Rs.5

Dalai Lama extends advance greetings for New Year and LosarT P I S h o rt s Ta k e s

T i b e tE X I L E

F r e e d o m o f E x p r e s s i o n

Phayul[Thursday, December 27, 2007 19:40]By Phurbu ThinleyDharamsala, December 27: His Holiness the DalaiLama today extended a warm advance greeting for theNew Year 2008 and Losar (Tibetan New Year) 2135after finishing five days of teaching at the request ofMongolian Buddhists.His Holiness extended HisNew Year greeting at a religious ceremony this morn-ing at the Tsuglagkhang (Main Temple) where he wasoffered a grand long life prayer (Tenshug) by themonks from the Gandan Thegchenling Monastery ofUlan Bator, Mongolia.

Tibetan kid makes pilgrim’s progress

The Tibet Post International. 2007-12-25.FIVE-YEAR-OLD Gonpo Cering is on his way to Lhasa,undertaking a monumental pilgrimage that will takemore than five years.To date, the boy has walked for eight months from hishometown in northwest China’s Gansu Province to SichuanProvince which borders the Tibet Autonomous Region.Even the rough weather has not dampened his enthusiasmfor getting to the sacred destination, the Jorkhang Temple,in the heart of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.“I will be 10 years old when I see Lhasa,” Gonpo said ina little chirpy voice, a dusty scar clearly visible on hisforehead. It will take five years or more for him to see“the Living Buddha.”“I’m not tired, but I miss papa and mama,” he said, thedazzling sunshine beaming off his face.His parents had saved 7,000 yuan (US$945) for theirson’s journey. Gonpo can sometimes get extra almsgiven by other believers he comes across.The belief of Tibetan pilgrims is not a matter of timeand money, it’s all about faith. As an honorable part ofTibetan life, devout believers prostrate themselves allthe way to Lhasa from their hometown hundreds orthousands of kilometers away.“I prostrated humbly on the mountain, moving towardyou, just for feeling your sweet warmth,” wroteTsangyang Gyatso, the unconventional sixth DalaiLama (1683-1706) in 18th century Tibet. He was famedfor a remarkable collection of beloved poetry and diedin his mid-twenties.Last year, 328,000 pilgrims visited the Potala Palace,Norbuglinkha and Jorkhang Monastery, the top threereligious sites in Lhasa. Despite the 1,956-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway that became operational inJuly last year, most pilgrims stick to the traditionalways to practice their piety.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Mongolian religious leader at main Temple in Dharamsala on 27, December 2007. Photo: The Tibet Express, Mr. Ngawang Tharpa

The Tibet P stW e e k l yB o d - K y i - P h o - N y aVol. 02, Issue 06, 31 December, 2007 www.thetibetpost.com

Youth Forum closed Page1 Religion is Poison Page 2 The Dalai Lama Page 3 A Year of unrest Page 4 Main Events of 2007 Page 5 A life reflecting Page6

Tibetan Youth DiscussionForum closed

TPI, December 19, 2007.The freedom of expression is undergoing serious prob-lem in China and all the Tibetan language websites inTibet are being closed and opened frequently. Even dis-cussion forum of Woeser in Chinese language has beenblocked in last year and also other Tibetan related Me-dias are facing lot of problem in Tibet under Chineserule. Recently on December 6, the Youth DiscussionForum of Snowland (Gang-Shoen-Leng-Teg)www.tibet123.com which is the most popular and favoritewebsite among the young-educated Tibetans has been closedby Chinese authorities. When it was about to close, it has6200 registered members and the number of the memberincreases day by day. Sometimes, there come around 3000members (Users) to chat at the same period of time in thediscussion forum. Therefore, such type of discussion fo-rum is extremely essential to us at this very critical time.It has become one of the most important platforms forTibetan youngsters to exchange ideas and experiencesbetween each other. But unfortunately, such an importantforum has been closed due to its contents related to thetrue plight of Tibet.Likewise, the Chinese government never leaves anystone unturned to fail any thought or work which is

Tibetan Students Hold RallyOpposing Chinese InvasionMangalore: Tibetan Students Hold Rally Op-posing Chinese InvasionThe Tibet Post International {26, Decem-ber 2007}Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (KM)Pics by Ahmed AnwarMangalore, Dec 25:Tibetan students studying in various col-leges in the city launched a bicycle rally hereon Tuesday, December 25 opposingChina’s invasion of Tibet.The rally was organized by regional TibetanYouth As many as 25 Tibetan students tookpart in the rally, which was flagged off atLalbagh here. The rally will terminate nearMundagod, a town located in the northernpart of the state. The rally will move viaPuttur, Sullia, Madikeri, Mysore and otherplaces.The rally deserves applause as it is drivenby the mission of freedom struggle-like zest.Human right has been violated in Tibet.Dalailama is synonymous with MahatmaGandhi who struggled to make the nationpeaceful. Non-violence movements are es-sential to establish peace, Captian GaneshKarnik, MLC opined on the occasion.The nine-day rally aims to spread aware-ness about the exploitation of China overTibet and to attenuate the influence ofChina. The ral ly’s prime concern is tostrengthen the deep bonds that India haswi th the Tibetans and Tibet , NgwangThokme, president of Youth Congressasserted.Congress.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Tibetan PM, other top officials to attendLong Life Offering Ceremony at Mundgod

Tibet.net[Friday, December 28, 2007 18:00]Top officials of the Central Tibetan Administration in-cluding, Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, ParliamentSpeaker Karma Chophel, Justice Commissioner ThuptenTashi Anyetsang, members of the Kashag, will attend agrand ceremony to present long life offering to His Ho-liness the Dalai Lama in Mundgod, Karnataka

Tibetan PM (Kalon Tripa) Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche(L) with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. (File Photo:Phayul.com)Tibetan PM (Kalon Tripa) Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche(L) with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. (File Photo:Phayul.com)Dharamsala, December 28: In the first week of January2008, the top officials of the Central Tibetan Adminis-tration will attend a grand long life ceremony to expresstheir gratitude to the great service of His Holiness theDalai Lama rendered to the Tibetan people in particularand world in general.Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche will leave Dharamshalaon 29 December for an official visit to Lucknow,Mundgod and Delhi.While enroute to Mundgod, on 31 December, KalonTripa will attend a general body meeting of theCoomaraswamy Centre for Traditional Studies inLucknow.Besides attending the long life prayer ceremony, KalonTripa will also attend the teachings by His Holiness onJamphel Tsencho and Lhamo Jenang at Drepung LachiMonastery.Kalon Tripa will attend an inaugural ceremony of anassembly hall (Tsuglagkhang) by His Holiness the DalaiLama at the Drepung Loseling Monastery.On 9 January, Kalon Tripa is scheduled to address amedia workshop to be organised by the New Delhi-based the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy ResearchCentre. Later, he will also attend the centre's generalbody meeting.Kalon Tripa will return to Dharamshala on 10 January.

“New Year 2008 is around the corner and Losar is alsocoming soon as well. So I want to say Tashi Delek andHappy New Year to everyone,” His Holiness said.The Dalai Lama also asked the Mongol Bud-dhists present at the ceremony to pass on hisNew Year greetings to other fellow Mongoliansback in their homeland.“Enjoy the New Year with good spirit and make ef-forts to begin New Year with a commitment to evadewrongdoings and accumulate more merits,” the DalaiLama told a large audience of Buddhist devotees.“This could help bring more happiness and pros-

perity into your life and country,” the Tibetan spiri-tual leader added.Some 250 Buddhists from Mongolia, mainly monksfrom the monastery, attended the five-day teachingthat began on December 22.Hundreds of Tibetans and, a sizeable Buddhists fromKorea, Hong Kong and western countries attended theteachings that included the initial two days devoted tothe conferment of the Jigjey (Yamantaka) Initiation(Lha Chusoom Jigjey Kawang) followed by three daysof teachings on Lobsang Choekyen’s Lama Choepa(Guru Puja) from December 23 to 26.

MandalOfferingA Tibetan girl is offering herMandal pray at mainTemple, Dharamsala on27th December 2007.Image: TPI

Benazir

Former PrimeMinister ofPakistanassassinated.

Page 6

hutto:

Germany Border-Free Zone Expanded

The European Union’s border-free zone is ex-tended to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia andSlovenia. People from these nations can travel tothe existing 15 states of the ‘Schengen’ border-free zone without having to show their passports.

31 December, 2007 Dharamsala THE EDIT PAGE The Tibet Post2

Press of Tibet,Room # 306, Nechung Hostel,

Gamru VillageP.O. Dharamsala - 176215Distt. Kangra, H.P., INDIA

Advicer Mr. Vincent BrosselAdvicer Geshe Thupten PhelgyeAdviser Mr. Shalinder KumarEditor Mr. Yeshe ChoesangSub Editor Mrs. Rigzin WangmoReporter Mr. Palden GyatsoReporter Miss. Dolma LhamoCircular Mr. Tenzin SangpoPublisher Mr. Tenzin Kunga

I n t e r n a t i o n a lThe Tibet P st

Tele: 0091-1892-224641E-mail: editor@thetibetpost.com

www.thetibetpost.com

The government of China brutally occupiedTibet in 1949 and ironically named it thePeaceful Liberation. It resulted inunimaginable torture and death of tens ofthousands of Tibetans, destruction ofthousands of monasteries that had been builtby Tibetans from enormous personalsacrifices for centuries – its gold crested roofmelted and made into bullets, which were in-turn used on Tibetans them selves, Buddhiststatus were destroyed, burned and used tocover up toilets, flat stones with religiousinscriptions were purposely placed on thestreet, and countless scholars and reincarnatebeings were killed through struggle sessionswhich was so intense and inhuman. In 1950,when His Holiness went to China and metwith Mao and other leaders, they hadexpressed their loathing towards religion(religion is poison), which they believed wasan impediment to development. In suchways, Chinese have not only underminedTibetan religion but have attempted tovanquish its source in Tibet.The recent issuance of the Order Number 5is a blatant interference into strictly religiousmatter by the Communist regime that doesnot believe in any religion. It is a shamefulact to exert control over religion by issuingthis decree which states that Tibetanreincarnate beings must get approval fromChinese government. On a related matter,His Holiness had recently opened updiscussion on his reincarnation by pointingout in Japan that his reincarnation could beappointed before he dies. Chinesegovernment was infuriated as thisannouncement literally told to take theirhands off on matter. It is a victory for us. Itwas a clear indication that this is a matter ofutmost important to Tibetans, and that HisHoliness has the ultimate control over it. Itwas also clear from Chinese reaction to HisHoliness’ statement regarding hisreincarnation that they, the Chinesegovernment care not about Tibetans but theirsole desire is to have total control overeverything Tibetan, including spiritual andculture. Therefore we in exile, particularlyreligious institutions must organize protest,in earnest, against the Chinese government.The prevailing situation in Tibet is moreappalling than the infamous CulturalRevolution and sacred temples and

Mao: Religion is Poison

monasteries have been turned into moneygenerating museums for the Chineseauthorities. For example, seven thousand toten thousand Chinese yuan generated fromTsuklakhang (main cathedral), Potala Palace,and Norbulinka are being gobbled up byChinese officials and their cronies, whiledepriving any fund to the temple or palace.Tibet has been turned into a living hell bythe Chinese government at this modernperiod.Recently Chinese government destroyedstatues of Padmasambava (Guru Rinpochi)in Samye temple and Ngari respectively.Likewise, a religious institution in Sertha wasdestroyed few years ago. Prominent Tibetanssuch as the Penchen Gedun Choekyi Nyima,Chatral Rinpoche, and Trulku Tenzin Delekhave been arrested, imprisoned (many havebeen tortured) and currently theirwhereabouts are not known. Furthermore,restrictions have been applied on keepingpicture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama intemples or in individual homes. As evidentfrom the above points, the situation in Tibetis critical and we cannot afford to stand byand watch. The Tibetan people, particularlythe religious institutions and reincarnatelamas in exile must take initiative – not relyon His Holiness for everything – organize amass movement as we Tibetan Buddhistsshould take the Barminas Buddhist monks’protest as an example. Hereby, as a requestall the foreign Tibetan Buddhist followers aswell as Tibetan Buddhist institutes and centersshould also take this event as a serious issueand stand for and take immediate.The religious teaching by His Holiness afterthe Tibetan New Years is an opportune time,when many Tibetan would gather at oneplace, to hold mass meeting for protestagainst the Chinese government. The actualaction must be carried out right after meeting.This is a fight against the gross human rightsviolation in Tibet, particularly underminingTibetan religious freedom and not a fightover petty politic.The above petition has been submitted tothe Office of Tibetan Cabinet, the PrivateOffice of the His Holiness the Dalai Lama,All Departments of the Central TibetanAdministration, monasteries and religiousinstitutions, Non-governmentalorganizations, and the presses. The purpose

Modernization or Han colonization?To lessen the strong influence of religion in Tibet, the Chinese governmentattempted to replace traditional monastery schooling with modern, secularschools. Currently, the Chinese government claims that it has establishedmore than 3,000 schools in the TAR, special Tibetan schools in inner China,and institutions of higher education, like the School of Agriculture andAnimal Husbandry, and Tibet University. Some Chinese officials argue thatthese progressive measures have helped Tibetans both improve their livesand move toward the modern world. Yet, when closely analyzed, the resultsshow a peculiar pattern of discrimination and a far less progressive policy.Contrary to official statements, the majority of schools in Tibet are con-structed and funded by local Tibetans. In addition, as of 1995, Tibet contin-ues to be the least literate region in China, with a higher than sixty percentilliteracy and semi-literacy rate 25? Whereas China´s illiteracy rate has fallento under seven percent. One of the most contentious issues between Chi-nese and Tibetans is the medium of instruction used in schools. Article 4 ofthe Chinese Constitution and Article 37 of the Minority Nationality Act of1984 clearly indicate that the language of each nationality should be adoptedboth as a medium of instruction in schools and for official use in the gov-ernment wherever minorities are dominant. In Inner Mongolia, another Au-tonomous Region like Tibet, there are schools and colleges where the me-dium of instruction is Mongolian. However, in the TAR, Chinese is thelanguage of instruction in schools above the secondary level, despite thefact that “ninety-five percent of the Tibetan population do not speak orunderstand the Chinese language.” From the Tibetan perspective, Chineseeducation policy, rather then modernizing, represents one more tool to eradi-cate Tibetan civilization and identity.As one might imagine, the use of Chinese as the language of instruction inschools has had highly discriminatory effects on Tibetan students. Higherlevels of education in the TAR are in fact dominated by ethnic Chinese. Inthe School of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, supposedly establishedfor Tibetans and located in the TAR, 446 (71%) of the total 630 students areChinese and only 184 (29%) are Tibetan. In the Tibet Nationalities Institutein Xian yang, 938 students out of the total 1,165 students are Chinese andonly 227 are Tibetan. The Chinese government maintains that only 4% ofthe population in the TAR is Chinese. If 4% of the population takes morethan 70% seats in the educational institutions, then these figures beg thequestion of who is really being educated in Tibet.The major exception to this pattern is Tibet University in Lhasa where themajority of students are Tibetan (1,018) and Han Chinese are in the minority(208). Still, on closer examination of the data, even at Tibet University onefinds that Han Chinese are the majority in science and technical courses,with Tibetans constituting only 26% of the students in these areas. Incontrast, Tibetans are heavily concentrated in the humanities, representing70% of the students enrolled in those courses. Sadly, one of the core partsof the humanities program, the Tibetan language department, has beenclosed for the past three years, and the local government is pressuringteachers to teach Tibetan history using the Chinese language. The situa-tion worsens at the highest level of education. For the last forty years,fewer than ten Tibetans have graduated or are graduating from BeijingUniversity. When questioned about this statistic, the Chinese respond thatTibetans are unable to compete intellectually with the Chinese. However, ifthat were the case, why, in just the last ten years, have there been at leastten exiled Tibetans who have graduated or are about to graduate fromHarvard University? Exiled Tibetans constitute only 5% of the Tibetanpopulation or 130,000 in total (far less than the 150,000 Chinese students inthe US in any given year).Each year hundreds of Tibetan children ranging in age from six to eighteenyears cross the Himalayas seeking secular or monastic education in India.The real land of opportunity for Tibetan education is now outside of Tibet.

T i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s t

The Crying Voices of a Snowland “Tibet”Urgent Appeal: By Ven Bagdro

(To all Tibetan reincarnate beings, I pledge with my hands placed before the heart)is to stress the urgent need to act based onprevailing situation in Tibet. I have assumedthis position for the critical nature of thesituation dictates an inner call for an actionand until that no sleep would come at nightand no nourishment can be obtained fromeating. The Chinese is systematicallydestroying the fundamental Tibetan fiber anddanger of losing it is eminent. I speak itfrom the heart and it is true; I have nopersonal purpose attached with this request.

[Author’s brief Bio]I am Ven Bagdro, a former political prisonerand I was a monk from Garden monastery[Tibet].I was one of the uprising participants in1988, March 5th and at that time I was shotin my leg by Chinese police. On 18th April1988, I was arrested and first imprisoned inGutsa Detention Center and receivedinhuman tortured caused my three bricks gotbroken and one of my kidneys was ruined. Iwas detained at Gutsa Detention Center forone year and transferred to Drapchi prison.I was released after more than two years inDrapchi based on my health. Because ofheavy and inhuman tortured that I receivedwhile my imprisonment in Drapchi, I wastotally sick and event I became near to diewith lack of nutrition and I had only 39 Kgsat that time.As everyone knows that prison in Tibet iscompletely different from other world’sprisons in worse way. Because in the prison,prisoners particularly political prisonerswould be used for newly trained doctors andmedical student’s. And worse than that hugequantity of political prisoners’ blood wasdrained and taken to the Mainland.Anyway after I was imprisoned totally forthree years in Tibet, I was released in 1991and I fled to India and now I am living inIndia in Dhasa. Since I came to India, aftersuch various of supports and opportunities,I went to more than 30 different countriesand enabled to share my and express myexperiences.Plus, base on my individual history, so far Ihave written five books and my book called‘the hell on earth’ is the most successful. Ihope if you have some little time then, pleasedo read this book and you will find out myentire personal life history from it.

Spiritual Leaders Answer Life’sMost Complex Questions

Christian Post ReporterMon, Dec. 24 2007 12:03 PM ETAcclaimedFrench filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudetexplored some of the most complex ques-tions bewildering the world’s population ina television documentary that aired Sunday.Enlarge this ImageIn God’s NameFilmmakers Gedeon (left) and Jules Naudetpose with Archbishop of Canterbury RowanWilliams who is featured in ‘In God’s Name,’a two-hour television special addressing chal-lenging and profound questions.And who better to answer these questionsthan 12 respected spiritual leaders whosefaiths represent 5 billion followers world-wide, said one filmmaker.Both filmmakers, who created the award-winning “9/11” documentary, were in theWorld Trade Center creating a piece on NewYork’s firefighters when the terrorist attackstook down the Twin Towers on Sept. 11.Convinced that he was going to die,Jules Naudet asked himself questionsthat he believes most people askedthemselves that day.“These questions popped into my head:Why am I here? What is the meaning ofmy life?” said Jules. “I think the commonone most people asked was ‘Where wasGod that day?’”“How do you deal with death having beenconfronted by it so directly, so vio-lently?” Gedeon posed. “How do youmake sense of it?”The quest ions took the f i lmmakersaround the world to spiritual leaders of12 different faiths in search for answersto the meaning of life.“It’s been some of the darkest moments in

By Lillian Kwon

religious life in all of history when in thename of God, we kill people,” said BishopMark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evan-gelical Lutheran Church in American andpresident of the Lutheran World Federation,in the documentary.“I believe in the reality of spiritual warfare,”said Dr. Frank Page, president of the South-ern Baptist Convention. “I believe God andSatan are constantly battling for the heartsand souls of men and women.”In the two-hour television special - “InGod’s Name” - on CBS, the featured spiri-tual leaders spoke about violence, hatred,faith, peace, unity tolerance and hope.What the filmmakers discovered was thatthese leaders have much more in commonthan most think.“Suddenly, we became much more respect-ful of different faiths, different cultures,much more tolerant also,” said Gedeon. “Wefound out in the end that there is much morethat those leaders have in common thanthings that divide them.”“That was one of the extraordinary thingsto discover,” he added.The documentary conveys a message thatthere is more that unites everyone, acrossreligions and faiths, than that which dividesthem, Jules explained.“There is so much misunderstanding andso much preconceived ideas that we have,and unless we make the effort to knockon the door of a neighbor and talk to themand discover basically at the end thatthere’s really not much difference at all,”Gedeon highlighted.One of the biggest misunderstandings fol-lowing 9/11 is about Islam.“We consider that looking at Islam as a vio-

lent religion is the worst misunderstandingabout Islam,” said Grand AyatollahMohammed Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanon’smost senior Shia cleric.And people on the right tend to only listento people on the right and think the peopleon the left are wrong, Jules cited Hanson assaying. And people on the left behave thesame way.“We have a tendency to only listen to ourown voices,” said Jules.“I don’t think the way we’re living today iswhat God intends for us,” said Hanson inthe documentary.But in the midst of tragedies and divisions,the spiritual leaders believe God is there.“God comes and appears in the corners oflife where you weren’t expecting and willopen a door in any kind of situation evenwhen you think ... the hope is nothing more,”said Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. RowanWilliams.“The rough and difficult time is what bringspeople together and strengthens their faith,”commented Alexei II, patriarch of Moscowand head of the Russian Orthodox Church.“We have a saying, ‘unless there’s thunder,people don’t make the sign of the cross.’”Other leaders featured in “In God’s Name”include Amma, a Hindu spiritual leader; PopeBenedict XVI, head of the Roman CatholicChurch; the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader ofTibetan Buddhists; MichihisaKitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest)of the Shinto Grand Shrine of Ise; YonaMetzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel;Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader;and Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of theAkal Takht, the Sikhs’ highest authority.

31 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI DALAI LAMAThe Tibet Post 3

Sify.com[Monday, December 24, 2007 17:12]Claude Arpi is an expert on the history ofTibet, China and the subcontinent. He wasborn in Angoulême, France. After gradu-ating from Bordeaux University in 1974,he decided to live in India and settled inthe South where he is still staying withhis Indian wife and young daughter. He isthe author of numerous English and Frenchbooks including ‘The Fate of Tibet,’ ‘LaPolitique Française de Nehru: 1947-1954,’‘Born in Sin: the Panchsheel Agreement’and ‘India and Her Neighbourhood.’ Hewrites regularly on Tibet, China, India andIndo-French relations. In the present ar-ticle, he contrasts the growing recognitionof the Dalai Lama with the plight of theTibetans under China.In ancient Rome, at the end of each year,one used to speak of either an Annushorribilis (a horrible Year) or an Annusmirabilis (a Year of Wonder).The year 2007 seems to have been a com-bination of both mirabilis and horribilisfor another leader, the Dalai Lama, and hisTibetan cause.The wonders first.In October, as the 17th National Congressof the Communist Party of China gearedup for its grand finale, in another Con-gress, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC,Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lamawas awarded the Congressional GoldMedal by the House Speaker NancyPelosi, as President George W Bush andhis wife looked on.“He [the Dalai Lama] has used his posi-tion to promote wisdom, compassion, andnon-violence as a solution — not only inTibet — but to other world conflicts,”declared Pelosi, who never misses a chanceto speak about China’s human rightsrecord. “The United States must continueto be committed to meet the challenge thatTibet makes to the conscience of theworld.”This was the first time that President Bushhad agreed to appear in public with theDalai Lama (though he had been ‘privately’received him in the White House in thepast). “More than ever before, the leader-ship in Beijing will have an unfiltered, un-diluted opportunity to hear the messageof His Holiness,” declared Lodi Gyari, theDalai Lama’s special envoy for the nego-tiations between Dharamsala and Beijing.As expected, Chinese Foreign ministryspokesman Liu Jianchao reacted sharply.“The Chinese government strongly op-poses the US Congress giving the DalaiLama a so-called award.” But though theChinese government urged the US not togo ahead with the ‘extremely erroneousarrangements’, an official visit to China ofRobert Gates, the Secretary of Defence,scheduled a week later was not cancelled.Business is business!In fact, 2007 probably saw the Tibetanleader being received publicly by moreheads of state than earlier.On June 15, the then Australian PrimeMinister John Howard met him in Sydney

while the Tibetan pontiffwas on an 11-day tour ofthe country. In September,German Chancellor AngelaMerkel decided to defy Chi-nese threats and the adviceof some of her colleagues,and received the Dalai Lamain Berlin. Once again, Beijingfrowned and screamed, butthe lady was courageousenough to tell them to mindtheir own business: shecould invite whomever shewanted in her own country.An Israeli newspaperpromptly nominated her‘Man of the Year,’ saying:“the leader of a center-rightparty was revealed in 2007in all her stature as the highpriestess of human rightseverywhere… Like everycountry, Germany has eco-nomic interests in its rela-tions with other countries,especially with Russia and

China… Nevertheless, these interests donot blind the chancellor.”“A government’s foreign and defencepolicy must be based on values and notinterests,” Merkel told the Bundestag.And showed other political leaders, (in-cluding her dynamic neighbour and FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy) that it waspossible to officially receive the DalaiLama without being scared of China’sthreats.A few days later, the Dalai Lama metAlfred Gusenbauer, the Austrian Chancel-lor in Vienna. And after the Capitol Hillfunction, he was received by StephenHarper, the Canadian Prime Minister inOttawa.The Tibetan Diaspora in Dharamsala,Himachal Pradesh where the Dalai Lamaresides, and elsewhere in the world is ob-viously jubilant.But on December 10, the 59th Interna-tional Human Rights Day, the TibetanCentre for Human Rights and Democracy(TCHRD) had this chilling message: “Inthe past eleven months, the human rightsand freedom of Tibetans in Tibet havewitnessed an unprecedented beating at thehands of Chinese authorities.”Though awarded the 2008 OlympicsGames, Beijing continues to practice a sys-tematic denial of human rights to the Ti-betan people (and often the Chinese). Afew examples will highlight the dichotomybetween the growing popularity of theDalai Lama and the worsening situation inTibet.On January 1, a set of “Measures for theRegulation on Religious Affairs” was pro-mulgated by the 11th Standing Commit-tee of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. InMarch, this was used to ban Tibetan Com-munist Party members and civil servantsin Lhasa from visiting temples. Why? Be-cause the National People’s Congress andthe Chinese People’s Political Consulta-tive Conference was being held in Beijingat that time.According to TCHRD, “(officials) wereissued stark warning of facing expulsionand dismissal, if they prayed at Buddhisttemples in the Capital.”The tragicomedy was revived on May 17,when the Communist government inBeijing decided to implement the “Mea-sures on the Management of the Reincar-nation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Bud-dhism”. The Dalai Lama was the main tar-get; it was Beijing’s way of responding tothe growing popularity of the Tibetanleader.Article 2 of “Measures…” explains theirpurpose: “Reincarnating living Buddhasshould respect and protect the principlesof the unification of the State, protectingthe unity of the minorities, protecting re-ligious concord and social harmony, andprotecting the normal order of TibetanBuddhism. (They)... may not re-establishfeudal privileges, which have already beenabolished.”It makes an even more pointed reference

at the Nobel Peace Prize laureate: “Rein-carnating living Buddhas shall not... beunder the dominion of any foreignorganisation or individual.” The 14 articlesof the “Measures…” describe in great de-tail how “reincarnating living Buddhasshould follow application and approvalprocedures.”From September 1, the party and its reli-gious department took over the monopolyover the selection. On July 19, the PublicSecurity Bureau (PSB) of NagchukaCounty arrested two elderly women —Odho and Apha Bomo. Their crime: Ask-ing for the release an imprisoned Tibetancalled Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. This rein-carnate Lama from Lithang in Kham Prov-ince was arrested in 2002 and charged withalleged involvement in a series of bombblasts. He was later condemned to deathwithout proper trial. Despite several cam-paigns for his release, he is still in jail with-out proper trial.On August 1, a Tibetan nomad chief calledRunggyal Adak spoke on the occasion ofthe annual horse race festival in Lithang,Eastern Tibet. He dared to criticise thelack of religious freedom in Tibet and askedfor the Dalai Lama’s return. He was im-mediately arrested.Within days, hundreds of Tibetans stageda protest around the police station whereAdak was detained, and the authoritieshad to rush additional contingents ofPeople’s Armed Police (PAP) to check thesituation. Finally some local Tibetan lead-ers urged the nomads to leave in order toavoid a bloodbath.According to the Hong Kong-based Infor-mation Centre for Human Rights and De-mocracy, Runggyal Adak was prosecutedfor ‘masterminding’ the ‘August 1 inci-dent’ and ‘inciting to subvert State power’.On November 20, he was convicted toeight years imprisonment.Subsequently a purge of the local leader-ship started in several Tibetan counties.Tibetan officials were replaced by Chi-nese. Incidents of People’s Armed Police(PAP) destroying statues of the Buddhaor Guru Padmasambhava have also beenreported.As a consequence to the Lithang incident,in September the Chinese authoritiesstarted a “Patriotic Education Campaign”in Eastern Tibet. Those who did not obeywere jailed. All this is happening in thecountry, which was given the task to or-ganize the next Olympics.When the Dalai Lama received the GoldMedal in the Washington, the Chinese au-thorities, recalling the massive demonstra-tions of 1987, deployed the PAP in sev-eral strategic monasteries.Another incident of shooting at Tibetansfleeing to Nepal through the Nangpa Passwas reported on October 18; nine havegone missing and four were arrested fromthe original group of 46 Tibetans.The Chinese government’s announcementstrikes primarily at the current negotia-tions which the Tibetans started withChina in 2002 (six rounds have been heldso far) and more particularly at the ‘genu-ine autonomy’ envisaged by the DalaiLama. But can there be any autonomy ifeven the innermost traditions are con-trolled by the party and its leadership?A recent report released by the TibetanAdministration in Dharamsala lists hun-dreds of other issues such as the forcedchanges in the lifestyle of the nomads, thepoor state of education, unemploymentand social exclusion, the urban inequali-ties, the damming of rivers in Tibet(Brahmaputra is one of them), the extrac-tion of natural resources or the collateralof tourism on the roof of the World (38lakh visitors in 2007).Which brings us back to the original ques-tion: As far as the Dalai Lama is concerned,was 2007 an Annus Mirabilis or an AnnusHoribilis?The views expressed in the article are theauthor’s and not of Sify.com.

By the same author: Burma’s freedom cry| India-China: Imperfect harmony |Kissinger, China, and Indian amnesia

As Dalai Lama gains, Tibetans lose The Meaning of DreamsDecember 27, 2007 - Bryan Schwartzman,Staff WriterDreams permeate the book of Genesis. FromJacob’s nighttime visions of God to his sonJoseph’s use of dream interpretation in theservice of pharaoh in Egypt, the Bible’sfirst book captures the potential transfor-mative power — and, at times, the para-lyzing anxiety — brought about by the pow-erful images that inhabit, and often haunt,a mind at rest.Yet the remainder of the Torah — indeed,the entire scope of Jewish tradition — re-mains deeply ambivalent about the natureand role of dreams, according to RodgerKamenetz, author of the newly publishedThe History of Last Night’s Dream.In that book and at a Dec. 13 talk at the FreeLibrary of Philadelphia — an event co-spon-sored by the Kehillah of Center City — theEnglish and religious-studies professor at Loui-siana State University asserted that the re-mainder of the Bible either contains scantreferences to dreams or takes a far more cir-cumspect view of their value.In short, he claimed that as the Jewish reli-gious tradition emphasized the word at theexpense of the image — part of the cam-paign to root out idol worship — dreamshave largely been considered something ei-ther ignored or feared.And, he added, that’s been a loss to all whoseek greater spiritual and inner awareness.“Below the surface of our dream is a hiddendepth,” he explained. “In dreams, we canrecover our hidden lives. We can use dreamsto change ourselves from the inside. Mostdreams are about a struggle.”Kamenetz is, of course, best known for his1994 book The Jew in the Lotus, whichchronicled a meeting of Jewish leaders withnone other than the Dalai Lama in India andhelped coin the term JUBU (which has alsocome to be spelled BuJew). The book exam-ined the lives of Jews who, in varying de-grees, incorporated elements of Eastern ritu-als into their religious practice.“The Jew and the Lotus spoke to a genera-tion of Jewish religious-seekers,” noted RabbiLeonard Gordon, religious leader of

Germantown Jewish Centre, in his introduc-tion of the speaker.Kamenetz explained that his encounterwith the visual Buddhist tradition led tohis interest in dreams and daytime visual-ization techniques. The new book is partlya personal journey describing his work withdream teachers — including an 87-year-old mystic in Jerusalem — and partly ahistory of dream interpretation from Gen-esis to Freud.Freud Got It WrongIt’s nearly impossible to discuss the role ofdreams in Western thought without men-tioning Sigmund Freud and his much-debatedbook, The Interpretation of Dreams. In histalk, Kamenetz said that Freud got it allwrong.“Freud, the ancient rabbis, the church fa-thers — they all taught that dreams are mes-sages that need to be decoded,” saidKamenetz, adding that rather than trying tosolve a puzzle, people should surrender todream images and experience them on a morevisceral level.He also noted in his book that present-daypsychiatry has gotten away from the notionof interpreting dreams.The shift takes place in Genesis itself, beganKamenetz. Early on, Jacob and Joseph sim-ply accept their dreams. Later on, dreamsstart to produce great anxiety and must beexplained away, noted the author.“Couldn’t we be given a dream that wouldshow us the essence of who we are?” posedKamenetz.But where does this all lead? What, exactly, isKamenetz proposing that people do?“I want people to bring more imagination totheir religious experience,” he said in an inter-view following his talk and book-signing.“People who are looking to find a deeper con-nection to God can find that through dreams.”But how?“In terms of working with dreams, it’s diffi-cult to do it by yourself. You need a teacher,”replied Kamenetz, who didn’t exactly go onto answer how to locate such a person. “Any-one can write down their dreams and sharethem with people who love you.”

The BJP has taken Himachal Pradesh tooFriday, December 28, 2007 (New Delhi)Results of all 68 seats of Himachal Pradeshassembly election have come out. BJP haswon 41 seats and Congress lost by winningonly 23 seats. BSP secured only one seat.On sweeping the poll, BJP leader LK Advanisaid poll victories in Gujarat and HimachalPradesh reflect beginning of process of changethat will reach national level.BJP workers have been celebrating and broughtout the flowers and laddoos in Shimla andHamirpur.Meanwhile, CM Virbhadra Singh has offeredto step down. He said that he would not con-tinue till March 9, 2008.The BJP victories included Solan, Kotkehloor,Kinnaur, Gagret, Bilaspur, Lahaul and Spiti,Ani, Palampur and Karsog and Geharwin andHamirpur.The Congress wins included Satokgarh, Nahan,Baijnath and Kasumta.Incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singhdefeated his traditional BJP rival KhusiramBalnatah by a margin of 14,137 votes fromRohru seat in Shimla district.While Virbhadra polled 30,079 votes,Balnatah bagged 15,942 votes. This was fifthstraight defeat of Balnatah in the hands ofSingh from the same seat, which formed partof his princely Bushehr state.BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate PK Dhumalled the saffron surge in regaining power win-ning from Bamsan in Hamirpur district while16 others were declared elected. Dhumal wonby 26,000 votes.Himachal also witnessed a high voter turnoutand women played a decisive role and it hasalso helped Dhumal win the LS seat.Dhumal accepted congratulations from themedia and said senior leader Shanta Kumarwas also with him on the party’s decision toproject him as Chief Minister. And as the re-sults poured in, BJP President Rajnath Singhsaid he was grateful to the people of the statefor voting the BJP.Senior Congress leaders Vidya Stokes andThakur Ram lal were trailing in Kumarsainand Kotkaehloor respectively.Vote counting for Himachal assembly elec-tions is underway and the new government isexpected to be formed by December 31.The state underwent polls in two phases ofvoting, first on November 14 and then onDecember 19 to elect 68 legislators, as in-structed by the Election Commission of India.More than four lakh people voted for theHimachal Assembly elections at 6232 pollingstations in the state.Although, the BJP and the Congress, the twomain contenders for power are both claimingthat they would emerge victorious, the con-

test seems to be heading for a close finish.The poll results will decide the fate of 335candidates, including Chief Minister VirbhadraSingh from Rohru constituency and BJP’schief ministerial candidate Prem KumarDhumal from the constituency of Bamsan.Both of them are leading contenders of theHimachal elections.Contenders profileVirbhadra Singh was born to Raja Sir PadamSingh of Bushehr on June 23, 1934, in Shimla.He completed his education at Bishop CottonSchool, Shimla and St Stephen’s College, Delhi.He also served as a captain in the Indian Army.Singh was elected to Lok Sabha in 1962, 1967,1972 and in 1980. He was also a member ofIndian Delegation to the General Assembly ofthe United Nations in 1976.Virbhadra Singh took the charge as DeputyMinister, Tourism and Civil Aviation, fromDecember 1976 to March 1977 and was theMinister of State for Industries from Septem-ber 1982 to April 1983.He was also elected to the State Legislativeassembly from Jubbal-Kotkhai Constituency,twice, before being elected from Rohru Con-stituency in 1990, 1993, 1998 and 2003.Now the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh,Virbhadra has held office since March 6, 2003.He also served in that position from 1983 to1990 and from 1993 to 1998.The BJP chief ministerial candidate PremKumar Dhumal was born to Captain MahantRam on April 4, 1944 in Hamirpur district ofHimachal Pradesh.He completed his education at Punjab Uni-versity, Chandigarh and Guru Nanak Dev Uni-versity, Amritsar.Dhumal is an MP in the Lok Sabha fromHamirpur Parliamentary constituency. He wasthe Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh fromMarch 1998 to March 2003 and was earlierelected to Lok Sabha in 1989 and 1991.He also served as the leader of opposition instate legislative assembly of Himachal Pradeshfrom 2003-2007, before winning the bye-elec-tion in 2007.Presently the leader of the 18-member BJPgroup in 68-member Himachal assembly, PKDhumal is the only non-Congress Chief Min-ister who completed his full term from 1998to 2003.If Virbhadra Singh is confident that Congresswould return to power in the state as it has alarge support, the BJP because of its impres-sive victory in Gujarat is upbeat about theirsuccess.In the 2003 elections, Congress had won 43seats and BJP only 16. Nine seats went toindependents and other parties.(With PTIinputs)

The Dalai Lama. Photo: TPI

The Tibet Post 431 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI TIBET

Tibetan Students Hold RallyOpposing Chinese Invasion

AP[Monday, December 24, 2007 17:53]By ANITA CHANGChinese authorities commonly usevague charges to detain dissidents.Chinese authorities commonly usevague charges to detain dissidents.BEIJING: A Beijing city regulation clamp-ing down on people who send text mes-sages that “spread rumors” or “endangerpublic security” is a threat to freedom ofexpression, a watchdog group said Mon-day.China Human Rights Defenders, an inter-national network of activists andrights monitoring groups, said therecent regulation on text messages“raises serious concerns over therestriction of freedom of expressionin China.”The group said in a statement thatan average of 180 million text mes-sages are sent every day and thattext messaging has become one ofthe most important means of receiv-ing information unavailable in themainstream media.The 2008 Olympics, which Beijing is host-ing, offer a high-profile opportunity forprotesters to air their grievances againstChina on issues like religious freedom, hu-man rights and Tibetan independence.Beijing police will work with governmentagencies and telecommunications com-panies to investigate and punish thoseusing text messages to “spread rumors”or “endanger public security,” the city gov-ernment said in a notice posted on its Website late last month.Chinese authorities commonly use vaguecharges such as those to detain dissidentsor others it views as a threat to the rulingCommunist Party.Although the notice did not detail spe-cific punishments, a story in the city’sCommunist Party mouthpiece newspaper,the Beijing Daily, earlier this year saidpeople who spread rumors or other falseinformation are subject to detention forup to 10 days and a fine of up to $70.China has more than 500 million cell phoneusers and text messaging has become anincreasingly effective way to spread wordof meetings or demonstrations.China has more than 500 million cell phoneusers, and text messaging has b·ãome anincreasingly popular.This summer, plans to build a chemicalplant in the southern coastal city of Xiamenwere suspended after residents sent nearly1 million text messages to friends and fam-ily, urging the government to abandon theproject because of its alleged health andenvironmental risks.Meanwhile, a Tibetan languageonline discussion forum was shutdown this month for having contentthat was against Chinese law, accord-ing to a notice on its Web site.The popular forum, which was hosted atwww.Tibet123.com, was shut down forcontaining “illegal content,” according toa notice on the Web site.The notice says it “strongly condemnsthe ‘rotten apple in the barrel’ who pub-lished harmful information.”The notice then invites people toleave comments. It is not clear if thenotice is from the site moderator orthe government.Media rights group Reporters WithoutBorders has called the site “the most dy-namic forum in the Tibetan blogosphere”with over 6,200 registered members.The Paris-based group said the site hasbeen closed since Dec. 6. It was still inac-cessible Monday.

Beijing ClampsDown on Text

Messages

RFA[Tuesday, December 25, 2007 12:00]Police cars near a crossroads in Dongzhou.Photo: The Epoch TimesPolice cars near a crossroads in Dongzhou.Photo: The Epoch TimesHONG KONG—China saw a turbulent end toa troubled year, with several people detainedacross the country in connection with masscivil rights activities ranging from land dis-putes, to complaints against the government,to industrial action.Police chief Zhou Yongkang has said that“actively preventing and properly handling”mass incidents was the main task for his Min-istry of Public Security this year.But in the space of just a week more than adozen riots, strikes, and demonstrations werereported by RFA’s Mandarin and Cantoneseservices.In Dongguan city, a booming manufacturingcity in south China’s Guangdong province,villagers were beaten by police after severalhundred of them tried to blockade the villagecommittee offices in protest at a land dealthey say was unfair.“Almost all our villagers, about several hun-dred villagers, went to protest. When weblocked the committee office, the...armedpolice beat us,” one villager told RFA’sCantonese service.A familiar storyThe story of Dongguan’s Baima village is afamiliar one now in villages across China,where property prices have boomed in thelast decade. This has rendered responsibilitycontracts signed by many rural families nextto worthless, as local officials use a combina-tion of back-door deals, re-zoning, and brib-ery of elected village chiefs to turn massiveprofits on land sold for development.More than 8,000 farmers from six villages in

A Year of Unrest Across Chinabetween 120 and 250 such protests daily inurban areas, and 90 to 160 in villages.Tian Ren, management professor at Texas’Drexel University, said the problem of socialunrest went hand-in-hand with China’s po-litical system. “From the point of view ofsocial control, all these crises are in fact eco-nomic crises. And in the background ofChina’s economic crises is a political crisis,”he said.“While the government continues to insistthat these are crises of social order, completelyseparate from the economic and political cri-sis, it is espousing a view that does not havethe participation of the other players.”U.S.-based social scientist Liu Xiaozhu saidChina’s central government is well aware ofthe problem; they are simply unable to dealwith it at its root, in the current politicalclimate.“They have a very sensitive system of gath-ering information, but the entire politicalarena is shrouded in fake speech, and befoggedby an atmosphere of empty words and auto-matic clapping,” Liu said.Reporting banned“Anyone who tries to speak the truth isimmediately attacked. This forces themalong the shadowy path of cheating and fak-ery, which results in the oppression of ordi-nary citizens.”Central government officials have admittedpublicly on many occasions that corruptionand official misbehavior could endanger theCommunist Party’s hold on power, and havepaid their dues to the problem of corruptionwith some highly publicized criminal trials oftop officials, and a Web site dedicated to fight-ing corruption.The site crashed soon after its inception,staggering under the burden of so many com-plaints. It has since resumed operation.State media, however, remain tightly con-trolled in what they can report, and, with adoubling of national security convictions inthe past year, reporters are extremely cau-tious about stepping out on a limb to coverlocal civil and economic rights issues.But U.S.-based professor Zhou Zehou ofYork College said Beijing was well aware ofthe negative impact that media controlshave on social stability.“If the media had been allowed to reportthe outbreak of SARS, its negative impactwould not have been so great, and the mor-tality rate would not have been so high,”Zhou said.An Qi, a former reporter and editor at anumber of state-run newspapers in China, iscurrently studying journalism in France. Shedescribed the bans imposed by the propa-ganda department of the Chinese Commu-nist Party’s Central Committee:“According to the propaganda department,there are 21 bans: no stories on unemploy-ment, no stories on the upsurge of migrantworkers…Radio stations are not allowed toreport on workers’ strikes in foreign coun-tries,” An said.Meanwhile, ordinary people across Chinadoggedly continue protests against what theysee as violation of their rights.Some brave starvation and injury and evenrisk their lives to get their voices heard.Beijing-based petitioner Wang Guiying wasone of those who tried to present a 10,000-name petition to Party leaders during the17th Party Congress in October. She wasrecently detained while begging onTiananmen Square and beaten by securityguards until her leg broke.Wang is now stuck in a rented room with nomoney to ease the pain of the broken limb,and no money to buy food.“They found the break in the bone in herright leg at the hospital,” a Beijing socialwelfare official told RFA’s Mandarin ser-vice. “She was also found to have sustainedother injuries. She is unable to move inde-pendently. What makes this situation muchworse is that they have no money to liveon.”“One the one hand they have no money tobuy food, and on the other there is nomoney to buy medicine. She and her sisterare in great difficulty. This is a typical ex-ample of where walking the petitioner’s roadcan get you.”Original reporting in Mandarin by Ding Xiao,Wen Jian, Shen Hua and Xin Yu, and inCantonese by Lee Kin-kwan and Bat Tzi-mo. RFA Mandarin service director: Jenni-fer Chou. RFA Cantonese service director:Shiny Li. Translated and written for the Webin English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sa-rah Jackson-Han.

China and India Make Nice

India and China last week concluded their first-ever war games near Kunming in Yunnan prov-ince. Although the eight-day exercise, whichended December 28, involved only two com-panies of about 100 soldiers from each side, itwas an important development for world poli-tics as well as South Asian ones.Both emerging economic powerhouses havehitherto been known for their strained bilat-eral relations, beginning with the bloody Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962. Frequent Chi-nese incursions on the Indian and Bhutan bor-ders and the Chinese cold response to theUS’s acquiescence to Indian nuclear ambitionsonly made it worse. Of late, however, there isa conscious attempt to put the bitter pastbehind and the latest military diplomacy isregarded as part of that effort.“The joint training is aimed at enhancingunderstanding and mutual trust,” said a state-ment issued by the foreign office of the Chi-nese Ministry of National Defense. "It is alsoaimed at deterring the 'three evil forces' -separatists, extremists and terrorists - andpromoting the strategic partnership for peaceand prosperity between China and India."The drill, termed as "Hand-in-Hand 2007,"focusing on counter-terrorism, was the out-come of an agreement on defense coopera-tion signed in May 2006 during a visit toChina by former Indian defense ministerPranab Mukherjee. The details were workedout by military officials of both countries dur-ing meetings held in Kolkata and Kunming inrecent weeks. China sent another positive sig-nal last year by agreeing to reopen the strate-gic Nathu La pass to border trade, thereby

accepting Sikkim as a part of India.Given the bitter past relationships betweenthe two countries, the joint exercise largelycosmetic, in which neither of the participantswere expected to show major military prow-ess. The main purpose was to build confidencebetween the two armies for further coopera-tion. But both India and China have certainother objectives which are no less important.The exercise is largely regarded as part ofChina’s charm offensive.China wants to reassure others of its “peace-ful intentions.” It also wants to train its youngofficers by giving them exposure of otherarmies and would like the increased interac-tion to reduce apprehensions about the ongo-ing modernization of the People’s LiberationArmy.Recent developments over Tibet have alsoprompted Beijing to seek somewhat improvedrelations with India. China has been concernedever since the US Congress honored the DalaiLama with the Congressional Gold Medal, thehighest civilian award conferred by US law-makers. The Dalai Lama’s widely publicizedvisit to Capitol Hill was followed by a trip toCanada and a meeting in Berlin with GermanChancellor Angela Merkel.These visits have worried the Chinese, whosee the widely-respected religious figure leaderas once again trying to bring unwanted atten-tion to Tibet. On the other hand, to Chinesecomfort, New Delhi has always regarded Ti-bet as an autonomous region of China. Beijingwas also reassured by the fact that soon afterthe Tibetan spiritual leader returned to India,

Anand Kumar30 December 2007, Driven into each other’s arms by global con-cerns over energy, Tibet and other issues, India and China con-duct their first ever joint military exercises

Wuqing district of the northern port city ofTianjin have protested a massive land grab bylocal government amounting to around10,000 mu (670 hectares) since 1992.The local government initially began to builda reservoir in the nearby area, and began torequisition the land from farmers without anycompensation. It then converted the reser-voir site to highly profitable, large-scale fish-farms after a directive from higher up warnedthem they had acted illegally.Government statistics counted around 74,000protests across the country in 2005, involv-ing more than 3.7 million people, a sharp risefrom 58,000 in 2003, and 10,000 in 1994.A researcher at the Chinese Academy of So-cial Sciences has estimated that 35 percent of“mass incidents” in China are sparked by ru-ral communities fighting for their rights, 30percent by workers, 15 percent by ordinarycitizens, 10 percent from other disputes, fivepercent as a result of “social disturbances,”and five percent by organized crime.Those who protest official corruption orseek redress for official wrongdoing oftenend up in a worse state than if they haddone nothing at all.In Guangdong’s Dongzhou village, more than1,000 armed police used tear gas to dispersehundreds of villagers who tried again to blockthe construction of a key pylon near a dis-puted power plant.“They used tear gas and scattered the crowd,”a resident of the troubled village near thesouthern port city of Shanwei told RFA’sMandarin service.Earlier, several hundred villagers hadconverged, beating on cymbals, on thesame intersection where police openedfire on a crowd of protesting villagers onDec. 6, 2005, killing at least three people.The authorities later said police had fired“in alarm” after being attacked by home-made explosives, but villagers deny at-tacking first.All economic crisesAcademics have calculated that demonstra-tions involving more than 100 people oc-curred in 337 cities and 1,955 counties inthe first 10 months of 2006, amounting to

Villagers beg for news of the dead in Dongzhou,December 2005. Photo: The Epoch Times

TPI. December 26, 2007.Mangalore: Tibetan Students HoldRally Opposing Chinese InvasionThe Tibet Post International {26, De-cember 2007} Daijiworld Media Net-work – Mangalore (KM)Pics by Ahmed AnwarMangalore,Dec 25: Tibetan students studyingin var ious col leges in the c i tylaunched a bicycle rally here onTuesday, December 25 opposingChina’s invasion of Tibet.The rally was organized by regionalTibetan Youth As many as 25 Tibetanstudents took part in the rally, whichwas flagged off at Lalbagh here. Therally will terminate near Mundagod, atown located in the northern part of thestate. The rally will move via Puttur,Sullia, Madikeri, Mysore and other

places.The rally deserves applause as it isdriven by the mission of freedomstruggle-like zest. Human right hasbeen violated in Tibet. Dalailama issynonymous with Mahatma Gandhiwho struggled to make the nationpeaceful. Non-violence movementsare essential to establish peace,Captian Ganesh Karnik, MLC opinedon the occasion.The nine-day rally aims to spreadawareness about the exploitation ofChina over Tibet and to attenuate theinfluence of China. The rally’s primeconcern is to strengthen the deepbonds that India has with the Tibet-ans and Tibet, Ngwang Thokme,president of Youth Congressasserted.Congress.

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31 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI WORLDThe Tibet Post 5

Maoists to re-join govt in Nepal Main events of 2007

PARIS: Ap, 28, December 2007.Main world events in the year 2007:JANUARYAn Indonesian passenger jet carrying 102people crashes into the sea, killing all aboard.Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman inthe post of Speaker of the US House of Rep-resentatives, as her Democratic Party takescontrol of Congress.US President George W. Bush announces plansfor a “surge” of extra troops into Iraq. USmilitary losses in the war pass the 3,000 mark.US forces in Iraq arrest six Iranians, provok-ing the fury of their government, which saysthey are diplomats. They are not releaseduntil November.Storms across much of northern Europekill at least 47 people.FEBRUARYGeneral David Petraeus takes over as headof US forces in Iraq. US officials increas-ingly accuse Iran of stoking the violence inIraq.A suicide bomber hits the main US base inAfghanistan just as Vice President DickCheney is visiting. Up to 20 people die, mostof them locals.MARCHAfter talks with the United States, NorthKorea says it is willing to begin scrapping itsnuclear weapons programme.Russia warns the United States against a USplan to install a missile shield in Europe.At least 110 miners are kil led when amethane gas blast r ips through a coalmine in Siberia.Iran seizes 15 British navy sailors con-ducting anti-smuggling checks near i tscoast, claiming they were in its waters.They are freed in early April.APRILA UN report paints a grim panorama of theimpact of global warming.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announcesthat Iran is now producing enriched uraniumon an industrial scale.A South Korean student guns down 32 peopleat a Virginia university in the deadliest shoot-

ing rampage in modern US history.Former Russian president Boris Yeltsindies a t 76.MAYUS President George W. Bush vetoes a Con-gressional bill that would have set a date fora withdrawal of forces from Iraq.O v e r 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e m a r c h i n t h eU n i t e d S t a t e s t o d e m a n d m o r er i g h t s f o r i m m i g r a n t w o r k e r s .Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy wins theFrench presidency.A s c a n d a l f o r c e s P a u l Wo l f o w i t z , al e a d i n g U S n e o - c o n s e r v a t i v e , t o r e -s ign as head of the World Bank.JUNEAfter months of heavy fighting, the two mainbranches of the Palestinian movement split,with the Islamist Hamas controlling the GazaStrip and Fatah holding the West Bank.European Union leaders reach agreement ona new fundamental treaty.Afghan President Hamid Karzai slams NATOand US forces for attacks that kill civiliansin his country.British Prime Minister Tony Blair steps downand is replaced by Gordon Brown. Blair isappointed an international peace envoy forthe Middle East.JULYPakistani troops storm an Islamist-heldmosque in the heart of the capital Islamabad.Over 60 people die.Russia pulls out of a treaty that limits con-ventional forces in Europe.Six foreign medics jailed in Libya for infect-ing children with the AIDS virus are freedand flown to Bulgaria, where most of themcome from.A heatwave claims hundreds of lives in south-eastern Europe. Greece is hit by massive fires.The US stock market falls heavily amid fearsover the housing market.AUGUSTRussia says one of its unmanned submarineshas planted a flag on the ocean floor underthe North Pole.Floods kill over 3,000 people and displace

some 25 million in south Asia.A powerful earthquake devastates severalPeruvian cities and kills at least 500 people.A flash flood kills 172 workers in a Chinesecoalmine.The Taliban release South Korean hostagesseized in Afghanistan, ending a six-week kid-napping ordeal during which two Koreanswere killed.US President George W. Bush says the worldcould face a “holocaust” if Iran obtainsnuclear weapons.SEPTEMBERLebanese troops eject Islamist militants froma Palestinian refugee camp after a three-month battle that has killed over 220 rebelsand 163 soldiers.As the United States marks the sixth anni-versary of the attacks of September 11, 2001,al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden taunts thecountry in a new video.Tension rises in Myanmar as at least 13 diein continuing pro-democracy protests.At least 10 African peacekeepers are killedin an attack on their base in Sudan’s Darfurregion.OCTOBERThe leaders of North and South Korea hold arare summit in the North.Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Britainwill slash the number of its troops in Iraq in2008.Former US vice president Al Gore and theUN’s top climate panel jointly win the NobelPeace Prize for work on global warming.Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto re-turns to Pakistan after eight years in exile.Bombs kill at least 139 people near her mo-torcade.US President George W. Bush meets the ex-iled Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama,angering China.NOVEMBERPresident Pervez Musharraf declares a stateof emergency in Pakistan.2 0 0 7 t h e d e a d l i e s t y e a r y e t f o r U Sforces in I raq .Lawmakers are among over 50 dead in a sui-cide bombing in northern Afghanistan.President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has abitter clash with the king of Spain at a sum-mit meeting.French unions go on s t r ike over pen-sion reform.Over 3,000 die and millions are homeless asa cyclone devastates parts of Bangladesh.The Australian Labour Party wins power andsays it will pull its troops out of Iraq.The United States hosts talks on a MiddleEast peace settlement.DECEMBERVenezuelans vote to reject constitutionalchanges that would have given more powerto President Hugo Chavez.The party of President Vladimir Putin winsa landslide victory in Russia’s elections.Reversing earlier judgements, a top US intel-ligence report says Iran is not close to ob-taining nuclear weapons.US President George W. Bush writes to NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Il asking him todisclose his nuclear weapon programme bythe year’s end.

In October 2007, US President George W. Bush meets the exiled Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama, angering China.

Narendra Modi to be swornin as CM tomorrow

Gandhinagar (PTI): Narendra Modi,who pulled off a stunning repeatwin for the BJP in the Gujarat As-sembly elections, will be sworn inas Chief Minister on Tuesday for athird consecutive term.Modi(57) will be sworn in by GovernorNaval Kishore Sharma at 1250 PM at theSardar Patel stadium after he was unani-mously elected on Monday as the leaderof the Gujarat BJP Legislature Party.As a formality, all the 117 newly-electedBJP MLAs held a meeting at the TownHall here where they chose Modi astheir leader. The meeting was also at-tended by senior BJP leaders ArunJaitley, who is party’s incharge ofGujarat, and Venkaiah Naidu.Modi’s swearing-in ceremony Modiwill coincide with the birthday ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee.Earlier, Modi was scheduled to be swornin on December 27. He single-handedlyensured that the saffron party cameclose to a two-third majority winning 117seats in the high-profile elections.After he was elected, an emotional Modiaddressed the issue of his perceived largerthan life image when he told his legisla-tors he was not bigger than the party.“Those who say Modi is bigger thanparty do not know what the history ofBJP and Jan Sangh is,” Modi said.Gujarat Assembly polls - 2007

“Son cannot ever be bigger thana mother” , an emotional Modisaid, suggesting that he cannotbe bigger than the party.While talking on the issue, Modiappeared to be touched and wasalmost in tears.“It is “vikrut manskita” (pervertedmindset) to say that Modi is bigger thanthe party”, he said and had a dig at themedia saying “My image appears to bebigger because of the limitation of yourlenses which stop at me.“My image appears to be bigger be-cause of the limitation of your lenseswhich stop at me. But if you were towiden your focus, you could see thou-sands of BJP workers who have liftedme up on their shoulders,” Modi saidin an apparent dig at a section of themedia, which has been projecting himas bigger than the party.Modi also said “In the days of JanSangh, candidates of the party usedto lose their deposits in most of theelections. At that time, many dedi-cated workers and families sincerelyworked for the party.Modi first became Chief Minister inearly 2001 after Keshubhai Patel wasasked to quit following the stategovernment’s alleged mishandlingof the post-earthquake situation inthe state. His second stint startedin 2002 when he led the party to athumping victory winning 127 seatsin the elections held a few monthsafter the communal riots.Earlier, Modi handed over the resig-nation of the entire state-cabinet toGovernor Naval Kishore Sharma af-ter the present term of the govern-ment ended on Monday.While accepting the resignations,Sharma asked Modi to continue as the“care-taker” chief minister till the newgovernment is formed.

Prajna Datta VarmaMonday, December 24, 2007 (Kathmandu)The three-month deadlock in Nepal has ended.The Maoists have agreed to rejoin the GirijaPrasad Koirala government under a new dealsigned on Sunday night.In the 22-point agreement, the two sidesagreed that after the elections scheduledto be held in April next year, Nepal will bedeclared a Federal Democratic Republicthrough the interim parliament, subject toratification by the Constituent Assembly.Road to democracyA political deal for peace with the Maoistformer rebels and the government will seethe centuries-old monarchy abolished. Afterthe elections in April 2008, Nepal will bedeclared a federal democratic republic.‘’Mainly in case of Republic, it will be now aFederal People’s Republic, the implementa-tion will be effective after the first meeting ofthe Constituent assembly election,’’ said ArjunNarsingh, Nepali Congress Spokesperson.‘’We all have agreed to hold mixed type ofelections, in which 42 per cent candidates(will be chosen) through regular elections

and 58 percent candidatesthrough proportionate elec-tion, (that is, 240 seats throughregular voting and 335 throughproportional polling), and be-sides, 26 seats will be nomi-nated - altogether 601,’’ headded.After three months of politi-cal turmoil, the Maoists pulledout of the government in Sep-tember, demanding an immedi-ate end to the monarchy.This delayed the constituent as-sembly elections, which werescheduled for November.‘’In the case, the king tries to abort

the election, the two third majority of the interimlegislative body will replace the kingship with therepublican state,’’ said Bharat Mohan Adhikari,Communist Party of Nepal.‘’Maoists have agreed to join the Cabinetafter the implementation of this agreement,’’he added.Elections twice delayedThe aborted November polls, Nepal’s firstnational votes since 1999, to map thecountry’s political future, including that ofthe monarchy, was expected to cap the land-mark peace deal between the governmentand the Maoists.The deal came about after the governmentand Maoist chief Prachanda signed a pact in2006, marking the end of a conflict, whichcaused over 13,000 deaths.The dates of the twice-delayed elections areyet to be announced.As part of the deal, the Maoists have agreedto return all land and properties captured bytheir cadre, while the government has pledgeda commission to trace people, mostlyMaoists, who went missing during the vio-lence.

Nitin GokhaleN D T V. M o n d a y, D e c e m b e r 2 4 ,2007 (Kunming , China)Forty-five years ago these soldiers foughteach other in the bitterly contested 1962conflict in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

Today the cause of that war, the dis-puted border still hasn’t been resolvedbut the first tentative steps towardsnormalizing relations have been takenin the form a joint exercise and a com-mon enemy, terrorism.

On Tuesday, the final day of this five-day exercise, two mixed teams, whichwill include one hundred Chinese andIndian soldiers will attack a terroristcamp occupied by militants that weretrying to sabotage the friendly relationsbetween India and China.From the moment the Indians landedthey’ve been treated like VIPs. The lo-cal press has covered the exercise ex-tensively.A high level Indian team consisting ofthree generals is being hosted by theVice Chief of China’s People’s Libera-tion Army Lt Gen Ma Xiao Tian. Andthough the border dispute remains anirritation not a shot has been exchangedsince the border treaty of 1993 and theAgreement for Peace and Tranquilityof 1996.Exercises like this one could now be-come a regular feature. India has offeredto host the Chinese army next year andthe Chinese are considering thisfavourably.

Indo-China: first joint Military exercise

31 December, 2007 Dharamsala TPI VARIETY The Tibet Post6After Trip From Tibet, an Injury on Queens Blvd.

Nyiga Tenzin Nordon with her son, GonpoDorjee, 16, whose leg was mangled twoweeks after he arrived in New York.ByJENNIFER 8. LEEPublished: December 30, 2007Once theycrossed the border between Tibet and Nepal,the guides could take them through theHimalayas under cover of night on amonthlong trek to Katmandu for $75. Orfor $250, they could follow a shorter butmore dangerous route; they might be moreeasily caught, but it would take only a week.Either way, Nyiga Tenzin Nordon could notask her 9-year-old son, Gonpo Dorjee, tomake such a dangerous trip with her and hermother. So she paid a poor Nepalese womanto hide him — dressed in rags, with dirtsmeared on his skin — among her own chil-dren on a five-hour bus ride to Katmandu.Ms. Nordon would meet him after herweeklong journey from Tibet. From therethey would travel by bus with dozens of oth-ers into India, to Dharamsala, the center ofthe Tibetan exile community and home tothe Dalai Lama.It was 2000 when the family escaped fromtheir hometown of Lhasa. The Chinese po-lice had started to come around, asking ques-tions about Ms. Nordon’s sister, YungchenLhamo, a Tibetan singer who had become anoutspoken critic of the Chinese governmentduring her concerts around the world.Five decades of Chinese control had beenhard on Ms. Nordon’s family and on Tibet,with a systematic dismantling of culture, pride

and identity.Gonpo never knew his father. When hewas only 3 weeks old, the police had comeknocking, saying they wanted to ask hisfather a few questions. Gonpo’s father wastaken away and died in police custody. Lateron, Ms. Nordon discovered he had beenpart of an underground protest movement.“He never told me,” she said.Over the years, the Communist governmenthad encouraged all things Chinese in Tibet,giving incentives to the Han Chinese major-ity to resettle in the sparsely populated re-gions. Under the Chinese education system,Ms. Nordon never learned to read or writeTibetan — only Chinese.Five years after arriving in India, Ms.Nordon was granted asylum in the UnitedStates. She left Gonpo behind, but he joinedher in Queens, where she was living withher sister, in May.Two weeks after he arrived, Gonpo and Ms.Nordon were waiting to cross Queens Boule-vard when a red Jeep Cherokee collided witha silver Honda Civic, shoving the Honda intoGonpo, Ms. Nordon and two other pedestri-ans. The Jeep drove away. Ms. Nordon passedout. Gonpo’s leg was mangled.“If they hadn’t rushed him to BellevueHospital, they would have lost his leg,”Ms. Nordon said.A series of operations removed skin andmuscle from Gonpo’s thigh to reconstructhis calf. As he lay in the hospital recover-ing, his grandmother, Nawang Choezom,

who had escaped Tibet with them and laterjoined them in New York, was dying of can-cer on another floor of the same hospital.But Ms. Nordon could not leave her son.“He would just hold my hand and say, ‘Idon’t want you to go anywhere,’” she said.Throughout the last several years the familyhas been helped by Catholic Charities of theArchdiocese of New York, one of seven ben-eficiaries of The New York Times NeediestCases Fund. Not only did the agency helppush through their applications for politicalasylum and green cards, it also drew $168.90from Neediest funds to cover Gonpo’s ex-penses traveling to medical appointmentsafter his injury.Gonpo, now 16, has recovered enough towalk slowly, almost without a limp.Ms. Nordon, who works as a maid at theHilton Times Square, faced another challengerecently when her sister decided to give upher apartment in Sunnyside, Queens. Ms.Nordon’s choices were limited because ofmoney; she and Gonpo now share a singleroom with another person.Their home in Sunnyside, Queens, was deco-rated with pictures of the Dalai Lama, em-broideries of the Potala Palace, formerly hischief residence in Tibet, and a large shrine.Ms. Nordon said, “We must have done some-thing wrong in our last life; that is why Godand Buddha punish us.”She added, “When we do the prayer wesay,‘Whatever happened to us, please let itnot happen to anyone else.’”

ministers in the UPA government were askednot to attend a felicitation organized by theGandhi Peace Foundation. However, now thatthe Dalai Lama is publicly hinting at choos-ing his successor, the Chinese would like areiteration of New Delhi’s position on Tibet.Though India’s relationship with China isquite complex, India in recent times hasbeen trying to give it a positive thrust. Chinais an important player in regional and in-ternational politics. It is also a member ofseveral crucial international organizationswhere India would need Chinese support orat least its indifference. For instance, Indianeeds Chinese support in the Nuclear Sup-plier Group (NSG). Last year China ap-peared to be uncomfortable with India'sgrowing strategic ties with the US, cementedthrough a series of joint exercises includingthe huge five nation naval exercise in theBay of Bengal this year. Hence there was aneed for India to do something that couldreduce Chinese apprehensions.Now both sides have begun to realize thatIndian and Chinese economic relations areno less important. India and China are theworld’s fastest growing loarge economies.Their bilateral trade is likely to reach US$40billion soon. Despite vast political differ-ences, even the US has been doing businesswith China. Hence it was unwise for India tolet strained political relations damage a bur-geoning economic relationship.The growing Indian and Chinese economiesrequire huge energy resources. The two coun-tries’ energy companies have recently beencompeting against each other. Chinese com-panies have been more successful in clinch-ing deals across the planet, but this mutualrivalry has jacked up prices considerably.China realizes its companies have paid muchfor the resources than they were worth. Twoyears after they ended their rivalry, Indiaand China are now beginning to give shapeto cooperation in oil and gas exploration.Now Indian and Chinese officials are plan-ning a roadmap to jointly stake rights to oil

Continued from page 4 and gas assets in various parts of the world.India has been somewhat successful in itseffort to improve bilateral relationshipthrough several top-level political ex-changes. Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson ofthe ruling United Progressive Alliance inthe Lok Sabha, or India Parliament as wellas the leader of the Congress ParliamentaryParty, visited Beijing in October. Prepara-tions are currently on for Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s China visit from Janu-ary 13-16.Also, Indian Foreign Secretary ShivshankarMenon recently visited Beijing for a thirdround of strategic dialogue and agreed tospeed resolution of the decades-old borderdispute between the two countries, whichbegan in 1962 over a disputed region of theHimalayan border in what the Indians callArunchal Pradesh and the Chinese call SouthTibet. This talk covered the gamut of bilat-eral, regional and global issues besides giv-ing finishing touches to the agenda for PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh's visit.At present, both India and China appearkeen to at least remove acrimony from therelationship so that their economic andsometimes political interests do not suffer.This desire has restrained India from sharplyreacting to recent Chinese incursions,though it has kept an eye on developmentsin the border area and has moved a battal-ion from Jammu and Kashmir to West Ben-gal. Indian leaders now find the Chinesemore accommodating and see a possibilityof sorting out the border dispute.Though the major issues bedeviling Indo-Chinese relations will only be solved at thepolitical level, joint military exercises willcreate conducive environment and help toreduce the ill-will. In any case a coopera-tive relationship between these armies wouldbe required even when the border disputesare fully settled. The debilitating large-scaleconflict, won by the Chinese, took place ataltitudes over 14,000 feet (4,300 meters).Presumably neither side wants to face any-thing like that again.

{The Tibet Post International, 28 December2007}By Pamela ConstableWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, December 28, 2007. With her lumi-nous eyes and strong features framed by a flow-ing white head scarf, Benazir Bhutto was theface of Pakistan’s democratic hopes — a facethat had been thrust into the limelight with theexecution of her father in 1979 and that re-mained there, aging gracefully, until her assas-sination in Pakistan on Thursday. Bhutto, 54,was a charismatic but controversial politicalleader whose highly magnified life was markedby vertiginous twists of fate — family trag-edies, political triumphs and defeats, accusa-tions of corruption and autocracy — that of-ten led to comparisons with the Kennedy clanin the United States and the Gandhi-Nehru dy-nasty of India.Following in the footsteps of her father, PrimeMinister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, she was twicechosen as Pakistan’s prime minister in the1990s, but was also twice driven from officeamid charges of corruption and incompetence.This winter, after years of self-imposed exile,Bhutto was attempting to stage a high-riskpolitical comeback that could have led to athird term as premier in elections next month.Instead, Bhutto’s slaying, which occurred atthe site where Pakistan’s first prime minister,Liaquat Ali Khan, was gunned down in 1951,seemed destined to plunge her fragile home-land into political free fall, vulnerable both tothe predations of increasingly violent Islamicextremist forces and to the resulting tempta-tions of military control.Benazir Bhutto was a woman of many contra-dictions. Her complex personality and tumul-tuous career reflected the deep social schismsand paralyzing political power struggles of thevast, impoverished country she briefly gov-erned and long represented as a flawed but pas-sionate advocate for change.She was born June 21, 1953, into a life of feu-dal privilege and wealth in a highly stratifiedsociety, then sent to boarding schools and onEuropean vacations in sports cars while mil-lions of her illiterate countrymen toiled in brickkilns and wheat fields for pennies a day. Yetshe went on to become a champion of populardemocracy who headed her country’s closestequivalent to a secular Western movement,the Pakistan People’s Party.Bhutto, nicknamed “Pinkie” for her rosy com-plexion, was a graduate of Radcliffe Collegeand Oxford University who spoke culturedEnglish and moved easily through the drawingrooms of London and Georgetown. Yet shealso submitted to a traditional arranged mar-riage and, while speaking up for the rights ofwomen in Muslim societies, was always carefulto publicly observe the stylistic dictates of herreligion.Bhutto broke with family tradition by not cov-ering her face with a veil in public. Instead, herwhite head scarf, known as a dupatta, becameher political trademark — a symbolic bridgebetween tradition and modernity. She was of-ten shown in photographs adjusting the scarfmodestly over her hair as she delivered ring-ing, impassioned speeches on foreign policy oreconomic reform.She was a highly disciplined and wily politicianwho kept a grip on her party, remaining itslifelong president and making all its decisions,even during her long exile in London and Dubai,United Arab Emirates. Despite her cult statusas a democratic leader, she flirted opportunis-tically with military power-sharing and at-tempted rapprochement with Afghanistan’sIslamic Taliban rulers when it seemed expedi-ent.Above all, she was her father’s daughter, in-spired by his stories of Napoleon, AbrahamLincoln and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and raisedwith foreign democratic leaders at the dinnertable. Then in 1977, a military coup pluckedPinkie from carefree college life. Her fatherwas thrown into prison, tried on dubious chargesof corruption and murder conspiracy and fi-

nally hanged in 1979 on orders from Pakistan’sdictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq.In an autobiography, “Daughter of Destiny,”Bhutto described in revealing detail her youth-ful visits to her father in prison, especially hermemories of his dignity and determinationunder squalid, humiliating conditions and in theface of death. His own autobiography, writtenfrom prison, was titled “If I Am Assassinated.”Later, Bhutto faced her own ordeal of housearrest, prison and exile, but she emerged tough-ened and determined to carry on her father’slegacy as a secular reformer. It was a goal shepursued, with deviations into unsavory politi-cal intrigue and the temptations of personalpower, for the rest of her life.“There was a kind of fatalism about Benazir.She saw herself as being on a mission, to carryforward the message of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,and she was determined to carry that missionout, come what may,” said Shuja Nawaz, a Pa-kistani American scholar in Washington whoknew her well. “People accused her of being anopportunistic politician, but she was also veryreligious. She was resigned to doing what shehad to do, and it must have taken a great dealof inner strength.”The high point of Bhutto’s career came afterher return to Pakistan in 1986, following nearlya decade of military rule, when she was wel-comed by tumultuous mobs as the leader whocould deliver the country from the darkness ofthe Zia years. “It is almost impossible to exag-gerate the weight of expectation which herreturn aroused,” author Ian Talbot wrote ofher election as prime minister in 1988.Yet even though she was an inspiration toPakistan’s poor voters, Bhutto proved a disap-pointing ruler. She traveled widely abroad andwas extremely popular in Washington, and sheenacted economic policies aimed at attractingforeign investment and reducing Pakistan’sappalling poverty.But she failed to control a series of domesticconflicts, especially a spiral of ethnic and sec-tarian violence in Karachi, her native city. Shewas accused of trying to manipulate the courtsand the press and of stooping to multiple actsof petty self-enrichment while in power. Shewas forced from office after two years, thenreelected in 1993 and forced out a second timeafter three more years.Many of the corruption charges involved herhusband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, who wassnidely referred to as “Mr. 10 Percent.” Thepair were accused of taking kickbacks for gov-ernment contracts, on items from importedtractors to steel mill improvements, and ofhiding their gains in international bank accountsand real estate.Zardari was also accused of drug trafficking andof involvement in the 1996 murder of Bhutto’sbrother Murtaza, who was widely described ascreating political problems for her. In 1999,husband and wife were sentenced to five yearsin prison; Zardari ended up spending eight yearsbehind bars, but Bhutto, who was abroad at thetime, did not return.Bhutto consistently denied the charges and saidthey were politically motivated, but the scan-dals disillusioned many of her followers. Mean-while, her lofty ideals gradually sank to thelevel of a petty rivalry with her political nem-esis, Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan MuslimLeague, who was elected prime minister twice,partly because of her failures in office.Bhutto spent much of the last decade livingabroad with her three children, largely to avoidprosecution. But early this year, she began qui-etly negotiating to return to her troubled home-land, where she still harbored dreams of return-ing to power and where some Western officialsviewed a co-government headed by Bhutto andPakistan’s military president, Gen. PervezMusharraf, as the best option for short-termstability.Bhutto had been warned by friends and advisersnot to return to Pakistan. Islamic terrorismwas on the rise there, and the country’s in-creasingly emboldened Islamic militants viewedher as a dangerously secular figure who wasessentially the Western candidate for primeminister.The degree of danger became starkly clear justhours after Bhutto’s triumphant homecomingOct. 18. As her caravan crawled through wel-coming crowds in the port city of Karachi, twomassive bombs exploded, sparing her life butkilling an estimated 145 other people.On Nov. 3, Musharraf declared emergency ruleand Bhutto was placed under house arrest twicein the days that followed. But despite the re-strictions and the risks, she continued speak-ing out against both military dictatorship andIslamic extremism.Once elections were announced for January,she toyed briefly with the idea of a boycott butsoon began campaigning in earnest, seekingout the crowds that idolized her and attempt-ing to stage events that would echo her pastpolitical triumphs. In was in such a place,Liaquat Garden in the garrison city ofRawalpindi, that Bhutto met her fate.

A Life Reflecting Her Country’s Contradictions

Benazir Bhuto

TYC[Monday, December 24, 2007 19:17]New Delhi: The 8th Tibetan Youth Leadership Training(TYLT) began on 22nd December, 2007 at TCV TibetanYouth Hostel, Rohini, New Delhi City. The significanceof TYLT can be measured from the 2004 TYC General BodyMeeting which unanimously passed a resolution for theinclusion of TYLT as an annual activity of TYC Centrex.The inaugural of the TYLT was graced officially by theChief Guest Mr. Karma Chophel, Speaker of the Assem-bly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPD). In his addresshe advised the students to be proud of your heritage andknow the pain that keeps one alert about the Tibetansuffering. TYC President Mr. Tsewang Rigzin gave thewelcome and introductory speech.Among the Special Guest were Mr. L.R. Sanga, Coordi-nator of the Nationalities Youth Forum of Burma, BeriJigme Wangyal, Member of Parliament and Tibetan His-torian, and Mr.Kalsang Phunstok Godrukpa, FormerPresident of TYC. Mr. L.R. Sanga spoke on the commongrounds for Tibet and Burma to counter the Chinesegovernment’s policy. He shared his support for the Ti-betan freedom movement and stated that, “Tibet willsurely gain Independence under the guidance of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama.”The participants hold group discussions as part of theleadership training.The participants hold group discussions as part of theleadership training.Mr. Karma Chophel spoke on the topic “Sino-Tibet del-egation diplomacy” for the first session by relating thehistorical background of the Special Envoy Visits, itspresent status and the future prospects. Subsequently,freelance journalist and photographer Mr. Vijay Krantishared his experiences on how to approach and lobby theMedia. Mrs. Tsering Yangkyi, Executive Director of TesiEnvironment Awareness Movement (TEAM) presentedon “Tibet’s Environment and its impact on South Asia”for the last session of the day. After dinner, a documentarymovie “Bringing down the Dictator” was screened tofamiliarize the participants with the Serbian studentmovement for freedom and democracy.Over 70 students from various institutions in India andNepal are participating in the five day training programof which 28 are females. The five day program will covervarious topics ranging from Tibetan Independence Move-ment and the role of people’s participation, Sino-Tibetandelegation diplomacy, Media Strategies, Environment,Career, Democracy, Olympic Campaigns, Mass Move-ments, Tibetan Judiciary System, Charter of TYC, Organi-zational Transformation, Importance of Tibetan Language,Aids and Drugs, India’s Tibet policy, Tibetan history,China and etc.

Tibetan Youths receiveleadership training