DECEMBER 2012 BACK ISSUE In the future this place will be known only as China. Tibet-Land of the Snow Leopard, prayer wheels and yak herders- it is being transformed by degrees as the Chinese erase both Tibetan religion and culture first by violence, then "re-education" and finally, mass immigration of Han Chinese. Some say it is progress, others genocide. These images are records of a time when anti-government monks had gone underground, common people were fleeing to India over the snowy passes of the Himalayas and those left behind were losing hope. by Lynn Johnson At the foot of the sacred Potala Palace, children are educated in the Chinese language, often traveling to China to be fully indoctrinated. In a village at the foot of sacred Mt. Kailash, a woman suffers the loss of her baby and her lifeblood with only tea and prayer for medicine. Safely in Dharamsala, India, monks practice their traditional vigorous form of religious debate. Prayer flags planted illegally flutter over a prison camp outside Lhasa, the capital city. Healthcare is rare and rudimentary for Tibetans. This woman’s tumor will be treated with herbs not surgery. Father and son perform their pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash before making a dash over the mountains to freedom. Yaks share the streets in some of the remote towns on the Tibetan plateau. Even common resources are denied the Tibetans, making travel, education and economic progress difficult. This monk was tortured during his 18 years in Chinese prisons. He lost his teeth to the cattle prod. According to tradition, monks may beg for alms in the market. Chinese officials often take that money needed for food and monastery upkeep. A monk prostrates himself as he does his daily prayers around the marketplace surrounding the Jokhang Monastery. Now a child’s playground marked with bullet holes, this was once a holy place. These monks work in the underground against their Chinese oppressors. They risk their lives everyday in many ways. The Dali Llama is the hope that most Tibetans cling to. The journey can be deadly. This child survived only because a monk carried him to the safety of Dharamsala where many Tibetans live in exile. Back to current issue