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My cousin, Josh, spent last summer in India, living with an exiled Tibetan family, while he completed a study abroad project for college. He has been unable to contact his "Tibetan family", but he did receive an e-mail from the director of the study abroad program.

Hello all,

A few of you have been asking about the situation in Tibet. First, we are in Bhutan right now so we have been following the situation mainly through the news and through contacting friends in India and Tibet. While we were in India it was very clear that Tibetans were preparing quite a few demonstrations in the light of the Olympic Games. The feeling was that this is their last chance to do something for the Tibet cause since the whole world have their eyes on China. On March 10th, celebrating the 49th anniversary of the occupation of Tibet and the flight of H.H. the Dalai Lama to India) the exile community had planned a Peace March that would go from Dharamsala to Delhi and from there to the Tibet border to protest for the Chinese Occupation of Tibet (incidentally, it was also two weeks before China’s intended start of the Olympic festivities, including carrying the Olympic flame through Tibet). This march was echoed (although we still don’t know if there was communication between the Exile and Tibetans in Tibet so it would coincide) by a march of monks from the main monasteries surrounding Lhasa (Drepung and Sera mainly) into the capital. While the march in Dharamsala was stopped by the Indian police without any significant violence, the one in Tibet sparked protests all over the city, which led to a large amount of Tibetan gathering on the Barkhor (the area surrounding the sacred Jonang temple). Once there the crowd confronted the police (burning police cars, etc.) and burned quite a few of the Chinese businesses in the area. The ensuing repression only fueled more anger and has had Tibetans protesting not only in Lhasa but in other parts of Tibet (Labrang Monastery and Ngaba in Amdo especially). The number of deaths is still not clear, but it can be significant (while 10 is the official Chinese count, more than a 100 is claimed by the exile government in Lhasa alone). Somebody we know in Amdo, married to a Tibetan, just send me the following e-mail regarding the situation in Ngaba:

My wife & I have been calling into Ngaba every day this week for the latest news. Things are bad & are not being reported. There were 20 protesters executed at gunpoint in public yesterday in Ngaba & probably about 30 more (including a good friend of mine) who were shot in random fire & who are wounded but can't go to the hospital because they don't want the officials to know who they are. There are riots in the streets & cars are being burned & turned upside-down in revolt. Its also happening in Labrang. We have not heard anything from Ganze or other places in Kham as of yet. Of course Lhasa remains the worst with probably more than 100 people killed. That's pretty much what we know at the moment, but I'm sure there is more to the story... phones & the internet are interrupted due to regular & prolonged power outings.

It is difficult to say what is going to happen in the next days, weeks. The only guide we have for a situation like this was the way the Chinese government cracked down in the late 80’s after a series of similar protests in Lhasa, and the way the Chinese government dealt with Tiananmen. A few things have changed though. The first one is that, in a way, now “everybody is a reporter” (cell phones with cameras have revolutionized communication!). Although China has not allowed (surprise surprise) international media to report what’s going on on the ground, many people with phones and have been able to send pictures and videos that showed the gravity of the situation. The second one, of course, is the Olympic Games and the international media exposure that the country has forced upon itself (China received the Olympic bid with the understanding that they would improve both human rights and allow international media greater access to reporting in China before and during the Olympic games). This was supposed to be the coming out party of China on the international stage… and Tibetans knew that; therefore, the demonstrations.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the events will unfold in the next days, but we should keep all of our Tibetans friends in our thoughts and our prayers.

Take care and thanks for your concern,

Manu and Pam