Big Trouble in Little Nepal

Big Trouble in Little Nepal
It’s the dry season now in Nepal, stretching from the end of the monsoon in early September until the humid and moisture-laden clouds start pushing into the country from the south in late spring. In between, little to no snow or rainfall disturbs this land-locked mountainous country. But something has been ruffling the political climate in the country, creeping through the Himalayas, that impassible physical barrier that forms a giant barrier along the northern edge of the country. The clumsy hand of Chinese politics, like a puppeteer working the instruments of Nepalese domestic policy, has manipulated Nepal’s treatment of its Tibetan residents – legal and refugees – in the country to the point where the message is clear to the Tibetans, and to others: do not criticize China or you will be dealt with harshly. Beatings and imprisonment have become common, often carried out not only by the Nepalese police, but by agents of the Chinese government working inside Nepal. This, despite a UN “gentleman’s agreement” that allows Tibetan refugees to pass through Nepal on their way to India (China Brief Volume: 11 Issue: 11; J. Vijay Sakhuja; “China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal”).
This, among other topics, was discussed at an Executive Annual Meeting of the International Campaign for Tibet in San Francisco on Wednesday December 8th, at the Urban Center on Mission Street. The Special Envoy to his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyari, spoke, along with ICT Vice President Mary Beth Markey, and others, to a group of ICT members. Ms. Markey, in detailing ICT’s activities around the world, especially in light of the recent spate of immolations by Tibetans in Tibet, Western China and Nepal, addressed the extreme pressure being put on the Nepalese government to silence Tibetans in their country, and to deny Tibetan refugees entrance. Nepal, situated as it is between the two Asian giants of India and China, now more than ever before, finds itself caught in a vice between the two countries, both attempting to secure Nepal within their respective domains of influence. Historically, due to its Hindu and Buddhist populations (the former around 80% of the total population, the latter at least 8%), the plain fact that Nepali, the national language, derives from Hindi and ultimately Sanskrit, economic, cultural and social ties, India has played the role of the mother ship, from which all things emanate (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/nepal/). China, walled off by the Himalayas, has historically been relegated to the sidelines. But this all started to change dramatically about five years ago.
With the ascendancy of the Nepalese Maoist Party, now the largest of Nepal’s over 20 political parties, China saw an opportunity to get their foot in the door. The dragon has been generous in economic support, but as usual with China, there is a price. That price is toeing the line on the “One China Policy” dogma espoused by the CCP, which states that Tibet never existed – it was always China – and that anything that the Chinese Politburo deems as being against this policy cannot be tolerated. The crackdowns on pro-Tibet protests in Kathmandu and its sister city of Lalitpur have been numerous, and ongoing since before the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Maoist’s eagerness to follow Beijing’s dictates has led them to abandon the 2008 “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” as detailed in the April 15, 2011 issue of the Indian Defense Review, in the article “Nepal Deporting Tibetans to China Secretly” by Nidhi Bardwaj:
But the political ascendancy of Nepalese Maoist and Communist parties and their assertion of “One-China” policy, Kathmandu dumped the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” in 2008. The government stopped giving refugee status to Tibetans and with this they lost their right to safe passage through Nepal. In fact, Nepalese police and Maoist cadres were ordered to spot and arrest Tibetan refugees escaping into Northern Nepal, and hand them over to the immigration authorities.
Nepal, formerly an independent country, is now becoming a puppet state controlled by the Chinese, turning their backs on their historic partners in South Asia, namely India, and in the process also rejecting basic human rights agreements that they have signed on to.
This brings us to the case of Tibetans burning themselves as an act of protest against Chinese occupation of their homeland, acts that testify to the Tibetan spirit in the face of 60 years of oppression. These should be read rightfully as acts of desperation, but also as symbols of an unshakeable belief in Tibetan rights to self-determination, freedom and basic human rights. Demonstrations have been held in Kathmandu by Tibetan refugees and residents, mainly in Jawlakhel, Lalitpur, and demonstrators showing their solidarity with pro-Tibetan freedom sympathizers were beaten and jailed. Ms. Markey, at the meeting, also detailed how one of their support teams was corralled by a group of Chinese political operatives, dragged into a van and beaten. And this is only the latest example of Chinese pressure on Nepal to toe the party line.
I lived in Nepal during 2008 and 2009, and had spent time in the country before then, back to the time of the People’s Revolution toppling King Gyanendra in the spring of 2006. A similar situation played out during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics of 2008, when pro-Tibet demonstrations – which the Chinese government depicts as the emanations of “splittist” anti-China agitators – were also attacked by government police in Nepal, with demonstrators beaten and jailed. In fact, in the past few years, the Maoist led government in Nepal has reacted in lock-step to Chinese pressure, and whenever an upwelling of pro-Tibetan activities have occurred, the red faction of the Nepalese government applies force without regard to freedom of speech or human rights. At least 20,000 Tibetan refugees live in Nepal, most of them without the right to work, and own land, farm or other basic rights – rights which are guaranteed by the Nepalese Constitution. Additionally, historically, virtually all of the northern half of the country – north of the Himalayas and to the south as well – are areas where the indigenous populations – the Sherpas, Bon-po, Tamangs and others – are of Tibetan descent. But under the current government, you wouldn’t know this. As Chinese money and influence pours into the country, Nepalese government oppression of the Tibetans within their own country becomes more openly draconian. With a wretched national economy, depleted by years of civil war, and one of the most corrupt governments in the world – whether ruled by a King, the Maoists, the UPN-CML or Nepali Congress, it’s the same “pocket” economy – perhaps it is understandable that the government would cave in to any foreign power willing to devote large amounts of aid. That this aid comes with such a heavy ideological, and human price, is something that clearly matters little to Prachanda and his fellow Maoists.
It is high time for the US government to step up and do something. The US government decries oppression and genocide in Sudan, in the Balkans, in Burma, in many countries around the world, and moves to pressure governments to cease such policies. It’s time for the US government to apply such pressure on Nepal, before the situation grows direr. For to ignore such developments, wherever they might occur, in the long run, only validates them, and makes it easier for oppressive governments to continue their atrocious actions. We should make it clear that aid to Nepal, and visas for students and workers seeking to come to the US, will be severely curtailed, until the Nepalese government allows Tibetan refugees Tibetan citizens of Nepal the full rights to demonstrate for their beliefs – as is allowed to all other citizens in Nepal – and give them full residential rights, transit rights, employment and land ownership rights. Unless pressurized, the Nepalese leadership will continue their drift towards becoming a willing satellite of Chinese foreign policy.



Notes and sources

Religion(s): Officially 80% Hindu, 8% Buddhist and 4% Muslim – but accurate figures are not available. Hinduism and Buddhism overlap considerably in Nepal. Estimates suggest that there are some 400,000 Christians in the country. United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/nepal/

In the past, the Nepalese police and government officials had worked closely with the UNHCR and agreed to abide by a ‘Gentlemen's Agreement,’ “an informal compact established in 1989 with the UNHCR thus ensuring a safe transit for Tibetan refugees through Nepal and onward to India” [7]. This arrangement had worked well before the Nepalese Maoist and Communist parties gained political ascendency in 2008. Since then, there has been a sharp decline in the number of Tibetan refugees registering at reception centers in Kathmandu. China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal
Publication: China Brief Volume: 11 Issue: 11
June 17, 2011 06:19 PM
By: Vijay Sakhuja C:\Users\David\Desktop\Writing and Blog\The Jamestown Foundation China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal.mht

A former Nepalese ambassador to China has noted that, “China's concerns over Nepal are growing” and that “the visit [of General Chen Bingde, chief of general staff of the PLA] shows that China wants the support of our army to control anti-Chinese activities following the resignation of the Dalai Lama” (Thetibetpost.com, March 28). It is also reported that China may be secretly giving financial incentives and paying Nepalese officials to arrest and deport Tibetans in Nepal (Indian Express, December 20, 2010). On March 10, the Nepalese police arrested 34 protesters after thousands of Tibetan refugees marched through the streets of Kathmandu to commemorate the Chinese invasion of Tibet of 1951 (Asia-news.us, March 18). The next day, Nepalese police prevented a prayer meeting at the Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, and two days later on February 13, the police stormed into polling stations and seized ballots and other electoral material for Tibetan community internal elections to vote for a new Tibetan Government in Exile (Thetibetpost.com, March 28). The Nepalese government has been under great pressure to control Tibetan refugees in Nepal, and the chief district officer of Sindhupalchowk was quoted as saying “They [the Chinese] urged us not to allow anti-Chinese activities [on] our soil' (TIME, March 29). It is quite evident that China has been able to prevail upon the Nepalese government to ensure that anti-China activities by the Tibetan refugees are sternly dealt with.
….
First, Beijing has obtained assurances from the Nepalese leadership that the territory would not be used by the Tibetan refugees living in Nepal for anti-China activities. This issue is particularly significant when there is a ‘Free Tibet’ movement spreading across the globe and China has been under international scrutiny over human rights issues, particularly against the Tibetans.
Same source as above

When Chen Bingde, the Chinese army chief, and his 15-member delegation landed in Kathmandu on March 23, 2011, he brought him a loyalty-trust proposal for the pro-China ruling coalition of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) aka CPN-UML and the Unified Communist Party (Maoist) under Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal.
Bingde laid down a clear cut proposal: Deport Tibetan refugees to China to prevent the rise of a militant Tibetan émigré force. Nepal deporting Tibetans to China secretly
By Nidhi Bhardwaj
Issue: Net Edition | Date: 15 April, 2011 http://www.indiandefencereview.com/

Just when you thought ...

Just when you thought that the organized, city by city, responses across the US to evict, squash and silence the Occupy movement had to be more than a coincidence, you find out you were right!  Read this article from columnist Naomi Wolf in the Guardian (the best online newspaper in the UK or the US).  Our system is hopelessly corrupt, and it is exactly movements like Occupy that are needed.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy

My favorite style icon - Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan

She was married only some six weeks ago.  As with many royal marriages her lineage also eminates from the aristocracy of this small, Eastern Himalayan kingdom, reputedly the happiest country on earth.  And with a queen like this, who wouldn't be happy.  Tibetan style chuba, but unlike any chuba I have ever seen.  Beautiful fabrics and patterns -

Tibetan suicides continued ...

This appeared on the International Campaign for Tibet's website.  Why is it that this is getting absolutely zero press play?  I read the SF Chronicle, and I have seen pretty much nothing.  I honestly cannot remember reading anything there.  Likewise the NY Times, the alleged leader in US journalism.  The Guardian ... hmmmm ....  Why is this?  Has the Chinese government's control over press coverage become so effective and accepted that even when the citizens of an occupied territory set themselves on fire very few outsiders, and no governments, raise their voices in protest.  Please spread this story so that more people become aware of this and more pressure is put on Hu and his government to stop the repressive tactics against Tibetans that makes them see suicide as preferable to living under Chinese occupation.

NGOs Appeal to UN Human Rights Chief over Tibetan Self-Immolation Protests

25 October, Amsterdam - Yesterday on the the occasion of the United Nations Day, 27 NGOs from 17 countries submitted the following urgent appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights seeking intervention with the Chinese authorities over the recent self-immolation protests by Tibetans in Tawo and Ngapa:
24 October, 2011

http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/tibet-news/ngos-appeal-un-human-rights-chief-over-tibetan-self-immolation-protests

Uhmm, I'll opt for the painful, non-mandatory surgery ... continued

So I've been thinking about this more, and really this is just a litany of complaints about working in secondary education, so if this sounds boring and potentially damaging to your equilibrium, then read no further.

I was teaching in a school district in the East Bay, in a large city just south of where the Raiders live, at a high school that had rampant discipline problems, every year failed to make adequate test progress, and has an ineffective principal and a librarian who made the bulk of personnel decisions.  Why, I don't know - evidently it has been this way for a while, and I was only there for two years. There was this immense pressure from certain influential members in the community to do nothing but musicals, oddly enough just like when I taught in Hollister for one year at their high school.  And, oddly enough, in both cities the groups pressing for musicals were dominated by members of a certain quasi-Christian cult, the same cabal that a certain Republican presidential candidate associates with.  Lets just call them Mermen, a "religion" that, in itself, eschews dancing, music, alcohol, smoking, anything that may be deemed to be part of the Devil's workshop.  So what, you might ask, as I did, does a group that denigrates music and dancing have to do with pushing musical theatre down the audience's throat?  The leading member of the pro-musical cabal in that city south of the East Bay's largest city was pushing for a Musical Academy.  Let me digress by explaining - the high school had a couple of academies - Social Justice, Media Arts - to give students an opportunity to specialize, and have all of their general education classes in that academy rather than mixing in with the general student population.  I had let it be known that I thought that a musical academy was not a great idea - I think I equated it to trying to have a balanced diet by eating only white bread, marzipan and drinking just cream soda.  And I related a similar situation, when I was at UCLA, where a prominent Hollywood and musical theatre star had passed away, and left a good chunk ( a couple million) of his estate as an endowment to the UCLA School of Theatre to be used only to start a musical theatre program.  And there was an immense amount of hand wringing on whether to accept the money, as the faculty was havinga difficult time coming up with a program rigorous enough to be accredited, and approved by the UC.  Eventually they did.  But that was my concern at this high school.

Now, to get back to why the Mermen like musicals, and want to swamp high school theatre programs with it. Because really, they don't like theatre, or they don't trust it, and want theatre programs they can control, content that is non-threatening - hence musicals.  And it is part and parcel of the whole school district's emphasis on traditional, Euro-centric curriculum.  The approved reading list for English looks like it was drawn up in the early 50s.  You could go through high school and read nothing but Dickens.  Its all part and parcel of high school, and the struggle to control curriculum, and theatre is seen as being nothing more that the production of harmless pablum.  The problem is that for students who are interested in theatre, or acting and directing, that such a programs does little to nothing to prepare them for undergraduate theatre, or professional theater, unless they just want to do musicals. Which would be like wanting to become a lawyer, but only if you could handle lawsuits only involving ice cream trucks.

More later ... time to eat

More Tibetan suicides -

Two more Tibetans monks have set themselves on fire, in protest over the Chinese Government's interference in choosing the Dalai Lama's successor.  The Chinese Government states that they will choose the successor, that it is their right as they control Tibet, or rather as Xinhua News, the official organ of the Chinese Government would put it, there has never been a Tibet, it has always been China.  The Chinese claim they will choose the Dalai Lama's successor - his reincarnation.  This has always been done in the past by a select group of abbots and monks, who interpret various astrological signs, portents and natural phenomenon before and after the Dalai Lama's death, in particular during the 49 day period following his death called the bardo.  It is a process that can only be done by the most experienced and trained religious figures, experts in divination.  These signs lead them to an area where the next Dalai Lama will be born.  They can only find the reincarnation after he (or potentially she I guess, though this has never happened) has been born, and has attained a suitable age where the suitable candidates can be tested by choosing between objects that belonged to the former Dalai Lama, and exact replicas.

Now how the Chinese Government, which as a Maoist Democracy (one of my least favorite oxymorons) which has historically denied and denigrated religion, in particular Tibetan Buddhism, can now position itself as a body which is suitable to choose the next leader of Tibetan Buddhism is beyond me.  It is the height of hypocracy, akin to the Italian Communist Party declaring that is is the sole body capable of choosing the next Pope. It is infuriating, and just the latest step in China attempting to eradicate Tibetan Buddhism and turn it into a shell of itself, a false religion, and a puppet of the Chinese Government.  Tibetans won't stand for it, and it won't work.  Read the article to find out more ...

http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/two-more-tibetan-monks-kirti-monastery-set-themselves-fire-calling-religious-freedom

Some more articles

Here an article I wrote,  on Orientalism and French 17th- and 18th-century theatre and the representation of Islam. I'm sure you've been dying to read it, now, finally, here's you're chance.
http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/agora/Articles.cfm@ArticleNo=154.html

And on article on the article and many other sources concerning Voltaire, his views on Islam, and the play Mahomet.  As for the author of the article, Mr. Morgan, that Voltaire's depiction of the life of the prophet Mohammed is accurate, from my research, I would have to disagree, and state that many of the incidents of the play are simply recycled Western myths about him, designed to paint the prophet as Machiavellian and a lecherous sybarite.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7224/pub_detail.asp