonstrations to last nine days, from Sept. 18 -- nine being a special number in Buddhist tradition, which holds that you should do something good for nine days. And they had always planned for their protests to be peaceful, according to Ashin Kovida and another new refugee here, U Pan Cha, a businessman who managed security for the Rangoon demonstrations.

Pan Cha, who was seasoned in protest during Burma's student uprising in 1988, said in an interview here that when last month's protests began, he held a regular nightly meeting with a Rangoon government official to outline the next day's plans and guarantee security. Pan Cha said the official did not try to stop the demonstrations, but only told him that the marches must remain peaceful.

Pan Cha's version of events also seemed to conform with widespread reports at the time that a battle-hardened Burmese army unit was moved into Rangoon to put down the protests. Pan Cha said that on the second day of the protests, he saw some soldiers clapping as they watched the procession pass by their post. He said he learned later that night that Senior Gen. Than Shwe, head of the junta, had issued an order to shoot the protesters, but the local official said he would not follow that order. On Sept. 26, Pan Cha said, he got word that a new army unit, from the 66th Division, which for years had been battling ethnic minority rebels from Karen state, had been brought to Rangoon, and that day, the violence began.

The government has officially confirmed that 10 people were killed in the crackdown against the demonstrations, which were organized by various groups, some loosely affiliated, in different Burmese cities. Pan Cha said he saw snipers shoot and kill six monks directly in front of him at the Shwedagon Pagoda on Sept. 26, and he saw others killed and hundreds beaten and dragged into trucks. "I cannot imagine how many people were hurt," he said. "Blood was like a stream of water" running down the pagoda road.

Demonstrations sparked by government violence
The Rangoon demonstrations were sparked by the government's violent reaction to a peaceful protest by monks in the central city of Pakokku. They were opposing a government-mandated fuel price increase in August that would be crippling to the poor. But when they began protesting in solidarity with the people, they were beaten by local officials; video of the beatings quickly appeared on the Internet. The monks and many laypeople were shocked by the government's actions.

Pan Cha said he was asked by a monk friend if he could help with security for planned protests. He met the monks on Sept. 17, the day before their first protest, and planned strategy. The monks insisted there be no violence and Pan Cha agreed.

On Sept. 18, the marches began. Thousands of monks emerged from Shwedagon Pagoda around 1 p.m., chanting a Buddhist mantra for peace and loving kindness. It was raining. Passersby stopped and prayed with the monks. Soon, many joined the march. Pan Cha asked them to join hands and walk outside the monks, forming a kind of protective chain.

Ashin Kovida was one of those monks organizing the marches. He said he knew the people would join the monks, so he routed the marches from Shwedagon Pagoda to Sule Pagoda -- the two most prominent temples in Rangoon -- because their busy streets meant that many people would see what was happening.

For several days, the marches met no government resistance. They grew in numbers.

On Sept. 22, the monks and their supporters won a key symbolic victory. They were allowed to march by the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition party leader under house arrest. Pan Cha had outlined the plan to march by her house in his regular nightly meeting with the government official. When the marchers arrived at University Avenue, where the Nobel Peace laureate's house is located, an army captain let them pass after conferring on the phone and with other officers and police on the scene.

"I was so happy I cried," Pan Cha said, his voice rising as he recalled the moment. "All the world leaders who want to meet with her and are not allowed, but we are allowed to meet. We could make the world know the Burmese people showed unity in support of Suu Kyi."

Read the rest of the article.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21482144/ - Original Story

LHASA, Tibet - Travelling in the field as part of a TV news crew, you get used to the attention a big video camera attracts.

In China, where you're rarely on your own, people stop mid-flow and stare, open-mouthed, occasionally throwing out a question to no one in particular about what you are doing.

In Tibet, where you're often in huge open spaces with nothing around but maybe a yak or two, the locals emerge like apparitions, drawn to the camera.

On a drive toward Shigatse from Lhasa one morning, we stopped at a riverbank overlooking the Yarlung Tsangpo - a vast meandering river that becomes known as the Brahmaputra once it crosses into neighboring India.

As we filmed the surrounding valley, an elderly Tibetan man and his granddaughter appeared from nowhere, looking intently at the camera.

Native curiosity
The man was wearing threadbare clothes – a dark brown blazer with holes and faded green sneakers. He didn't speak Mandarin, only Tibetan, but his 12-year-old granddaughter was fluent and translated what he said. She told me they lived on the other side of a mountain behind the valley.

Carrying a spool of black yak wool he was using to make a blanket, the 66-year-old grandfather watched our crew with quiet and respectful fascination. Unlike the Chinese and unlike us, he asked no questions. I peppered them with my own.

Is her grandfather retired? This provoked much mirth. "He's a peasant," came her rebuke. "They don't retire."

Where do they farm? Up the side of the mountain above us, where a herd of black cows grazed.

Does she have any brothers and sisters? A brother, he's 5. He doesn't go to school. 

How many are there in their household? Five of them. Her paternal grandparents, her mother, herself, and her brother. 

How old is her mother? She’s 38. 

Does she work? Yes, she's the main breadwinner of the family.

I wanted to ask more probing questions, but just a few feet away inside a van sat our government minder. It wasn't worth getting this family into any trouble.

Still, I wondered what their lives were like. Whether it was better than it was a decade or two ago. Whether it would have been better without the Chinese.

A better tomorrow?
That life in Tibet has improved is a common refrain among Chinese officials, who like to trot out impressive statistics. In addition to the $8 billion invested from 1994 to 2005, Beijing says they plan to funnel into Tibet an additional $10 billion over the next five years.

"The government puts the development of Tibet high on the priority list," said Yu Heping, deputy director-general at the Development and Reform Commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In an interview with Yu, he made repeated references to achieving a goal of double-digit GDP growth.

The refrain comes from some Tibetans, too.

A native farmer in a village outside of Shigatse sang the praises of the Chinese government. "They've done a lot to make our lives better," said Ci Nan, who was especially effusive about Beijing's investments in irrigation.

The young Tibetan woman assigned as our minder, De Qu, spent her teenage years in Beijing but couldn't wait to return to her native city, Lhasa, after graduating from university. She put it to me in succinct terms: "Actually it's much easier to find things here now. What you can find anywhere in China you can find here now, too."

But critics of China's modernization drive in Tibet argue that the material benefits come at too high a cost – part of a grand design to retain firm control over the region by remaking the former Himalayan kingdom wholly Chinese.

As long-time Tibet researcher, Robbie Barnett of Columbia University, put it, Tibetans "can see that they are being bought off."

Early this month, hundreds of exiles living in India led a protest over an Indian publication that praised Tibet's double-digit economic growth under the Chinese. 

This was followed by a protest in early August in a predominantly Tibetan corner of China's southwestern province of Sichuan – in which protesters called for the Dalai Lama's return and demanded greater religious freedom.  

The Tibetan people might be able to make money, said Barnett, but they're not able to make decisions about their own culture, traditions, or religion – all of which activists say are being slowly eroded by the increased migration of ethnic Chinese to Tibet.

Tibet: Reflecting on the West's development missteps?
It's this cultural erosion that speaks to outsiders, says Barnett.

"We all live in economies which are very wealthy, where we have destroyed our cultures basically or trampled on them," he said. "China has this huge advantage in that it can leapfrog over the West in terms of these sensitive questions of development and culture."

Click here to read the last paragraph of the article, the counterpoint to the last quote.

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• White Lotus 

(Skt. pundarika; Tib. pad ma dkar po): This represents the state of spiritual perfection and total mental purity (bodhi). It is associated with the White Tara and proclaims her perfect nature, a quality which is reinforced by the color of her body.

• Pink Lotus  

(Skt. padma; Tib. pad ma dmar po): This the supreme lotus, generally reserved for the highest deity. Thus naturally it is associated with the Great Buddha himself.

• Red Lotus

(Skt. kamala; Tib: pad ma chu skyes): This signifies the original nature and purity of the heart (hrdya). It is the lotus of love, compassion, passion and all other qualities of the heart. It is the flower of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.

• Blue Lotus

(Skt. utpala; Tib. ut pa la): This is a symbol of the victory of the spirit over the senses, and signifies the wisdom of knowledge. Not surprisingly, it is the preferred flower of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Myanmar opposition leader who was arrested during last month's mass protests against the junta died due to torture during interrogation, an activist group said on Wednesday.

In Washington, the United States threatened new sanctions against Myanmar after media reports of the death of Win Shwe.

"The junta must stop the brutal treatment of its people and peacefully transition to democracy or face new sanctions from the United States," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

The White House did not say what additional sanctions it was considering on the former Burma, but it called for a full investigation into Win Shwe's death.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said that Win Shwe, a 42-year-old member of the National League for Democracy, and four other people were arrested on September 26 because of their active support for and participation in the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years.

"He died as a result of torture during interrogation," the Thai-based group said in a statement on its Web site (www.aappb.org), sourcing its information to authorities in Kyaukpandawn township.

"However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead."

Official media in Myanmar said 10 people were killed when the junta sent in soldiers to end days of Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in September, although Western governments say the toll is likely to have been much higher.

The AAPP said in its statement that "many dead bodies and injured persons were cremated or placed in the river."

"Some dead bodies of monks have appeared in the Pazundaung River in Rangoon (Yangon) in the past few days. In addition, many of those who have been arrested have been tortured during interrogation."

U.S. First Lady Laura Bush told USA Today in an interview published on Wednesday that the United States would announce further sanctions on Myanmar's military government "within the next couple of days" if the junta does not take steps toward democracy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071010/wl_nm/myanmar_activist_dc_1;_ylt=AqsXNPhnR6dZQeILlevRQz8E1vAI

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YANGON, Myanmar - Security forces shot and wounded three people, and beat and dragged away dozens of Buddhist monks Wednesday in the most violent crackdown against the protests that began last month, witnesses said. About 300 monks and activists were arrested, dissidents said.

Reports from exiled Myanmar journalists and activists in Thailand said security forces had shot and killed as many as five people in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. The reports could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press.

The U.N. Security Council will meet later Wednesday to discuss Myanmar, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French reporters.

Witnesses in Yangon known to the AP said they had seen two women and one young man with gunshot wounds in the chaotic confrontations.

Zin Linn, information minister for the Washington-based National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which is Myanmar's self-styled government-in-exile, said at least five monks were killed, while an organization of exiled political activists in Thailand, the National League for Democracy-Liberated Area said three monks had been confirmed dead, and about 17 wounded.

Exiled Myanmar media reported similar figures, citing witnesses.

A Norway-based dissident radio station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, said that one monk was killed and several injured in clashes in downtown Yangon.

The security forces fired warning shots and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds of demonstrators while hauling away defiant Buddhist monks into waiting trucks — the first mass arrests since protests in this military dictatorship erupted Aug. 19.

The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks across the country in the largest protests in nearly 20 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_re_as/myanmar

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YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta poured troops and police armed with rifles into central Yangon on Tuesday in an attempt to end the biggest demonstrations against military rule in nearly 20 years.

Security forces surrounded the Sule Pagoda, focus of two days of mass protests led by thousands of maroon-robed monks, and appeared to be ready to seal off the area, witnesses said.

In another possible sign of a looming clash, a well-placed source said detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to the notorious Insein prison on Sunday, a day after she appeared in front of her house to greet marching monks.

Some analysts said the junta was caught off guard by the speed with which sporadic marches against a sharp hike in fuel prices in mid-August had mushroomed into mass demonstrations against 45 years of military rule in the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma.

As the international community urged the generals to avoid a repeat of a bloody crackdown on protests in 1988 and the United States announced fresh sanctions against the junta, the U.N. human rights investigator for Myanmar said he feared "very severe repression."

Click here to read the rest of the article at Yahoo News

***Aung San Suu Kyi- Born 19 June 1945 in Yangon (Rangoon), is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma), and a noted prisoner of conscience. A Buddhist, Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

She is frequently called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; Daw is not part of her name, but an honorific similar to madam for older, revered women, literally meaning "aunt". ^{- Wikipedia.com}

“Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma,” the president said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. The military junta renamed the Asian country Myanmar, but the United States does not recognize the change.

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YANGON, Myanmar - As many as 10,000 Buddhist monks marched through Myanmar's central city of Mandalay on Saturday, witnesses said, in one of the largest demonstrations against the country's strict military regime since a 1988 democratic uprising.

At the same time, about 1,000 monks began marching toward downtown in the country's biggest city, Yangon, from the Shwedagon Pagoda _ Myanmar's most revered shrine and a historic center for protest movements.

It was the fifth straight day the monks have marched in Yangon, and the numbers indicated that the anti-government protest were growing in size.

The monk's activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after the government raised fuel prices, triggering demonstrations against policies that are causing economic hardship.

'Evil military despotism'
Meanwhile, a monks' organization for the first time urged the public to join in protesting "evil military despotism" in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"In order to banish the common enemy evil regime for Burmese soil forever, united masses of people need to join hands with the united clergy forces," the All Burma Monks Alliance said in the statement, received Saturday by The Associated Press.

Little is known of the group or its membership, but its communiques have spread widely by word of mouth and through opposition media in exile.

"We pronounce the evil military despotism, which is impoverishing and pauperizing our people of all walks including the Clergy, as the common enemy of all our citizens," the statement said.

A day earlier, about 1,500 barefoot Buddhist monks marched more than 16 kilometers (10 miles) through Yangon's flooded streets, sometimes in knee-deep water, in a raging tropical downpour.

The monks drew more than 1,000 sympathizers to march with them.

"I feel so sorry to see the monks walking in heavy rain and taking such trouble on behalf of the people. I feel so grateful as well," said a 50-year-old woman with tears rolling down her face. Like most onlookers, she asked not to be named for fear of drawing the unwelcome attention from authorities.

At one point, a young man in white T-shirt and shorts flung himself to the ground, showing his devotion and gratitude by touching his forehead to one monk's feet, a Buddhist gesture of reverence.

Other protests
There were several other protest Friday, including one by 500 monks and residents in Mogok, 670 kilometers (420 miles) north of Yangon. Mogok famous for its rubies, and most of the protesters were gem mine workers.

The protest movement began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices, but has its basis in long pent-up dissatisfaction with the repressive military regime. Using arrests and intimidation, the government had managed to keep demonstrations limited in size and impact _ but they gained new life when the monks joined.

The government has been handling the situation gingerly, aware that forcibly breaking up the monks' protest in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar would likely cause public outrage.

The monks also struck an emotive chord among the public by gathering at Shwedagon, which is not only a religious center but a historical focal point for social and political protests.

Student strikers against British colonial rule gathered there in the 1920s and 30s, and the country's independence hero, Gen. Aung San, took up the same cause there in a famous 1946 speech.

But to many people, the pagoda is best remembered as the site of a vast Aug. 26, 1988, rally where Aung San's daughter, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, took up leadership of a pro-democracy movement.

The 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed by the military, and Suu Kyi has spent nearly 12 of the past 18 years in detention.

Monks launched the latest series of protests Tuesday, after the junta failed to apologize by a Monday deadline for allegedly roughing them up during a protest in the northern town of Pakokku on Sept. 5.

MSNBC News

500 Nuns join monks on march (9/23)

YANGON (Reuters) - Buddhist nuns joined monks in growing protests against Myanmar's ruling generals on Sunday while the United States denounced the military leadership as brutal.

A day after a dramatic appearance of support for the marchers by detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, about 100 nuns joined more than 2,000 monks in prayer at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, devoutly Buddhist Myanmar's holiest shrine.

They then marched to the centre of the former capital.

It was one of five protest marches by monks in the city -- with at least 5,000 involved, the most since the protests began on August 19 -- and there were at least two in Mandalay, a major centre of the monkhood.

In New York, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in answer to a reporter's question, expressed sympathy for the protesters and denounced Myanmar's military.

"The Burmese people deserve better. They deserve (the) right to be able to live in freedom, just as everyone does. The brutality of this regime is well known and so we'll be speaking about that and I think the President (George W. Bush) will be speaking about it as well," she said.

There were no signs of trouble at Sunday's protests.

Plainclothes police kept watch, but there were no uniformed officers or soldiers in sight and people on the streets applauded as the marchers passed.

The mood was cheerful, with many people in Yangon seeing the emergence of Suu Kyi from her lakeside villa as a sign the military, which has ruled the former Burma for 45 years and put down a 1988 uprising ruthlessly, was being flexible.

It was the first time she had been seen in public since her latest detention began in May 2003. For many onlookers, already stunned by police allowing marching monks through the barricades sealing off her street, it was overwhelming.

"Some of us could not control our tears," one witness told Reuters after 1,000 monks held a 15-minute prayer vigil at the house to which Suu Kyi is confined with no telephone and needing official permission, granted rarely, to receive visitors.

Wearing an orange blouse and a traditional wraparound skirt, she emerged from a small door in the iron gate to the house, her hands held palm to palm in a gesture of Buddhist supplication.

RIOT SHIELDS

Soldiers carrying metal riot shields stood between the Nobel Peace laureate and the prayer-chanting monks.

"Aunty Suu also prayed for the well-being of all," the witness said.

However, on Sunday, the barbed-wire barricade at the entrance to her street was reinforced by four fire engines, several police vans and dozens of police carrying riot shields who refused to allow a group of 200 monks through.

News of the incident spread rapidly on a day when the monks marched despite Yangon being lashed by 11.54 inches of rain, the highest recorded in 39 years.

"The monks showed their courage, strong determination and discipline while the regime showed flexibility," a retired government official said. "I think this incident has shown us that we can sort out any problem among us amicably."

The generals are due to hold a quarterly summit in their new capital of Naypyidaw, carved out of the jungle, perhaps as early as Monday. Dealing with the protests is sure to top the agenda.

The protests, which began after huge fuel price increases and prompted midnight raids to round up the democracy activists who organized them, appear far from over.

On Sunday, a group of monks, one of them wielding a bullhorn, chanted a new slogan: "Our uprising must succeed."

A group calling itself the All Burma Monks Alliance urged ordinary people for the first time "to struggle peacefully against the evil military dictatorship" until its downfall.

Until now the monks, fearing reprisals against civilians and to ensure the protests in Yangon and other cities remained peaceful, have discouraged others from joining the marches.

"We pronounce the evil military despotism, which is impoverishing and pauperizing our people of all walks including the clergy, as the 'common enemy' of all our citizens," the alliance said in a statement published on the Myanmar-focused news Web site www.burmanet.org.

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The first time I heard of The Dali Lama, or even Buddhism, I was in New York with my sister. I was about 11 years old and we were riding on the subway back to Chrissy's apartment in Brooklyn. I don't exactly remember how we got focused on the back flap of this mans magazine, but I asked who it was. My sister told me The Dali Lama and the man who was reading the magazine was very nice. He overheard our conversation and ripped the back page off and handed it to us. After my sister gave me a quick history lesson on Tibet and Buddhism, I have been fond of Buddhism. I am not a religious person myself, but I think that out of all of the religions all over the world, this one makes the most sense. Buddhism is all about compassion for others, understanding, listening, inner peace, knowledge, self discovery, things that really matter. I think these are the essential qualities that all of the other religions forgot about, there is no emphasis on any of them. My whole family is Catholic, I would never ever change my religion, but I've heard too many times (in every religion and denomination) that God is better than you, God is all-knowing, he is all powerful, all-loving, etc. However, I guess it's just the kind of person I am, I can't believe in something when I've experienced the exact opposite. I've never felt like someone was "watching over me". (If you think about it, that's kind of scary). I can believe in things I can't see, absolutely, I believe in wind, I believe in love, I believe in friendship and Karma. But I've felt those things, I love my family and Ryan. I feel the wind. I love my friends, and I know that when I do something rotten, I am going to get bitten in the ass later for it because Karma does exsist. But all that I've experienced in my life, I've never felt what other people claim they feel. Don't get me wrong, I think that religion is a beautiul thing. It helps people in so many different ways! It gives them hope, it gives them friends, it gives them strength. It's just not for me.

 

I got WAY off topic.

Tibet (where the Dali Lama was born and should be living right now) is having a horrible time. Please check out these links and get informed and involved.

www.dalailama.com

http://www.tibet.com/DL/index.html

http://www.tibetsites.com/

Wise words

~A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.

~Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

~Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

~If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

~In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

~Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

~Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.

~It is not so important to know everything as to appreciate what we learn.

~Through violence, you may 'solve' one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

~Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned.

~Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.

~Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength."
~No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.

~The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.

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New York (HRW), September 23: The Chinese government should immediately release seven Tibetan high school students detained on suspicion of writing pro-Tibetan independence slogans on buildings, Human Rights Watch said today. One of the detainees, aged 14, is reported to have been badly beaten during or after the arrest and was bleeding profusely when last seen by relatives. The seven male students, all from nomad families, are studying at the Amchok Bora village secondary school, in Xiahe (Labrang) county, Gannan prefecture in Gansu province. Four of the boys are 15 years old and three are 14. Gannan is designated as one of China’s official “Tibetan autonomous” areas.

Human Rights Watch said that police detained some 40 students on or around September 7. The students were alleged to have written slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet the previous day on the walls of the village police station and on other walls in the village. Within 48 hours, all but seven of the students were released from police custody. Police reportedly also questioned school staff about the slogan-writing graffiti incident.

“Arresting teenagers for a political crime shows just how little has changed in Tibet,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Beating up a child for a political crime shows just how far China has to go before it creates the ‘harmonious society’ China’s leaders talk so much about.”

The students were initially held in a police station in Amchok Bora, and allowed to see their families. However, on September 10, plainclothes officials believed to be state security moved them to the nearby county town of Xiahe (Labrang), east of the village. Shortly before the children were moved from the village, police had reportedly refused permission for the relatives to take the injured boy for medical treatment. Officials in Xiahe have since refused to reveal the students’ location or even to confirm that they are in custody.

The given names of five of the missing boys are Lhamo Tseten, age 15; Chopa Kyab, age 14; Drolma Kyab, age 14; Tsekhu, age 14; and a second Lhamo Tseten, age 15. The names of two others are unknown, and the identity of the wounded detainee is not known. Tibetans rarely use family names.

The students’ arrests are the latest example of an increasingly harsh response from Chinese authorities to the slightest hints of dissent over issues as diverse as cultural and religious policies, forced resettlement of Tibetan herders, environmental degradation, replacement of Tibetan cadres with ethnic Chinese ones, and increased migration of ethnic Chinese settlers to traditionally Tibetan regions. Several incidents in recent months have involved clashes between Tibetan residents and police forces.

In late September 2006, Chinese border police opened fire on a group of 73 Tibetans as they walked toward the border with Nepal. Two people, including a teenage nun, were shot and killed, and police subsequently detained about a dozen children. Their whereabouts were not known for four months, and no public investigation has been undertaken into that event.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which China is a State Party, children have the right to freedom of expression. No child should be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or detained unlawfully or arbitrarily. Children who are legally detained should be held only as a matter of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time. Children in detention have the right to contact with their families and to prompt access to legal assistance.

Human Rights Watch urged UNICEF to urgently raise these cases with the government and seek guarantees of protection for these vulnerable children. “To end this embarrassing and abhorrent episode, the Chinese government should immediately release the boys, protect them and their parents from further abuse, and explain why they were treated so harshly,” said Adams.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 6:02 pm and is filed under China, Human Rights, Tibet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://pemadesign.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/human-rights-watch-calls-for-release-of-tibetan-students/

When we rise in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad news: violence, crime, wars, and disasters. I cannot recall a single day without a report of something terrible happening somewhere. Even in these modern times it is clear that one's precious life is not safe. No former generation has had to experience so much bad news as we face today; this constant awareness of fear and tension should make any sensitive and compassionate person question seriously the progress of our modern world.

1. Universal humanitarianism is essential to solve global problems;
2. Compassion is the pillar of world peace;
3. All world religions are already for world peace in this way, as are all humanitarians of whatever ideology;
4. Each individual has a universal responsibility to shape institutions to serve human needs.

http://www.dalailama.com/page.62.htm

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