Tibet: China targets Buddhism to wipe out religion
Mar 17, 2022
Lhasa [Tibet], March 17 : China has been destroying Buddhist statues with the aim of eradicating the Tibetan faith and the right of the people to preserve their traditions, said a media report.
The Chinese government has destroyed three Buddhist statues, since the last December in Tibet, according to the Tibet press report.
It further reported that China has adopted an aggressive posture since the Dalai Lama, 86, has categorically spoken that after his demise his incarnation would be found in India, warning that any other successor named by China would not be accepted.
In its attempt to appropriate Tibetan Buddhism, CCP is trying to push China's
case as the originator of Tibetan Buddhism rather than India.
"The intent of the Chinese destroying Buddhist statues is to eradicate Tibetans' faith and their right to preserve Tibetan traditions," the report said, adding that the "acts of destruction signal a fresh crackdown and straight case of cultural genocide".
In its attempt to appropriate Tibetan Buddhism, the Chinese Community Party (CCP) is trying to push China's case as the originator of Tibetan Buddhism rather than India. However, historians have agreed that Buddhism was brought to Tibet in the late seventh century by the Tibetan Monarch Songsten Gampo invited Buddhist scholars from India, Tibet press reported.
According to the report, in the eighth century, King Trisong Detsen invited Indian scholars, Padamsambhava and Shantarakshita, the Head Monk of Nalanda University, to establish a monastic tradition, Nyingmapa, the oldest major school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Meanwhile, on similar lines, China has been trying to play an active role in developing Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, in Nepal by way of financing USD 3 billion to the Nepalese government for the construction of an airport, highway, convention centre and a Buddhist University.
This is to develop Lumbini on the model of Bodh Gaya in India, a major Buddhist pilgrimage for the followers of Buddha all over the world, Tibet Press reported.
China's efforts to "Sinicize" and appropriate Tibetan Buddhism is one of the strategies to prove that Tibet is an integral part of China and legitimizes its appointment of new Dalai Lama. The demolition of statues of Buddhists scholars from India, thus, has larger implications for the Tibetan movement and India's centuries-old Buddhism, Tibet Press reported.
Tibet was formerly an independent country that was conquered and absorbed into China by force 70 years ago.
Tibetans living in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China frequently complain of discrimination and human rights abuses, and say they fear Beijing is pursuing ever more aggressive policies aimed at eradicating their national and cultural identity.
