Ban photos, images or activities that could undermine “national unity” or promote a “separatist ideology.” The Chinese government has long wanted to control the election of the future Tibetan spiritual leader. In response, Tenzin Gyatso, 88, states that he is in good health and that he wants to “live beyond 100 years.” The unsolved mystery of the fate of the Panchen Lama.
Beijing () – Beijing's 10 commandments for the death of the Dalai Lama. A list of directives issued by the Chinese communist leadership and addressed to the monks and inhabitants of the Tibetan region, in anticipation of the death of the highest spiritual leader (and one of the sworn enemies of the dragon). They are contained in a so-called “behavior manual” that is beginning to circulate in Chinese chat rooms and social networks. A vademecum of “things not to do” to nip manifestations of dissidence in the bud – cases of self-immolations by monks and citizens in the region are not rare, as has happened in the recent past – or mass demonstrations in favor of democracy , rights and religious freedom.
In the event of the Dalai Lama's death, therefore, Buddhist monks will not be able to show photos or images of their spiritual leader, just as – according to a vague definition – they will not be able to carry out “illegal religious rites or activities.” This was reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA), which broadcasts reports from inside Tibet according to which the authorities have distributed this “conduct manual” in monasteries in the province of Gansu, in the northwest of the country. The former political prisoner, now in exile, Golok Jigme, also speaks of the decalogue of conduct. He emphasizes that these norms also go beyond the current leaders, because they seek to “interrupt the process of recognition” of reincarnation and future leaders.
The Dalai Lama and the dragon
China, which annexed Tibet in 1951, rules the western autonomous region with an iron fist and claims that only Beijing can choose the successor and next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, as stipulated by the country's own internal laws. On the contrary, Tibetans believe that it is the Dalai Lama himself who chooses the body in which he will be reincarnated, a process that has occurred 13 times since 1391, when the first leader was born. Earlier this month, the current leader, Tenzin Gyatso, 88, addressed hundreds of devotees offering him a prayer for long life, stating that he is in good health and is “determined to live beyond 100 years.” . On several occasions he stressed that the successor – whom the Tibetans want to determine by reincarnation, as his faith dictates, while Beijing wants to control by selection – would come from a free country, without Chinese interference.
After all, he himself had to flee Tibet during the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule and has since lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, where he has become the longest-serving spiritual leader. history of his native region. April also marks the 35th anniversary of the “number two” of Tibetan Buddhism, that Panchen Lama kidnapped by the Chinese communist authorities in India when he was just a child: Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was captured along with his family by the Chinese authorities on the 17th. May 1995, three days after being recognized as Panchen Lama by the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. For Tibetan Buddhism, the Panchen Lama is important because he has the task of recognizing the new rebirth of the Dalai Lama after his death. It is also a sign of how China is trying make sure the election of the next Dalai Lama after his death. In response to Beijing's meddling, Tenzin Gyatso has theorized in the past that he could be the last Dalai Lama or the reincarnation chosen by a kind of “conclave” formed by the main Buddhist abbots of the diaspora.
The accusation of separatism
Human rights activist groups and NGOs say the manual, distributed in the Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the historic Amdo region, is nothing more than Beijing's latest effort to suppress the religious freedom of the Tibetan people. Furthermore, it would be “part of systematic attempts to make Tibetan Buddhists more loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and its political agenda than to religious doctrine,” according to Bhuchung Tsering, head of the research and monitoring unit of the International Campaign for Tibet in Washington. This,” he explained to RFA, “goes against all the principles of religious freedom of the Tibetan people, universally accepted and which China claims to support.”
China has imposed various measures to force monasteries to undergo political re-education and has strictly prohibited religious and ordinary citizens from contact with the Dalai Lama himself or other Tibetans in exile, whom the dragon openly accuses of “separatism” . In recent years, Beijing has intensified repression in the region and in other areas of the country populated by Tibetans, such as in Xinjiang with the Uyghur Muslim minority. “The government's latest campaigns against the Dalai Lama and the religious practices of Tibetan Buddhists in Gansu province,” says Nury Turkel of the bipartisan US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), “represent another attempt by the Chinese government of interfering in the Dalai Lama's reincarnation process.
Chinese repression
The manual-decalogue orders monks to avoid any activity that could undermine national unity, damage social stability in the name of religion or involve collaboration with separatist groups outside the country. Illegal organizations or institutions will not be allowed access to monasteries, and the monks' own educational system must avoid hosting or promoting elements that support a “separatist ideology.” Finally, the regulation also prohibits the dissemination of “separatist propaganda” by radio, Internet and television or by other means, and may punish any “deception” in the form of fraud, overt or covert.
Golog Jigme, who was imprisoned in 2008 and tortured by Chinese authorities for co-producing a documentary about the injustices suffered by Tibetans under Beijing's rule, charges: “Although the Chinese government carries out various political education and activities aimed at Tibetans, the main objective seems to be to eradicate Tibetan identity by dismantling religion and culture. Today he lives in Switzerland, he is a respected activist and fights to raise awareness about violations of human rights and religious freedom. There are also 10 Tibetan autonomous prefectures in Chinese provinces bordering Tibet, such as Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai and Yunnan, where many ethnic Tibetans live. In the Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province, where authorities have distributed the manuals, there live about 415,000 Tibetans who speak the Amdo dialect. The province has about 200 large and small monasteries under its administration. During a visit to two counties in Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in March, He Moubao, secretary of the Chinese Party State Committee, stressed the need for Tibetans to “sinicize” the religion and implement party policy, warning that monks “they must be guided” in this regard to “maintain national unity and social stability.”
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