Hundreds rounded up in Tibet crackdown

Published on March 11, 2010 by brooks | This story has been viewed 154 views

Hundreds of Tibetans are being rounded up and detained in Lhasa and armed paramilitary groups are patrolling the streets in advance of the anniversary of fatal riots in 2008, The Times has learnt.

Authorities are anxious to avoid a repeat of the anti-Chinese attacks, in which about 20 people were killed when Tibetans rampaged through the city, setting fire to shops and offices.

This month marks a particularly sensitive period in the region as March 10 is also regarded by Tibetans as the anniversary of the start of an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 that resulted in the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India.

Lhasa residents told The Times that as many as 400 to 500 people had been detained in the latest crackdown. The number could not be independently confirmed and officials declined to comment.

The armed police patrols that have become routine in the Tibetan heart of Lhasa since 2008 were expanded this week to include cavalcades of lorries packed with paramilitary units. One convoy consisted of 14 lorries, each containing 14 helmeted men armed with semi-automatic rifles.

They have been driving slowly through the streets of the city in a show of force intended to intimidate any Tibetans planning to mark the anniversary. The vehicles are hung with banners reading: “The Army and the people are as close as fish and water, Tibetan and Han are one family.”

Chinese-style SWAT teams of special police have also made their presence known, with their distinctive black lorries and armoured vehicles closing in around Drepung monastery, on the edge of Lhasa, where the unrest began on March 10, 2008, with a peaceful march by monks.

In the narrow alleys around the Jokhang temple, the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism, additional police patrols have been checking the identity cards of all Tibetans.

Members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority are not being stopped, while Tibetans are required to show a temporary residence permit and a letter of introduction allowing them to be in Lhasa. Those lacking the proper paperwork are being picked up and either detained or sent back to their homes outside Lhasa.

The state-run Lhasa Television channel has been running details of a new campaign to “strike hard” at offenders, ostensibly directed against drug dealers, ordinary criminals and those lacking the proper papers permitting them to visit Lhasa.

In government offices and schools, all staff members are under orders to bring their identity documents.

Higher-ranking officials have been told to remain on duty at the office round-the-clock. Tibet was closed to foreign visitors from Tuesday, with a moratorium on issuing the travel permits required by all non-Chinese wanting to visit the restive Himalayan region. Notices have been issued to hotels and to families throughout the city ordering them not to allow lamas from Tibet’s many monasteries to stay the night.

Throughout yesterday, patrol vehicles blared out Cultural Revolution-era songs from loudspeakers: “The Communist Party came and suffering bitterness turned to sweetness, liberated serfs happily sing a song of freedom.”

Some Tibetans joked this week about the division of the city into ethnic Han and Tibetan districts. The old Tibetan part of the city has been dubbed “Baghdad”, while the Han Chinese area has been nicknamed “the concession” — after areas in cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin where “foreign concessions” were under the rule of colonial powers such as Britain, France and Germany.

In a statement issued to commemorate the 1959 uprising, the Dalai Lama said: “I pay homage to those heroic Tibetan men and women who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet, and pray for an early end to the sufferings of those still oppressed in Tibet.

“Despite the great hardships Tibetans have faced for many decades, they have been able to keep up their courage and determination, preserve their compassionate culture and maintain their unique identity.

“It is inspiring that today a new generation of Tibetans continues to keep Tibet’s just cause alive. I salute the courage of those Tibetans still enduring fear and oppression.”

In remarks certain to spark Chinese fury, the exiled Buddhist monk also voiced his support for the minority Muslim Uighurs of the western province of Xinjiang, who rose up in a violent anti-Chinese riot last year.

Referring to Xinjiang as “East Turkestan”, the name given to it by proindependence exiles, he said: “I would like to express my solidarity and stand firmly with them.”

Tense times

March 2008 At least 20 die in Tibet’s worst violence for two decades as protests and riots against Chinese rule prompt a harsh response

October 2008 Dalai Lama says he has lost hope of a deal with China over Tibet’s future

December 2008 Row between EU and China after Dalai Lama addresses European MPs

January 2009 Chinese authorities detain 81 people and question 6,000 before March anniversary of Dalai Lama’s exile after 1959 uprising

October 2009 China says at least two Tibetans have been executed for their involvement in 2008 riots

February 2010 President Obama meets the Dalai Lama, prompting protests from China

Source:timesonline

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