In a matter of 2 years, I have gone from being a sympathiser of the Tibetan cause to being a skeptic of the CTA's actions and the motivations behind their every move. This has arisen principally out of my inability no matter how hard I try, to reconcile the actions and policies of the CTA (the reality) with the message and impression (the illusion) they have given to the world. If there is one thing the Lord Buddha taught, it is that we are to thoroughly investigate everything we are being told, against facts and logic. Buddhism after all is a science of logic and not an art of deception and it is here that I have serious misgivings with the CTA's ongoing deception of its own people and the public at large.
Below are excerpts from yet another CTA-initiated report on human rights condition in Tibet compiled by the Dharamshala-based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). First the TCHRD reported that 29 Tibetans have been imprisoned “without procedural guarantees and due legal process". I am glad that the group understands the meaning of due process because I would like to ask them what kind of due process the CTA undertook before it banned the Dorje Shugden worship and sent its practitioners into hiding underground in fear of persecutions. I would like to ask the TCHRD to respond to this question because if they have concerns for 29 individuals, surely they must be prepared to bear even heavier concerns for the tens of thousands of Shugden worshippers who have had oppression being inflicted upon them without any procedural guarantees and due process.
As for the TCHRD's call on Beijing to “respect Tibetan people’s right to self-determination and their right to preserve and promote their culture, identity, religion and language”, I would put it to the group that the Communist Government of China accords more rights of self determination to Tibetans in Tibet than the CTA does to its people in exile. China's efforts in preserving Tibetan Buddhist Culture is undeniable and their appreciation of human rights can be shown in the way they have not forced Tibetan school children to learn Mandarin instead of the Tibetan language. In Tibetan schools, it is compulsory to study the Chinese, English and Tibetan language.
How can TCHRD demand Tibetan people's right to self determination from China when the CTA is prohibiting any dialogue on Tibet's independence and also all discussions about the Shugden ban? How can the group show such chronic hypocrisy? Are they not aware that such two-facedness creates doubts about the CTA's credibility and their sincerity. Such news are read on the internet the world over not by uneducated peasants but by people with the ability to check and research and have the power of deduction. And the truth is China has embarked upon an effective program to preserve the Tibetan culture whilst improving the living standards of Tibetans while the CTA is still treating its people like mushrooms.
The group accuses China of violating the rights of Tibetans to practice their own religion. And all this time, China has been rebuilding monasteries, sponsoring monks to study the Dharma, sponsoring a Tibetan Buddhist Dictionary, sending lamas abroad to teach Tibetan Buddhism and have even upheld the tradition of the Karmapa and the Panchen Lama. All Tibetans have the right to practice their own tradition without fear or favour. How can China be violating their religious rights?
The CTA on the hand still maintains the Dorje Shugden ban, and in addition they meddled in the sectarian affairs of the Karmapas. By doing so, they politicized Buddhism, created a schism in the sangha community, instilled fear and a loss of confidence in monastic careers, and endangered the Dharma. How come the TCHRD can miss a religion ban right under their nose and yet claim to be accurate about religious persecutions in China's Tibet? Are they incompetent or just blatantly dishonest?
Reports like this show deviousness and does more damage than good to the reputation of the Tibetan government and its apparatus. In the end it is the ordinary Tibetan who suffers the consequences of the CTA's dishonesty as outsiders and Tibet sympathizers withdraw support in the face of such deceit.
It would appear that the TCHRD has no appreciation of the value of the Buddha's teachings. So, let's try the Bible instead - in Matthew 7:3 it is written: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye"?
Rights situation in Tibet ‘hit a new low’ in 2012, says new report
Phayul[Thursday, January 17, 2013 23:24]
DHARAMSHALA, January 17: Human rights situation in Tibet in the year 2012 “hit a new low” according to a new report published by the Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
The 108-page report, which is available for download, recorded wide-ranging human rights violations in Tibet including arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, language rights, self-immolation protests and language rights.
The group, which has been monitoring human rights situation inside Tibet for over a decade now, confirmed the detention and imprisonment of 269 known Tibetans in 2012, taking the total number of known political prisoners according to its database to 988.
TCHRD said that out of the 269 imprisoned last year, 29 were sentenced “without procedural guarantees and due legal process while the fate of 218 remains unknown.”
Along with the Annual Report, the group also released a special report titled Religious Repression in Tibet providing “an in-depth analysis of the internationally protected right to freedom of religion and belief, and the ways in which the government of the PRC is continuously and systematically violating it in the context of Tibetan Buddhism.”
In its Annual Report, TCHRD makes a number of recommendations to the Government of PRC, urging China to “hold itself accountable to both its international and domestic law obligations.”
The group urged China to “investigate the real causes of Tibetan self-immolation protests and refrain from criminalising those who engage in such protests.”
TCHRD also called on Beijing to “stop political education party propaganda campaigns and anti-Dalai Lama campaigns” and “respect Tibetan people’s right to self-determination and their right to preserve and promote their culture, identity, religion and language.”
[Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32867&article=Rights+situation+in+Tibet+%E2%80%98hit+a+new+low%E2%80%99+in+2012%2c+says+new+reportSupporting articles:
http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/is-it-interference/http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/tibetan-buddhism-erosion-from-within-or-without/http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/the-karmapas-and-the-forbidden-buddha/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/china-to-bring-out-dictionary-on-tibetan-buddhism/1019713