a few days from now, on May 21st, the Chinese Communist Party will celebrate 60 years of its annexation of Tibet.
proof: the '17-Point Agreement' signed under duress and with fake state seals in 1951.
a monk, not much older than me, self-immolated exactly two months ago (in Ngaba), to mark the third year anniversary of the national uprising in 2008. he died.
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| the burnt body of Phuntsok |
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| thousands of Tibetan monks attend Phuntsok's cremation |
ever since, his monastery, the historic Kirti Monastery, has been the focus of the PLA's latest militarization. the situation is reminiscent of a Nazi concentration camp. a group of 300 monks were arrested, and taken to four prisons for 're-education': synonymous with intense torture and beating.
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| PLA troops surround Kirti Monastery |
high school students are staging hunger strikes as a sign of their solidarity with the Kirti monks.
large masses of common people are out on the streets, trying to prevent the monks from being arrested. an elderly man and woman were shot in the process.
three tibetan men, executives of the largest Tibetan NGO, the Tibetan Youth Congress, enter their 24th day of hunger strike today. they sit in the sweltering heat of Delhi, at Jantar Mantar.
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| three brave men: Konchok Yangphel (finance secretary), Dhondup Ladhar (vice-president), and Tenzin Norsang (joint secretary) |
there has been no concrete response from any front.
what will unfold now? how long will these men starve themselves?
and yet, life goes on.
i have three more exams to write.
