XPost: alt.politics.religion, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, soc.culture.usa   
   XPost: soc.rights.human, talk.religion.buddhism   
   From: peter@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com   
      
   Monks, Nuns Abandon Monasteries   
   2012-01-31   
      
   Greater intrusion by Chinese authorities is emptying Buddhist institutions in   
   a county in the Tibet Autonomous Region.   
   Monks and nuns have abandoned their monasteries in a Central Tibetan county,   
   preferring to leave rather than submit to   
   “intrusive” new Chinese regulations, according to Tibetan sources.   
      
   The exodus over the last two months comes amid an increasing crackdown by   
   Chinese authorities following Tibetan protests   
   highlighting rights abuses and unprecedented self-immolations mostly by monks   
   fed up with increasing religious curbs.   
      
   “The monks and nuns have already left” their monasteries in Driru county   
   in the Nagchu prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous   
   Region (TAR), a Tibetan living in Australia said, speaking on condition of   
   anonymity and citing sources in the region.   
      
   He named Driru, Pekar, Choeling, Tagmo, and Drongna monasteries, and Jana, a   
   nunnery, as the affected facilities.   
      
   “All who were not willing to live under the strict restrictions imposed by   
   Chinese [authorities] chose to leave,” he said.   
      
   A Tibetan monk based at Sera monastery in India confirmed the account, citing   
   his own sources in Driru and naming other   
   monasteries—including Drubde and Rachen—that he said are also now deserted.   
      
   “The monks are worried that they may be forced to return, because the   
   Chinese officials are saying they have no authority   
   to leave on their own,” he said.   
      
   Boycott of celebrations   
      
   Local Tibetans are now boycotting celebrations of the Lunar New Year to   
   demonstrate their support for the monks who have   
   left, he said.   
      
   It was not immediately clear whether the monasteries had been formally closed,   
   or whether any resident monks or nuns still   
   remained.   
      
   Some of the restrictions imposed on Tibetan monasteries by China include   
   limits to the numbers of monks enrolled, and an   
   age limit of 18 years set for those who wish to join, the Australian-based   
   source said.   
      
   “Besides, the monasteries have to seek permission from Chinese officials for   
   all kinds of work, big or small.”   
      
   Chinese officials have also attempted to confiscate the revenue from monastery   
   stores and other earnings, the source said.   
      
   But because the monasteries were built on contributions from the general   
   public, and not with Chinese funds, the monks   
   regard the Chinese order as “interference in their religious freedom,” he   
   said.   
      
   “They have challenged the Chinese to convert all the monasteries’ wealth   
   into currency and to distribute this among the   
   people, who are the rightful owners of the wealth.”   
      
   Local Tibetans protesting the situation to Chinese officials are being told   
   only that “a few monks who don’t want to live in   
   the monasteries are creating the problem,” the source said.   
      
   'Massive increase' in intrusion   
      
   Speaking in an interview, Columbia University Tibet expert Robbie Barnett said   
   there has been a “massive increase” in state   
   intrusion into monasteries in  the Tibet Autonomous Region in the last few   
   weeks.   
      
   Under current regulations, all monasteries in the region must now display   
   pictures of Chinese leaders Mao Zedong, Jiang   
   Zemin, and Hu Jintao, and must fly the Chinese flag, he said.   
      
   And in a new rule sent to the regional capital Lhasa on Dec. 20, Communist   
   Party cadres stationed in the monasteries must   
   each “make friends” with one monk, and keep a file on that monk’s   
   thinking, Barnett said.   
      
   “These kinds of incursions by the authorities, either by the security forces   
   or by forcing officials and ‘work teams’ on the   
   monks, are getting to the point where we will see monks just walking away from   
   these places,” Barnett said.   
      
   Also speaking in an interview, Bhuchung Tsering—vice president of the   
   Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet—   
   said that Buddhism in Tibet is facing “increasing restrictions and threats   
   that we have not seen before.”   
      
   “And this is something that the Chinese authorities should be mindful of.”   
      
   Buddhism should be “left on its own, as used to be the case, without any   
   political involvement,” Tsering said.   
      
   “Unless the Chinese authorities do that, their continued interference in the   
   Tibetan people’s religious processes will be a   
   detriment to the future of Tibetan Buddhism.”   
      
   Protests spread   
      
   Meanwhile, sources said, posters and leaflets calling for freedom for Tibet   
   and the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai   
   Lama appeared on Jan. 25 at Ragya monastery in the Golog prefecture of   
   China’s Qinghai province.   
      
   “Police could not identify the persons responsible, and later threatened to   
   close the monastery,” India-based Tibetan exile   
   Ragya Lowang said, citing sources in the region.   
      
   Monks had earlier displayed a large photo of the Dalai Lama and the banned   
   Tibetan national flag in the main hall of the   
   monastery, prompting an investigation by Chinese authorities, Ragya Lowang   
   said.   
      
   Also last week, on Jan. 23, “several hundred” Tibetan monks and laypeople   
   from Namtso monastery and Meruma town in   
   Sichuan’s Ngaba prefecture sat down at a crossroads to protest Chinese rule,   
   according to a local Tibetan source.   
      
   “The laymen took off their upper clothes and remained half-naked, chanting   
   mantras and eating tsampa [roasted barley   
   flour] in protest,” the source said.   
      
   “They marched to the main town at Meruma, and when Chinese police tried to   
   block them, they continued to walk ahead,   
   shouting slogans calling for the long life of the Dalai Lama and for freedom   
   for Tibet,” he said.   
      
   On the same day, hundreds of Tibetans also gathered at Tsodun monastery  in   
   Ngaba and held a candle-light vigil. The vigil   
   lasted for three hours beginning at 5:00 p.m., according to a report by the   
   International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).   
      
   “Police and soldiers arrived, [and] the full consequences of the incident   
   are not known,” ICT said in its report.   
      
   Reported by Chakmo Tso and Rigdhen Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan service.   
   Translations by Karma Dorjee and Rigdhen Dolma.   
   Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney.   
      
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