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Ahead of the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom hosted by the US State Department in Washington, DC from July 16 to 18, 2019, the International Campaign for Tibet has obtained information from sources inside Tibet about threats to the survival of Tibetan Buddhist culture and values at a time the Dalai Lama has described as “the darkest period” in Tibetan history.
After a lifetime in captivity, the Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second most prominent religious figure, turns 30 on April 25, 2019.
Chinese officials have canceled the prayer festival of Dechen Shedrub at the famous Larung Gar institute in eastern Tibet, according to an official notice stating that there would be no more large religious gatherings held there.
China has tightened the screws on Tibetan Buddhism, with one of China’s top leaders emphasizing increased Communist Party control over the religion a few days after the China-appointed Panchen Lama prayed at a sacred lake associated with the search for the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation.
In its fourth annual report released today in Brussels, the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance has ranked China among the worst violators of freedom of religion worldwide, noting specific concerns regarding the oppression of Uyghur and Tibetan religious practitioners.
The former home of the parents of the Dalai Lama, one of the largest and most important of the few remaining historic buildings in Lhasa, has been demolished and a new concrete structure is being built in its place.
China’s ban on religious activities for schoolchildren in Tibet grossly violates international human rights law—as well as China’s own legal requirements—and must immediately be put to an end.
Young Tibetan monks were compelled to leave one of the biggest monasteries in the eastern Tibetan area of Kham, Sershul, as part of a drive by the Chinese government to replace monastic education with secular schooling that emphasizes Communist Party propaganda.
A new report by the International Campaign for Tibet reveals how Lhasa’s unique and precious remaining cultural heritage is at risk as China flouts its responsibilities under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
In new alarming measures, the Chinese authorities have banned highly educated Tibetan monks who studied in India from teaching Buddhism when they return home to Lithang, and prohibited Tibetan schoolchildren in the Tibet Autonomous Region from engaging in traditional devotional practices during the holy Buddhist month of Saga Dawa.