Engnews July 2014

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Imam of Grand Kashgar Mosque Murdered in Xinjiang Violence

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Imam of Grand Kashgar Mosque Murdered in Xinjiang Violence JULY 30, 2014 -- The head of the largest mosque in China who has been highly critical of violence by ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs in the troubled Xinjiang region has been stabbed to death, according to witnesses and local officials. Jume Tahir, the Uyghur imam of the Id Kah mosque in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar in China's western Xinjiang region, was found in a pool of blood outside the prayer house on Wednesday morning. Abdugheni Dolkun, director of a neighborhood stability committee in Kashgar city, said that Tahir, who was in his 70s, was assassinated. "He was a patriotic religious person, he lost his life in an assassination," Dolkun told RFA's Uyghur Service. "Right now, we are busy making arrangements for his funeral." An owner of a shop at a market near the mosque said he was about to open for business when he saw police busy clearing a huge crowd that had gathered at the murder scene. "I saw the body lying in front of the Id Kah mosque and when I asked one of those leaving the scene about the commotion and the police presence, he said the body was that of Juma Tahir," the shopowner said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'Last respects' Another Kashgar resident said he went to the residence of Tahir, who is also the vice-president of the China Islamic Association, late Wednesday to "pay my last respects" to him. "I do not know who killed him or why he was killed, nobody dared to ask this question. His family members and relatives were weeping. They said he was assassinated," he said. "What I heard was that as he was returning from the mosque, he was stabbed to death." Tahir has been a longtime imam of the nearly 600-year-old Id Kah mosque, the largest in China and which houses thousands of worshipers during Friday prayers. The mosque on an area covering 16,800 square meters (180,833 square feet) was built in 1442. Officials could not be immediately contacted to ascertain the motive of Tahir's murder, which occurred two days after bloody riots erupted in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in Kashgar prefecture during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Ramadan fasting month. The riots began on Monday morning when groups of Uyghurs attacked a police station and government offices in Elishku township, prompting police to fire at the crowd, leaving many dead or wounded, local officials told RFA. The Uyghurs were apparently angry over restrictions during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the police killing of a family of five earlier this month, according to local officials. High death toll The official Xinhua news agency said "dozens" were shot dead by police but the exile group, World Uyghur Congress, claimed the death toll may have reached "nearly 100." The Yarkand incident was one of the worst clashes in Xinjiang since bloody riots between Uyghurs and majority Han Chinese in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009 that left almost 200 people dead Tahir has often been cited in Chinese state media criticizing Uyghurs involved in violence in their Xinjiang homeland, where they complain that they are subject to political, cultural, and religious repression for opposing Chinese rule. A teacher in the Kashgar city said Tahir was disliked by many Uyghurs since the Urumqi riots when he backed the bloody government crackdown on the minority group. "He has turned the mosque into a Communist Party propaganda school," the teacher said, declining to identify himself. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/murder-07302014221118.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetans Openly Display Dalai Lama Portrait at Horse-Racing Festival

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetans Openly Display Dalai Lama Portrait at Horse-Racing Festival JULY 29, 2014 -- In open defiance of authorities, Tibetans set up a portrait of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at a traditional horse-racing festival in China’s Sichuan province this week, inviting festival-goers to pray before the photo and make offerings, sources said. The popular festival, held this year on July 27 in Dziwa village in Bathang (in Chinese, Batang) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, opened with the Dalai Lama portrait’s formal installation, a Tibetan living in exile told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Tuesday. “Though Chinese authorities imposed restrictions on the festival, the Tibetans brought in a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and placed it on a throne,” Tsultrim Choedar said, citing local sources. “The organizers also invited Tibetans gathered at the festival to view the photo and offer ceremonial scarves,” he said. “They prayed for the long life of the Dalai Lama and other prominent religious teachers, and also prayed for a resolution of the question of Tibet.” The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet into exile in India in 1959, is reviled by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist who seeks to split the formerly self-governing region from Beijing’s rule. In what he calls a Middle Way Approach, though, the Dalai Lama himself says that he seeks only a meaningful autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with protections for the region’s language, religion, and culture. A popular tradition Horse racing festivals date back to the time of the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century, and are still popular in Tibetan rural nomadic areas—especially in the historical southeastern Tibetan region of Kham, which has largely been absorbed into Chinese provinces, Choedar said. “This time, when the horse race was organized in Dziwa village, the festival began with an invitation to all who came to the festival to participate in the installation of Dalai Lama’s portrait and to receive blessings,” he said. Most of the horse-racing events are held annually “but in some places the event is organized twice each year.” Many travel for days to attend the festivals, he said. In September 2012, Bathang-area Tibetans also defied authorities by parading large portraits of the Dalai Lama during the enthronement of a local religious leader, Tibetan sources told RFA in earlier reports. Several thousand Tibetans, many on motorbikes, took part in the enthronement ceremony to welcome the young lama, one source said, adding, “Many displayed huge photos of the Dalai Lama on their motorbikes and paraded in the ceremony.” And in March this year, a 31-year-old nun named Drolma self-immolated near a monastery in Bathang to protest Beijing’s rule, sources in the region and in exile said. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the Dalai Lama’s return. Reported by Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/display-07292014161126.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Monk Hangs Himself in Despair at China's 'Interference'

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetan Monk Hangs Himself in Despair at China's 'Interference' JULY 17, 2014 -- A young Tibetan enrolled at a large monastery in northwest China’s Gansu province has hanged himself in protest over official restrictions on monastic life, citing hardships in the daily life of Tibetan monks and nuns, sources said. Thabke, aged about 24 and a monk at the Labrang monastery in Sangchu (in Chinese, Xiahe) county in Gansu’s Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, committed suicide on July 9 “by hanging himself from a tree in front of the monastery,” a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Thursday. The source said the incident could not be made public earlier due to “communication restrictions” in Sangchu over the last week. Thabke “had confided to close friends that he wanted to end his life in protest against the imposition of a variety of restrictive regulations and policies,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Restrictions included limits placed on the number of monks and nuns allowed to be enrolled in monasteries in Sangchu, the source said. “[Chinese] authorities have even interfered in the religious curriculum and have created severe hardships in the monasteries, including Labrang,” he said. Founded in 1709, Labrang has long been one of the largest and most important monasteries in the historical northeast Tibetan region of Amdo, at times housing thousands of monks. Thabke, a native of Sangchu county’s Ngakpa village, had protested against China’s policy of limiting enrollment at Labrang to 999, RFA’s source said. “He also protested against the imposition of restrictions on religious freedom and prohibitions on the display of photos of personal teachers,” he said, adding, “Many monks and nuns who had wanted to pursue the study of Buddhism in the monasteries have had to quit and lead ordinary lives.” Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Reported by Lhu Boom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/hangs-07172014150315.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 6 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Dalai Lama Calls for a ‘Realistic’ Approach to Break Tibet Impasse

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Dalai Lama Calls for a ‘Realistic’ Approach to Break Tibet Impasse JULY 15, 2014 -- Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday called for a “realistic” approach to resolving the Tibet question, warning that viewing the dispute merely through the prism of history would only aggravate the situation. Citing the Israeli-Palestinian turmoil as an example, he said the Middle East conflict had prolonged because both sides had used the historical context to back their territorial claims. The Dalai Lama said that Beijing and Tibetans should make efforts to bring an end to their dispute through compromise and by considering mutual interests. “Political changes should be looked at from a realistic angle, not just through the prism of history; doing so would only provoke conflict,” the Dalai Lama told RFA’s Tibetan Service in an interview in the Himalayan town of Choglamsar in Leh, the capital of Ladakh district of India-administered Kashmir. “For instance, the Palestinians and the Israeli Jews both lay claim to territory from the past. Dealing with the issue based on historical records has only aggravated the Middle East conflict since 1948,” he said. Example The Chinese authorities and Tibetans should regard the Middle East crisis as an example to understand the “reality” of the situation, he said. “On the Tibetan issue too, we need to think of mutual interests of both [Tibet and Beijing] instead of pursuing a ‘I win, you lose’ policy, which is not appropriate, and will not help resolve the situation,” the Dalai Lama said. The 79-year-old Dalai Lama, who is living in exile in India where he fled to following a failed 1959 Tibet national uprising against Chinese occupation, has been the face and symbol of the Tibetan struggle for freedom for more than five decades. He has been seeking “genuine” autonomy for Tibet based on his Middle Way approach, which does not seek separation from China. A dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama’s envoys since 2002 to consider prospects of "genuine" autonomy had ground to a halt in 2010 without any breakthrough after nine formal rounds of discussion and one informal meeting. Beijing has rebuffed calls for a resumption of the dialogue. Living up to slogan The Dalai Lama said Tuesday that Beijing should live up to its “brotherhood of nationalities” slogan by giving equal treatment to all groups in China for mutual benefit. “From a historical point of view, Tibetans and Chinese have a unique relationship. From that perspective, we should think about mutual benefit,” he said. “The Chinese government’s official political announcements usually refer to brotherhood of nationalities. If this is true, and the nationalities are truly equal, then China and Tibet can mutually benefit,” said the Dalai Lama, who was in Ladakh to confer Kalachakra, a Buddhist process that empowers his disciples to attain enlightenment. Asked whether he still wanted to achieve his long held objective of conducting a Kalachakra ceremony in China, he said Buddhism has been growing rapidly in the world’s most populous nation. Buddhism in China He then referred to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to France recently in which Xi said that Buddhism had played a significant role in China’s culture. “That a leader of the Communist Party of China to say such a thing is a matter of amazement, a new idiom, a new statement,” the Dalai Lama said. Xi had said in his address at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in March that after Buddhism was introduced into China, the religion went through an extended period of integrated development with the indigenous Confucianism and Taoism and "finally became the Buddhism with Chinese characteristics." It made "a deep impact on the religious belief, philosophy, literature, art, etiquette and customs of the Chinese people," Xi said. Reported by Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Benpa Topgyal. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/autonomy-07152014203916.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

10 years, 6 months

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Engnews July 2014