Storm in the Grasslands - Self-Immolations in Tibet and Chinese Policy - A Report by the International Campaign for Tibet (2012).pdf

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STORM IN THE GRASSLANDS
Self-immolations in Tibet and Chinese policy
A report by the International Campaign for Tibet
Washington, DC l Amsterdam l Berlin l London l Brussels
www.savetibet.org
STORM IN THE GRASSLANDS
Self-immolations in Tibet and Chinese policy
A report by the International Campaign for Tibet
Washington, DC l Amsterdam l Berlin l London l Brussels
www.savetibet.org
Mourning
A poem by Tibetan blogger, Sengdor, published online in October, 2011
The sadness of living is more painful than death/[…]
Look at the smoke rising
from the monastery’s golden roof
Look at the doors of each monk’s cell
In every moment
After a storm bursts on one grassland
Another storm bursts on the other grassland
Following the direction of the wind
Dark shadows move accordingly
“To
burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance.”
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, in a letter to Dr Martin Luther King, 1965
Cover details
‘Self-immolation’ – a painting by Tashi Norbu, Tibetan artist based in Amsterdam, by kind
permission of the artist. The work expresses the dual hope that the self-immolators’ sacrifice
will lead to their religious realization of ultimate reality, through burning away ignorance, and
also ‘burn away’ the conventional reality of oppression.
A Tibetan pilgrim with flowers. Troops are visible as Tibetan pilgrims gather at the Jokhang
temple in Lhasa in September, 2012. At the Jokhang temple, one of Tibet’s holiest sites, Tibetan
pilgrims face intense security, with a constant presence of troops and airport-style scanners now
in operation. (Image: ICT).
STORM IN THE GRASSLANDS
SELF-IMMOLATIONS IN TIBET AND CHINESE POLICY
Acknowledgements
This report was written and researched by ICT in London and in Washington, DC.
Due to the political environment in Tibet and the restrictions placed on information-
gathering and the expression of views, particularly at this time, it is not possible to
name many of our sources and advisors. We are indebted to our Tibetan researchers
in the field in India and Nepal for their dedication, determination, and provision
of high-quality information and analysis during a particularly difficult time. We
are grateful to Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe, Kirti monks in Dharamsala, for
their vital and ground-breaking work documenting the unfolding situation, and to
Matthew Akester, for his generosity in translating from the Tibetan.
Thanks to Tibetan friends Namkho and Tsering for their courage and insights and
to Tashi Norbu for allowing us to use his painting ‘Self-Immolations’ on the cover.
Thanks also to High Peaks Pure Earth, Adam Koziel of the Helsinki Foundation for
Human Rights in Warsaw and to our designer Gabriella Nonino, for her expertise
and patience.
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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
Content
Executive summary ...........................................................................................................
7
The self-immolations in Tibet and Chinese policy ...............................................................
11
The self-immolations and a new political moment in Tibet .................................................
16
China’s ‘stability maintenance’ policies and securitization in Tibet ......................................
25
An insecure response and mixed messages: the Chinese media response to the self-
immolations and the death of Phuntsog ............................................................................
32
A message from young Tibetans in Tibet on the self-immolations ........................................
45
“The logic of despotism”: oppression, control and surveillance of Tibetan communities since
2008 ...............................................................................................................................
47
Self-immolations in Lhasa and their aftermath ...................................................................
57
‘Burning the Body’: self-immolations in a global and religious context ................................
63
Two poems from inside Tibet about the self-immolations ...................................................
68
The self-immolations in Tibet – the lives and deaths of Tibetans who set fire to themselves ..
87
“People living under the gun”: stories from Ngaba ............................................................
176
An Eight-Point Petition from Qinghai ................................................................................
192
Recommendations ...........................................................................................................
194
Note on geographical terms
Tibet was traditionally comprised of three main areas: Amdo (northeastern Tibet),
Kham (eastern Tibet) and U-Tsang (central and western Tibet). The Tibet Autonomous
Region was set up by the Chinese government in 1965 and covers the area of Tibet
west of the Drichu or Yangtze River, including part of Kham. The rest of Amdo
and Kham have been incorporated into Chinese provinces, and where Tibetan
communities were said to have ‘compact inhabitancy’ in these provinces they were
designated Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties. As a result most of
Qinghai and parts of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces are acknowledged by
the Chinese government to be ‘Tibetan.’ ICT uses the term ‘Tibet’ to refer to all
Tibetan areas currently under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.
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