China suppresses Buddhism in Tibet

The latest annual report released by Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy described Tibet as a “Giant open prison.” A report of the Freedom House said that the human rights situation in Tibet ranked between Syria and North Korea. In the “State of World’s Human Rights” published by the Amnesty International, the situations in China (includes Tibet) and Syria are listed together as the two countries of greatest concern.

Context

Buddhism is at the core of Tibetan culture, society and national identity. It is the chief source of national pride. The Buddhist monastery has traditionally served as a primary locus for the generation and preservation of Tibetan culture, both material and intellectual. That function of the monastery has been gravely threatened by the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 and the subsequent oppression and destruction during the periods of “liberation” and of the Cultural Revolution. After a brief period of modest revival, beginning in 1979, the monastery is again in jeopardy in the wake of the events of October 1987.

As Goldstein wrote, ?Tibetan Buddhism?exemplified for Tibetans the value and worth of their culture and way of life and the essence of their national identity. It is what they felt made their society unique and without equal.? This is why the Tibetans have always resisted foreign rulers when they were seen as threats to Tibetan Buddhism, even when they have tolerated violations of Tibetan independence or autonomy. This presents a dilemma for the Chinese, which captures Beijing?s policy dilemma: by suppressing Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan resentment and hence the longing for freedom are increased; but by adopting a liberal policy, the very cultural system that most encourages the Tibetans to identify themselves apart from China. From the Tibetan perspective, even during the more liberal era of the 1980s, the Chinese have been hostile towards Tibetan Buddhism, albeit with more subtle measures.

Suppression

China has harshly suppressed religious freedom in Tibet in recent years, imprisoning hundreds of Buddhist monks and nuns and expelling hundreds of others from their monasteries, according to a report released in 1990s.

The 82-page report, published by the International Campaign for Tibet, a Washington-based human rights monitoring organization, found that behind a facade of religious freedom, Communist Party officials limit the number of monks in each monastery in Tibet, control monastery finances and require Tibetans to get official permission before joining monasteries.

The Communist Party officially proclaims a policy of religious tolerance in Tibet. In contrast with the 1966-76 period of the Cultural Revolution, when any sign of religion was banned, the party now allows Tibetans to engage in some outward manifestations of their faith, such as praying at Buddhist temples.

Forms of protest by Tibetans against the effects of these policies have been met with further rights violations through the state, amounting to arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and inhumane treatment or punishment. Victims of these violations have been, to a large degree, but not exclusively, Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns.

China?s tight control over religious practice and teachings in Tibetan areas is based upon maintaining the supremacy and authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although China?s constitution states that citizens of China have ?freedom of religious belief?, the Party defines as ?acceptable? religious behavior and religion as what does not interfere with or challenge the legitimacy and status of the Party. If the authorities regard the exercise of religious freedom as detrimental to the broader political concerns of the state, it will duly be suppressed. It remains impossible to challenge or question the constitution in a court of law in China.

The Party?s role in controlling Tibetan Buddhism has been emphasized by the top echelons of the CCP leadership. At a critical meeting setting policy on Tibet over the next decade, President and Party Secretary Hu Jintao referred to the high political priority of guiding ?Tibetan Buddhism to keep in line with the socialist society?.

The Chinese government not only violates the religious beliefs of those who follow the exiled leader Dalai Lama and other foreign religious leaders, it also violates the rights of religious freedom of the numerous Tibetans who do not accept the so-called “additional Panchen” Gyaincain Norbu selected by the Chinese government to represent the Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism. The government forces the believers to join his worship ceremony, hoping that they would recognize him. The local government also explicitly stipulates via regulation banning the propagation of Tibetan Buddhism in China.

World Class Institute Destroyed

Between 1959 and 1975 all but a dozen of the approximately 6,000 monasteries, temples and shrines in Tibet were physically destroyed, often by dynamiting the ceilings, a grim attestation to the connection between religion and culture in Tibet. The Chinese apparently believed that traditional Tibetan culture could be obliterated by razing the material manifestations of Buddhism. Among the monasteries destroyed was Ganden; Drepung and Sera were left standing.

At the eastern end of the vast Tibetan Plateau lies a sprawling monastery named Larung Gar, which is the largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in the world and a monumental landmark to Tibetan culture, religion, and history.

It is home to anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 residents, including monks, nuns, and visiting students. Because Larung Gar sits at an elevation of over 13,000 feet (3,962m), it has become known as a ?city in the sky.?

But in June 2016, the Chinese government in Beijing issued an order that stated the site had become overcrowded and its population had to be reduced to a maximum of 5,000 by October 2017.

Within weeks, work teams descended on the peaceful community and began tearing down people?s homes, reducing cabins to nothing more than splintered wood and shattered glass. The owners were forced to sign documents agreeing not to return to the area again and to ?uphold the unity of the nation.?

As pictures began to emerge of the destruction, human rights groups and international organizations called it a crackdown on religious freedoms and an attempt by the Chinese government to destroy an icon of Tibetan culture.?

Anti-Buddhist Ideology

Interestingly, the country which once used to be called a Buddhist Nation has now been involved in the oppression of Buddhists. The aggression against Buddhism gained momentum after the Communist part introduced the ideology of ?Buddhism with characteristics’ under the leadership of the authoritarian President Xi Jinping. According to a 2012 demographic study undertaken by the Pew Research Centre, it is believed that approximately 244 million Buddhists are residing in China This constitutes almost 50% of the world’s Buddhist population. Chinese mainland houses the Buddhist Practitioners of Han ethnicity, who have been docile to CCP’s moves to alter the very essence of Buddhism. As they remain in direct contact and monitoring of CCP and the designated agencies of the Party, it has been easier to silence them against the state oppression.

After China forcefully annexed Tibet in 1951, a popular uprising against China’s religious oppression started brewing up and erupted in 1959 in form of protest against the Chinese agricultural reforms unilaterally imposed on Tibet people. The mass protest of Tibetan Buddhists was met with brutal repression by Chinese forces and their spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama was forced to flee from Tibet and take refuge in India.

Then Beijing began to slander the spiritual leader and call him a ‘wolf in monk’s clothing’. Since then, Chinese oppression of Tibetan Buddhism has increased in severity. China has blatantly installed a dummy Panchen Lama and intends to use him in identifying the next Dalai Lama and ensuring that the CCP can gain control over him.

Over the years, the CCP has also increasingly implemented restrictive policies on Tibetan Buddhist institutions, practitioners and their practices. In the international context, China has demanded that states do not invite or allow the Dalai Lama into their country, or meet their officials.

The future thus remains darkly obscure. If Tibetan Buddhism is to be a cultural relic for the diversion of the tourist, there seems to be little fear that the monasteries that remain will figure in the survival of Tibetan culture. But if culture is a tradition, something that is passed on, the prospects are far more ambiguous. Like all Buddhist traditions in Asia, Tibetan Buddhism traces its roots back to India and the Buddha himself.