Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=1,2562,0,0,1,0
[b]Chinese Buddhism gathering is 'propaganda'
Sapa-AP, April 14 2006
Hangzhou, China -- International human rights
groups on Friday denounced a Chinese government-sponsored forum on
Buddhism as "cynical propaganda" aimed at sugarcoating religious
repression in Tibet.
<< Gyaltsen Norbu (2nd-L), known as the Panchen Lama, attends
the opening ceremony of the World Buddhist Forum with other
Buddhist leaders including Grantha Visarada Rajakiya Pandita (L),
supreme prelate of Sri Lanka, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in
east China April 13, 2006. [Reuters]
The five-day conference has included a rare appearance by
16-year-old Gyaltsen Norbu, China's disputed choice for Tibetan
Buddhism's second highest leader, the Panchen Lama.
In what was believed to be his first appearance at an international
forum, Norbu delivered a speech on Thursday endorsing China's
policies on religion and saying Buddhists should be patriotic and
"defend the nation".
Mary-Beth Markey, head of the International Campaign for Tibet,
said China appeared to be using the conference to put forward an
image of religious tolerance ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit
to the United States.
"It's shameful that Beijing has scripted Gyaltsen Norbu... with
statements that are clearly untrue about religious freedom in
China," Markey was quoted as saying in a news release.
China maintains tight control over all religions and the rules are
especially restrictive in Tibet, where Buddhism is an integral part
of the restive Himalayan region's separate identity.
While Beijing has allowed the rebuilding of many of the thousands
of temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, monasteries,
temples, mosques and churches are still barred from operating
schools, hospitals or other civic institutions.
Markey's group claims restrictions on Buddhism in Tibet are
actually getting tighter, citing new laws on religious activities
and the imprisonment of several top Buddhist teachers known for
their loyalty to Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.
Beijing installed Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, rejecting
another boy chosen by the Dalai Lama. That other boy, Gedhun
Choekyi Nyima, has not been seen in public since then and Chinese
officials refuse to say where he is.
A Chinese official said on Wednesday the Dalai Lama - the world's
best-known Buddhist leader - was not welcome at the
conference.
The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said the forum illustrated
that China was willing to "go to enormous lengths to present a
misleading picture of official tolerance of Tibetan
Buddhism."
"In a typical show of cynical propaganda, China has pushed to
centre stage Gyaltsen Norbu," it said.
The carefully scripted forum in the eastern resort city of Hangzhou
has attracted about 1 000 Buddhist clergy and scholars from more
than 30 nations. It ends on Sunday. So far, it has steered clear of
any discussion of controversy, focusing instead on Buddhist
morality and unity between different sects.
Participants refused to comment to reporters on the dispute over
the Panchen Lama.
"It's the first time that this sort of thing is being held in
China, so I think everyone wants to go easy and make sure things go
smoothly," said Dasho Sangay Wangchug, a government culture
official from the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
He added: "Anyway, it's a good opportunity for Buddhists from
different traditions to come together and share."[/b]
if autonomy of a land can be attained by machine-gun the temple
,killing monk indiscriminately , toxify the land into a nuclear
test zone . I think the world is crazy , and till now I can only
see one final destination for all leaders of PRC
Hell- Avici hell for those who destroyed tibetan buddhism ,killed
100,000 in the occupation of Tibet
