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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
NGABA PROTESTS:
‘I RECOGNISE THE PARTY’S GREAT KINDNESS’
“Too much for our hearts to hear about, and too much for our eyes to witness.”
— Letter from Kirti monks dictated to monks in exile about the crackdown
NGABA COUNTY is in Ngaba TAP in Sichuan province — administered from
Barkham. Kirti monastery near the county town is one of the largest in Tibet
with a population of over 2500, and many branch monasteries in the region.
The next largest monastery, Taktsang Lhamo, is nearby, but falls under Dzoge county.
Ngaba has never been ‘opened’ to foreign visitors, apparently because of its history
of resistance to Chinese rule, and the presence of military bases there. Many Ngaba
people, including the late incarnate lama of Kirti, have come into exile in India over
the years, and established large monastic institutes there. The contact between Ngaba
monks in India and their compatriots in Tibet allowed for an unusually high volume
of information about the March protests to reach the outside world, including photographs
of ten to 20 people shot by security forces on March 16.
On the evening of March 15 Taktsang Lhamo monks led a demonstration of several
hundred local people in the nearby marketplace. They attacked the local police station,
burned the PRC flag and set fire to Chinese-owned shops. The monks withdrew to
the monastery, which was soon blockaded by security forces, and has remained so
ever since.
On the following morning, hundreds of Kirti monks gathered in the monastery courtyard
preparing to lead a demonstration into the county town. They were confronted
by large numbers of armed troops who penned them into the monastery. Meanwhile,
hundreds or perhaps thousands of local people who had gathered outside the
monastery proceeded to the town in protest, shouting slogans calling for Tibet’s independence.
They were confronted by security forces and shots were fired. A large
group of Kirti monks then managed to break out of the monastery and join the demonstration.
The crowd attacked the county Public Security office and set fire to vehicles
and Chinese owned shops. Security forces opened fire on them, killing and wounding
an unknown number.
There was also a protest in Lota township that day led by monks from nearby Dongri,
who pulled down the PRC flag at the local school and government buildings and
burned it.
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