LHASA/ TIBET: China’s chief official in Tibet has announced that Buddhist monks and nuns will be tested for patriotism.
Chen Quanguo, the regions party chief had made it clear to assess Buddhist monks and nuns for their patriotism and has vowed to install national flags in monasteries to strengthen ideological control in the region.
Writing in the Peoples Daily newspaper Quanguo wrote, The ruling Communist party will deepen assessment activities to ensure model harmonious monasteries as well as patriotic, law-abiding monks and nuns.
He further wrote, The drive would be aimed at making monks and nuns feel the warmth and care of the Party and government.
Many Tibetans accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, claims denied by Beijing, which says it has brought development to the region.
This comes on the backdrop of over 130 Tibetan monks self-immolating themselves in protest since 2009.
The statement also provided that Tibetan monasteries must install Chinese national flags and be equipped with telephone connections, newspapers and reading rooms. Given that the inclination of Tibetan Buddhism is famously one of seclusion and to reject materialism and outside influence, this latest Communist Party decree may be viewed by supporters of Tibetan independence as a further imposition on the native culture.
Propaganda activities aimed at leading more monks to educate themselves in patriotism will also be held, he said.
Using typical Communist Party jargon, the region’s top official declared there would be ‘assessment activities’ to confirm the ‘patriotic and law-abiding’ qualities of monks and nun
This development comes a few days after Beijing alleged the Tibetan spiritual leader living in exile in India the Dalai Lama had profaned Buddhism after the Dalai Lama suggested that he will not be reincarnated when he dies.
The Nobel peace laureate, who fled his homeland in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, has said he thinks the title could end when he dies, prompting the Communist party to demand the tradition must continue.
China has long denounced the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist and has used its geopolitical clout to prevent countries around the world from hosting him. Recently Sri Lanka said it was ‘unlikely to give a visa to the Dalai Lama to visit the island nation.
In January, the Pope came under criticism when reports emerged that he had refused to meet with the Dalai Lama, who was in Rome for a summit of Nobel Peace Prize recipients.
Beijing says the Dalai Lama, who fled to India, is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who seeks to use violent methods to establish an independent Tibet. The Dalai Lama says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet and denies advocating independence or violence.
The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his advocacy for Tibet in the country and around the world.
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