BPF Statement on the Uprisings in Tibet

April, 2008

On March 10, 2008, the 49th annual observance of Tibetan Liberation Day, sixty monks were arrested in Lhasa, protesting China’s occupation of their country.  In the days that followed, thousands of Buddhist monks and ordinary citizens took to the streets of cities across Tibet. Much like their brothers and sisters in Burma last September, they were met with beatings and bullets. Their homes and places of worship have been invaded, and hundreds, then thousands of Tibetans were added to the undocumented ranks of political prisoners.  Amnesty International has posted an alert on behalf of fifteen monks, whose whereabouts and wellbeing cannot be determined. According to recent reports, key monasteries remain closed or occupied by Chinese troops. Yet the monks are undeterred, and protests continue to flower in Tibet’s cities wherever possible.

In solidarity with the people of Tibet, our brothers and sisters in dharma, we condemn the Chinese government’s suppression of peaceful demonstrations, the closing of monasteries, and the broad imposition of martial law. The violent response of Chinese security forces only adds fuel to fires that they set many years ago.

The Chinese occupation, in place since 1951, continues throughout Tibet, amounting to de facto ethnic cleansing, destroying indigenous Tibetan culture by a massive Chinese population transfer and economic infiltration, backed up by the barrel of a gun. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), “In Tibet's cities and fertile valleys, particularly in eastern Tibet, Chinese outnumber Tibetans by two and sometimes three to one.” 

We agree with John Ackerly, President of ICT, who says:

“The recent events in Tibet and reported deaths of Tibetans are a tragic consequence of decades of Chinese misrule in Tibet. The only lasting solution for the Tibetan problem is for the Chinese government to react positively to the Dalai Lama's call for a negotiated solution for Tibet.”

The Chinese government has blamed the Dalai Lama for inciting violence.  In the first week of the uprising, a statement from His Holiness the Dalai Lama appealed “to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people…I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence."

On March 28th, a press release from the Dalai Lama pleads:

“Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. On the contrary my commitment has always been to find a genuine solution to the problem of Tibet that ensures the long-term interests of both Chinese and Tibetans. My primary concern, as I have repeated time and again, is to ensure the survival of the Tibetan people's distinctive culture, language and identity.”

We second the Dalai Lama’s appeal and condemn China’s violent repression of Tibetans’ understandable and proper protest.  We ask all friends of Tibet — people and governments — to do the same. We agree with US Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, on April 1st, asked the Chinese Government to free the Tibetans who have been imprisoned for nonviolently seeking religious, cultural, and political dignity. “They must have medical care brought in for those who have been deprived of it, to free those in prison who have been arrested for peacefully protesting."

BPF calls on the government of the People's Republic of China to release all Tibetans held on political charges. We urge the PRC once more to open Tibet to the press and to the world’s view.  Finally, we encourage the brave and patient people of Tibet to stay strong, and to uphold the Buddha’s teachings of nonviolence.

-- Rev. Hozan Alan Senauke

on behalf of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

and International Network of Engaged Buddhists

To BPF's page on Uprisings in Tibet