Battling Buddhists in Bodhnath
Trip Start
Jul 25, 2006
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Trip End
Ongoing
Bodhnath, Nepal
Friday, April 4, 2008
Towards the end of my meal, I heard commotion beginning to build down on the streets. Looking over the lip of the roof, I saw dozens of school children being lined up with Tibetan flags and banners, and maroon robed monks milling about. Suddenly the air was rent with the blasts of huge horns, blown by monks with ornate headpieces on the roof of the Buddhist monastery next door
Tibetan Uprising Day 01
. The procession, led by monks carrying a framed photograph of the Dalai Lama, started down the street and turned into the monastery. Hundreds of people followed and began to squeeze into the grounds of the monastery as well. Being the curious sort, I followed.What is the significance of March 10th? It was Tibetan Uprising Day, the anniversary of the day in 1959 that riots broke out in Lhasa, Tibet in response to the nine years of Chinese rule since the Chinese army 'liberated' Tibet by force and annexed it into China. The uprising was ultimately unsuccessful, and lead to the young Dalai Lama's flight into exile and a brutal crackdown in Tibet by the Chinese forces. Since that time, Tibet has remained under Chinese rule, but every year this event is celebrated by Tibetans and those sympathetic to their cause.
I stood in the courtyard of the monastery while speeches, prayers, and singing took place. Young and old were present to call for Tibetan freedom. Bodies were painted and wrapped in Tibetan flags, while others carried large banners and signs called for change. The passion was clear on the faces of all around. One man went around handing out small Tibetan flags. Seeing me, he pushed one into my hand while people around smiled approval.
Bodhnath 27
After an hour or two of speeches and prayers, the crowd moved out of the monastery and into the street surrounding the massive stupa. They began to circle the stupa (clockwise of course) while chanting various pro-Tibetan slogans and waving banners and flags. I followed for a while, and then wandered of into the streets, eventually stopping for lunch at another rooftop restaurant over looking the stupa. I relaxed, making small talk with my waiter, and enjoying a big bowl of Tibetan Thukpa.
What I didn't realize was the chaos and violence taking place just outside, on the streets outside the stupa area. After marching and protesting for a while, it was decided to march out of Bodhnath and to the Chinese embassy. Shortly armed police arrived in force and fighting, beatings, and arrests started in earnest. This was the first day of what has remained a constant series of events since. Sensing an opportunity to push for their cause in light of China's hosting of the Olympics, protests in Kathmandu have become a regular thing. In turn, so has the violent repression of those protests by Nepali police. Nepal, being a tiny, poor country wedged in between the two emerging powerhouses of the world, India and China, are in a delicate position. The country depends on these two behemoths and their good will for a vast amount of their economic existence and territorial existence. Nepal has embraced the "One China" policy of Beijing, and acted decisively against the protests.
One example of this is Nepal bending to Beijing's request to not allow any mountaineering expeditions climb Everest until after May 10th, when the Olympic flame is supposed to be carried to the summit by a team of Chinese climbers
Tibetan Uprising Day 02
. The window of opportunity on Everest to make the summit is generally only a few days in May, and creates a situation in which dozens of expeditions will all be attempting to summit in an extremely short window. This could possibly create short tempers, poor decisions, and one truly hopes not a repeat of the 1996 disaster which claimed the lives of eight climbers in a catastrophic combination of bad weather and bad decisions. (The ascent of the Olympic flame will mark the twelve year anniversary to the day of the ill fated expeditions).Whilst the beginning of the recent protests in Nepal started on the day in Bodhnath, I finished my lunch, unknowing of the events of the previous hour, and proceeded to head back to the area I was staying. I caught a taxi with a driver who spoke very little English. As we were beginning to leave the area, I saw dozens of police standing around in their blue camouflaged uniforms carrying long wooden sticks. My curious looks prompted the taxi to tax his language skills, and he came out with "Fighting!" By the next day, the story was out and the pattern was set. After the peacefulness of the stupa, and the genuine heartache of many of the protesters, it was a sad end to a good day.
