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http://www.dossiertibet.it Tibet : ‘Patriotic re-education’ Since October 2011, the ‘work teams’ have started intense ‘Patriotic re-education’ sessions in various Tibetan monasteries and nunneries in Tibet.Repressions on Tibetan Buddhist institution are accompanied by China’s patriotic re-education policies like Nine Must Haves, The Six Ones, creating Harmonious Model Monastery and “law-abiding, patriotic and advanced monks and nuns”.The work teams have also taken over the monastic authorities and management which until then the monks themselves have been taking care of. Monks and nuns are punished and arrested for not cooperating with the work teams which resulted in closure of many monasteries. Many monks also left the monastery to escape from these patriotic sessions and ran away to the nearby hills. The management of monasteries has been taken over by the ‘Monastery Management Committees’ (which were earlier called Discipline Management Committees). This move was to keep a check on the activities of the monasteries in order to avoid or any political activities. This has also enabled the Chinese authorities to keep a tighter vigilance and control of the Tibetan monasteries. Repressive policies like the Six Ones and Nine Must Haves are now becoming a usual/common/normal practice in Tibet. The Monastery Management Committee (MMC) comes directly under the Chinese authorities and is staffed with their cadres. A party branch is also set up in the MMC. Police stations are set up in all major monasteries. At the three biggest monasteries of Tibet, Drepung, Gaden and Sera, People’s Armed Police camps called as the Armed Police Fire Brigade are also constructed. The Tibetan monks and nuns are forced to attend patriotic sessions, to hang portraits of Chinese leaders and to hoist the Chinese national flag. When the monks and nuns reject to such actions it often resulted in their arrest and closure of monastery and even causing death of monks. In the beginning of April 2012, when the work teams forcibly put up the portraits of the four Chinese Leaders and hoisted a Chinese flag in Denchokor Monastery, Jodha County, Chamdo TAR, an elderly monk got so angry that he died of heart attack. Most of the monks left the monastery which now remains vacant. In February 2012, in Diru County, Nagchu TAR, the work teams again conducted pre. In this county there are around 22 monasteries and nunneries but most of them had to close because of no monks. In March 2012, Lhundhing Monastery in Ngamring County, Dachu Township, Shigatse TAR work teams ordered to put up flag. Monks protested saying these are politics and not related to religion. This protest led to the arrest of five monks. After the arrest the work teams forced the monks to hoist the Chinese flag.
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