Will Xi Talk to Dharamsala?

His Father's Son?
In 1954/55, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited China, he is said to have gifted a Rolex watch to Xi Zhongzun, the then vice premier of China. In 1980s when Tibetan fact-finding delegations from Dharamsala went to China and Tibet, Xi was the Chinese official interlocutor and was known to carry a photo of His Holiness in his pocket.

Xi was close to the 10th Panchen Lama, who submitted the historic 70,000 Character Petition to the Chinese government stating that Tibetans suffered more under Beijing's rule then they have benefited. His association with the Panchen Lama was one of the reasons why Mao purged him three times. Xi also supported Hu Yaobang’s political reform and denounced the use of military force in Tiananmen Square in 1989, after which he disappeared from public.

By all account, Xi Zhongxun, was a liberal communist, who is known for his integrity and forthrightness. Xi’s son Xi Jinping will takeover the communist throne in Zhongnanhai from the current Chinese boss, Hu Jintao, in 2012.

Unlike Hu, Xi can smile at least

Xi junior was born in 1953 and later witnessed Mao purge his father during the Cultural Revolution. His climb up the Communist ladder has been slow and un-dramatic. Xi joined the Chinese Youth League in 1971 and the Communist Party in 1974. After nearly three decades later, he took senior Party position in Zhejiang, one of the rich Chinese provinces and was made the Party chief of Shanghai in 2007. In October of the same year, Xi was inducted into the Politburo Standing Committee, a nine-member all-powerful group that decides the fate of world’s most populous nation.

My Tibet

Chinese authorities sentenced influential Tibetan writer Tashi Rabten, popularly known as Theurang,  to a 4-year jail term in Eastern Tibet.

Theurang is the author of Written in Blood and one of the editors of banned literary magazine 'Shar Dungri' (Eastern Snow Mountain).

He was arrested from the Northwest Nationalities University in Lanzhou on 6 April 2010.

Following poem (translated into English by Bhuchung D. Sonam) is from his book Written in Blood.

It’s Not Over Yet

The Second Tibetan National General Meeting concluded on 24 May amidst thunderous applause. The participants took sighs of relief, patted their friends’ backs and shook hands with others. There was a general air of satisfaction and positive energy. 

All Tibetan meetings generally end with Tsog du gyal khai ngang jug dril wa yin meaning ‘this meeting has concluded in a victorious note’. We love things to be auspicious and conduct most events in our lives with lot of symbolic gestures. As a result, the leader of the Group-10 (participants were divided into ten groups for better discussions) had his group’s summary presentation done by two people so that there were eleven presentations on the final day. Any number that ends in zero is inauspicious. This group leader had some sense of humour. Even the generally sombre Kalon Tripa chuckled.

Issues Regarding Amendments in the Charter for Tibetans-in-Exile

Since His Holiness the Dalai Lama initiated the democratization process in exile Tibet fifty years ago, our democratic institutions have achieved a high level of maturity. In a statement issued to the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on 14 March 2011, His Holiness announced his decision to devolve all his political authority. In response, the exile parliament unanimously appealed His Holiness to reconsider his decision. However, His Holiness not only refused but also explained in detail the background of his decision to the general public during the Monlam Chenmo in Dharamsala. Judging by all these developments, it has become very clear that His Holiness is firm on his decision.

 As a result, the parliament passed a unanimous resolution to form an ad hoc committee to draft necessary amendments in the Charter. The members of the Committee included the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the parliament, Kalon Tripa, Kalon for the Department of Education and Pema Jungney, a member of parliament. This Committee has made public the proposed amendments to the Charter.

Survivor

(a super short story) 


They brought the carcass of a dead donkey into the kitchen and ate it, including the hoofs.

It was the summer of 1968. All the prisoners, including my grandfather, were transported from the dreaded Powo Tramo labour camp to a desert near Samye Monastery, where they were forced to work for six months to turn it into a farm to grow cabbage for the Chinese army. But the wind swept the sands back into its place. Each day they began the labour anew.

Desert near Samye, the oldest monastic institution in Tibet

 Prisoners were given a bowl of thin watery porridge and a mug of water a day. The whistle blew at dawn to begin the labour and blew again at dusk to end the day. The hunger was constantly intense. They found neither insects nor wild plants in the dry sands to eat. The only comfort was to go to toilet, which gave their tired body a chance to rest and to wait for worms to crawl out of their shits.

A father and son, who formerly owned an estate near Lhasa, collected worms in a small tin can, which they ate sparingly. They were among the few who survived, and after their release they started a small but successful canned food business.

You Wait for Me with Dust - by Liu Xiaobo

for my wife, who waits every day

Nothing remains in your name, nothing
but wait for me, together with the dust of our home
these layers
amassed, overflowing, in every corner
you're unwilling to pull apart the curtains
and let the light disturb their stillness