h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi JtG,

Just back from my holidays. You've been busy! A friend of mine has just returned from a walk through western Nepal into Tibet and around Mount Kailash, then drove to Lhasa and flew back to Kathmandu. I'm hoping to meet him this weekend, and post a report. He's not a particular Tibet Support member, but is interested, and was very shocked by what he saw in Nepal and Tibet.

More soon,

Chaiwallah.

Holidays? It's all right for some.

Let's hope that what your friend saw convinces him of the need to get involved and lend a hand with Tibet Support - Ireland. I'll look forward to the update.

Cheers,

JTG

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is celebrating His 69th birthday today (It's still the 6th here; sorry if you've already had your momos and gone to bed) and I know you'll join me in wishing Him a very happy one. May His wishes all come true.

'On this 69th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Central Tibetan Administration and the people of Tibet express immense gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the kindness and love with which His Holiness has pioneered the Tibetan people out of darkness towards a better future. The Central Tibetan Administration and the people of Tibet request His Holiness to continue to bless the Tibetan people and the all the sentient beings of the world. May the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama be fulfilled and may the issue of Tibet be peacefully resolved soon. Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama!'

Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama!

A very Happy Tibet Day, everyone!

JTG

Cameras for Culture and The Tibetan Photo Project are proud to announce the start of production of the first documentary film to be directed, photographed and edited by Tenzin Wangden Andrugstang in Dharamsala, India.

Wangden is a second-generation Tibetan living in exile and his resume as a teacher, activist and secretary in the Office of The Dalai Lama gives him both insight and access to the vast array of Tibetan life as it exists in exile.

As production begins, the working title for Wangden's film will be 'Voices From Exile'. Like The Tibetan Photo Project itself, the goal is to produce this from the Tibetan people.

Please see The Tibetan Photo Project for more information about this very exciting project:

http://www.tibetanphotoproject.com/GALLERY13.html

Hello JTG! Hoping things are tolerably well in your corner of the world. I just want to thank you for continuing to post news here, and to inform you that I'm reading it whenever I can. I took a look at the new developments of the Tibetan Photo project, and they look interesting. I'll look some more as soon as I have more time.

Hi, Unmentionable. Our all-too-brief summer is in full swing... best make the most of it, as winter is just around the corner. How's life in your hemisphere?

The Tibetan Photo Project is something pretty special. The new film promises to be just as exciting.

Cheers,

JTG

Hi JtG,

Here's a report of impressions from Mount Kailash by a Spanish Tibet Supporter. ( My friend hasn't put his impressions into print as yet. )

- In Toling (capital of the Guge Area) the growing of the new Chinese colonial city is incredible,
the fastest we saw in all Tibet.

- The ancient city of Guge and Toling is highly deteriorated and the few “improvements” taken by
the authorities are menacing seriously these complexes. No restoration but a new adaptation to
Chinese government style.

- From all seen and heard, one of the most important problems that Tibetan people must face is the
building of the railway. It is been told that a German enterprise is carrying out the construction.
>From our point of view, it would be advisable that everyone focused the attention on this subject
and make an immense pressure (media, political and even judicial) to this enterprise who is behind
the construction (and also the re-known supplier, CEO of GE Transportation & Rail), as I see you
are already doing!!


- The UNESCO declaration can help improve the situation of the sacred sites or maybe it can damage
them further if there is not a very close and impartial supervision of any work there.(See Further
Details)




--------------------------------

Further Details

According to the sources we have contacted, the origin of the current controversy of the Kailash
points to a huge pilgrimage of Indian people, that was done last year. It seems that due to the
difficulties of the kora (altitude, cold, food, accommodation,…overall if it is done at the same
time by a group compounded by hundreds), the Indian leader of this group contact with the tibetan
governor of this region and proposed several “projects-ideas” to make the kora more comfortable.

Due to this proposal this local authority began to think about the idea of developing the area,
improving roads, building new and comfortable guesthouses and planning the construction of the ring
road around Kailash. From what we have heard, this project has always been a regional initiative
and by now it has never been given much attention by higher authorities.

On the other hand what it is a fact is the application of the developing programs for increasing
tourism (but it seems that by now it is not linked with the ring road Kailash) in the region. Roads
to Kailash (from Lhasa) continue being very rough, but in some points are improving, overall with
the construction of several bridges. Also the village at the feet of Kailash, Darchen is growing
quickly and without any control. A very large and luxurious guesthouse has just been buildt just
for government officials.

Also the surroundings of Darchen and the river that cross through the
village are full of rubbish (but this is a common thing that happens all over Tibet due to the lack
of environmental consciousness of the Tibetan people themselves). This pollution is increased in
those
villages where an army settlement is near by.

The path around Kailash keeps on being amazing and the several monasteries around the sacred
mountain are in reconstruction.

What people that usually visit the mountain feel could be an unbearable pressure to the
mountain, due to the massive current of Indian pilgrims that can easily bring to the area, we can
find it in
an agreement between China and Nepal, that plans to build a road that would
connect both sides of the Himalaya in this region. So people could fly from Kathmandu to western
Nepal (Jumla) and from there take a very short and direct road (if we compare it with the current
road) to Kailash. It seems that Chinese from years has built that part of the road (there are many
military and forbidden roads going from the main road to western Tibet that ascend until the border
in the high Himalayas), but from the Nepali side, nothing has been done and it seems that they are
not capable to develop this project on their own.

>From the Kailash region to Guge, the road is even worse in some parts. Only just before arriving to
the
village of Toling (base for visiting the ancient kingdom of Guge and the same Toling) an impressive
and huge bridge of several kilometres is under construction and it will join the village with the
other side of the valley (road to Kailash) crossing the Sutlej river.

Regarding the ancient cities of Guge and Toling and the initiative of being include World Heritage
by UNESCO, what could we see in this area is that a frenetic rhythm of construction is creating a
total and new Chinese city close to the ancient Toling. An Army headquarters is based on the main
street of the new Toling and from there an increasing number of Chinese shops, restaurants,
karaokes and prostitution houses are growing without any restriction.

Overall, Toling is one the villages
where one can feel the consequences of the Chinese migration into Tibet. At the end of this main
street going in direction to the Sutlej river, one can check the effects and efforts of the Chinese
authorities on conditioning the surroundings. In the ground that separated the walls that enclose
the gompas of ancient Toling and the big and old Stupa, they have recently finished the construction
of a large and marble paved square. In the middle of this modern construction there is a fountain
adorned with different neon colour lights and the effect over the ancient city is terrible.

A lot of money must have been spent it in this construction. What scares me is the fact that if
finally UNESCO
grants that nomination to Guge, maybe some of the international funds will be invested
in the preservation and development of the ancient kingdom, but it is evident that Chinese
understanding of these concepts differs a lot from the western conception and they will use at
least part of
that money to make further horrendous additions to the sacred places.

What it shocks it is that when you get into the walls of the ancient cities of Guge and Toling, the
state of the buildings is totally ruinous. In Toling they are making some reparations in gompas and
stupas but with little care. Any one can see for example that among the bricks for the construction
and other material, they have thrown many stones (with mantra inscriptions). In Guge they have not
done
any work (not outside or inside the walls). The deteriorating state of the
structures of the buildings is very worrying and dangerous even for the visitors (one of our
friends was an architect and he could check it) and nothing is being done. And inside the
magnificent and amazing gompas the situation is even worst. Surrounded by the rich paintings, there
remain big piles of rubble of earth and clay coming from the destruction of the giant statues. In
some places they have not even taken out the heads of Buddhas over the rubbish. Some statues
partially remain stand up but without head and with a big hole in the heart. What it is astonishing
is that the guides tell the tourists that this deterioration comes from some centuries ago and
Chinese people have nothing to do with this destruction. Guge urgently needs a restoration, if not
some buildings and parts of the ancient kingdom will be lost forever.

The UNESCO declaration can help or maybe can damage if there is not a very close and impartial
supervision of any work
there.

[Ends]

Thanks, Chai. That's pretty depressing news.

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (http://www.tchrd.org/) reports that a new Re-education-through-Labour camp has been established in Senge Township, Ngari County, Tibet Autonomous Region:

'TCHRD considers the new "Re-education-through-Labour" facility to implement the government's hard-line policy in cracking down on fleeing Tibetan refugees and suppressing political dissidence in the region. Ngari falls in the route of Tibetans fleeing Tibet and those returning from India. With the newly established facility, the authorities will be able to crack down on the Tibetans on a massive scale.'

The camp is said to have a capacity of 200 people. There are now two 'fully functional Re-education through-Labour camps' in the TAR.

People can be sent to Re-education through-Labour camps by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) or by the Re-education-through-Labour Management Committee without a court trial. Sentences typically range from six months to three years.

Contrasting Signs of the Times:

Gross National Happiness: The True Measure Of Success?

Bhutan - His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, recently received an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University during his official visit to Britain. His Holiness is supporting the movement for happiness to be adopted as an economic indicator. In a letter of support to an international conference in Bhutan on Gross National Happiness, he writes: “As a Buddhist, I believe the purpose of our lives is to overcome suffering and cultivate happiness. But by happiness, I do not only mean the temporary pleasure that is derived from material comfort alone. I am thinking more of the enduring happiness that results from the thorough transformation and development of the mind that can be achieved though the cultivation of such qualities as compassion, patience and wisdom. At the same time, on national and global levels we need an economic system that enables such a pursuit of true happiness. The purpose of economic development should be to contribute to rather than obstruct this goal.”
[Ends]

PRESS RELEASE FROM CHINA SUPPORT MOVEMENT

"Bloody Crack Down on Peasants Protesting Against the Illegal Sale of Collective Land Property by the CCP Officials: Thirty People Shot and Four Leaders Arrested."
At 2:30 AM on August 2, 2004 600 Armed Police surrounded and attacked the Shi-Jia-He Village in the northern Suburb of Zhengzhou city in Henan Province. The cause of this armed attack was due to the fact the villagers have appealed to the higher government organs many times against the illegal sale of the village land, a sale which makes the villagers have less land to produce food and also the fact that the proceeds of about 40 million RMB Yuan were stolen by the village party officials.
The government mobilized 600 armed police and tried to kidnap away the leaders of the villagers who have protested against the party officials and wrongdoings. People went out of their homes to resist the effort to arrest their leaders and the armed police started to shoot toward the crowd. More than 30 villagers have been shot and six of them have been wounded seriously. They have been sent to the Zhengzhou Central Hospital and are under emergency operation as of now.
Four people were arrested and only two have just been released to their homes. The village is still being surrounded by the armed police and more than 300 government officials are still mingled with the villagers and request them not to continue their appeal.
[Ends]

It's sickening to think that the people responsible for stepping on the downtrodden also revile the Dalai Lama as representing 'backwardness'.

Just a reminder: The PLA will be singing and dancing at the Edinburgh Tattoo this month.

New:

* A separate Tool Kit section has been added. This is to streamline the Current Projects section and provide a convenient place to find tips and tools:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A2170982?s_fromedit=1#5

Any suggestions for new 'tools' are more than welcome.

* Current Projects is now headed by a new 'Urgent' section for time sensitive appeals:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A2170982?s_fromedit=1#4

Here is the link to the Students for a Free Tibet action protest about the PLA's song and dance routine at the Edinburgh Festival:

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/PLA/wdig6d22jwb3wj

You should get an automated response from the good Brigadier. It makes interesting reading.

Friends of Tibet (India) has launched a new forum, Cyber Activism.

http://www.friendsoftibet.org (Click on 'Cyber Activism')

The new feature is described as,

'...basically a discussion forum on Tibet where one can post a new topic to discuss or to post a response to a discussion already there. Please make use of this facility.'

Just thought I would pop in and say hello, briefly.

My "beau" is a Tibetan refugee, living and working in Nepal, so I am more familiar than some about Tibet and Tibetan refugees. Tashi Dawa and I haven't actually met, physically, at least. I "met" him thru my mother who was in Nepal working in the Child Haven home in Kathmandu. http://childhaven.ca/

My Mom met Tashi Dawa one day and became friends.

Tashi Dawa has been living in Nepal for 8 years, now. His family is still in Tibet. He teaches Tibetan history at a monastery, just having left the Pullahari monastery for a new position. He is also editing a Tibetan newspaper (which worries me, as I know that the Shining Path often targets media sources).

I look forward to meeting everyone here.

Hi, Miss Dubois. Why ah do declare! We seem to be alone for the present though I'm sure others will be along presently.

Thanks for the link to Child Haven. I hadn't seen that before.

JTG

Unfortunately, because of the activities of the Shining Path in Nepal, there is an increase in the numbers of orphans needing help. Child Haven has been requested to take in 400 orphans. Since Child Haven's home in Nepal currently holds 130 children, taking in 400 more would be impossible. They have agreed to take in children ages 6 and under, about 100, as these are the most at risk.

They are hoping to buy some nearby property and put up some shelters. Unfortunately, land in Kathmandu is at a premium, and, therefore, very expensive.

My mother, then aged 78, went to work in the Nepal home. She was only there for a month but it had long been a dream of hers to go to the Nepal home.

When she was there, a little boy who had been badly burned was brought to Child Haven. They didn't think he would live. He was so seriously burned and showed signs of being abused. Mom said that many of the little street chilren get his look on their faces.... sort of a vacant stare. They just seem to lose their human-ness. This little boy had that look when he arrived.

The day she left, he was tearing around the playground with the oter children, without a care in the world. She was thrilled.

Of course, some children take longer to recover from the trauma of their lives on the streets. Some never do.

The one thing that really impresses me about Child Haven is that they respect the relgions and traditions of the children who come into the homes. The children are raised in their religion and culture. If they don't know what religion the child came from, the child i raised in the predominant religion around the home.

The situation in Nepal is very complex, and as always, it's the children who suffer as the adults go to war. But I understand from a friend who lived in Nepal for six years, until last year, that many of the Shining Path guerillas, if not most of them, are very young.

Meanwhile, the very corrupt ruling Nepalese regime, which cracks the whip in Kathmandu, is very pally with the Chinese authorities, and has made life very difficult for both resident and transient Tibetan refugees, many of whom now get turned back at the border, or shot at by the police, rather than being allowed through to India.

At the same time, there is concrete evidence that the PRC is actively supporting and supplying the Shining Path with food, and weapons, while taking care to keep them ( as volatile Maoists ) out of the PRC and Tibet. This is standard behaviour for the Chinese, who are also supplying weapons to the Kashmiri separatists, besides fomenting strife further along the border in Assam.

China has built a major roadway to the border of Nepal south of Mount Kailash, and is in the process of building another one down towards Sikkim. The long-term strategic thinking behind this is not hard to guess, when you add it to the fact that the new Golmud-Lhasa railway will allow the Chinese to move their missiles ( presently stashed between Xining and Golmud ) very rapidly south to the Indian border.

It's all horribly vicious, cynical and corrupt political machination on all sides.

Yep....

Add to all this, the Maoists insisting on strikes for days and weeks on end....

The often call strikes of motorised vehicles which effectively stop most day-to-day business and make it difficult for people travelling to and from Kathmandu, to and from the airport, etc. General strikes are a regular occurrance and I have sometimes not heard from my beau in two weeks because he has been either unable to get in to use the internet cafe because transport is stopped, or because the internet cafe is closed due to a business strike.

their raiding of schools.....

In on case that I am directly aware of, the Principal of a particular school was ordered to hand over a list of students whose parents were government officials. He refused and went into hiding. When the guerrillas returned and found him gone, they shot the head teacher, as a warning. Warning noted, the Principal left for India.

It is all very worrying, too for organizations working in Nepal, since they may well become targets for either the guerrillas or for corrupt officials.

Someone I know, whom I cannot name, was well regarded by the late Queen and whenever there were problems the Queen would be able to help. After the assasinations, this person and their organization lost a valuable ally.