Tibetan Youths Detained Over Anti-Fur Campaign

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http://www.rfa.org/english/tibetan/2006/02/21/tibet_fur/

 

Tibetan Youths Detained Over Anti-Fur Campaign

2006.02.21

 

Tibetans in the Amdo region burn clothes made from fur. Photo: Lhuboom Tashi

 

WASHINGTON—Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have

detained eight youths after authorities suspected them of campaigning to destroy

clothes made of fur under “foreign influences.”

 

A source inside China—which now administers large tracts of traditionally

Tibetan territory—said Tibetans planned to step up their campaign to end the use

of endangered animal skins and furs after the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, on

Feb. 28.

 

“Eight youths who started activities at Kirti Monastery were arrested and

detained. They are still detained in a local police detention center, four to a

room,” said one source who asked not to be named.

 

“They were not punished or beaten but subjected to intense interrogation,” the

source said, adding that all had denied launching the anti-fur campaign “under

outside influence.”

 

One Khampa trader who runs a store in the Lhasa market selling rare animal

skins burnt his store in the presence of a huge crowd,

 

Source who asked to remain anonymous

 

“Outside influence” is a term frequently used by Chinese officials to refer to

Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, who recently called for an end to the use

of endangered animal skins in traditional Tibetan dress.

 

The youths were permitted to meet relatives, who brought them food and reported

no signs of beatings or torture, the source said.

Campaign spreads

 

The campaign to end the use of endangered animal skins and furs meanwhile

appears to have spread from Qinghai to Sichuan, the source said.

 

“Tibetan people in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) in Sichuan province also started

destroying clothes made of rare animal skins,” another source told RFA’s Tibetan

service.

 

“In the Amdo area, the great prayer festival starts on the third day of local

Tibetan New Year,” which fell one month before this Tibetan New Year this year,

the source said. “Many people were gathered for this festival.”

 

Activists in Ngaba had already burned some 250 skins of fox, tiger, leopard, and

otter, another source said.

 

“One Khampa trader who runs a store in the Lhasa market selling rare animal

skins burnt his store in the presence of a huge crowd,” said a source who spoke

on condition of anonymity. Khampa denotes a person born in the Kham Tibetan

region.

 

“Before doing this, he said that he realized that life is more important than

money. He regretted his past business in animal skins and vowed never again to

trade in animal skins,” the source said.

Notice to local Tibetans

 

On Feb. 14, there was a special lama dance at Kirti monastery in Dzoge (in

Chinese, Ruangai) in Sichuan province.

 

Before the dance, monastery officials sent a notice to all local Tibetans

announcing that those who came for offerings and prayers shouldn’t wear clothes

made of rare animal skins, or their offerings would be rejected, sources said.

 

The message explained that use of animal skins for clothing “violates our

religious practices, harms the environment, and violates Chinese and

international laws,” one source said.

Growing campaign

 

The anti-fur campaign began in Rebkong county, Malho prefecture, in the remote

northwestern province of Qinghai.

 

Residents began burning tiger, leopard, and sea otter skins publicly against the

wishes of Chinese authorities in early February after the Dalai Lama called on

Tibetans to protect endangered species in January.

 

“It was started by a young Tibetan named Tseten Gyal. The skins were of tiger,

leopard, and sea otter,” a source in the region told RFA’s Tibetan service.

 

The young man, Tseten Gyal, of Sakyil village in Rebkong, began collecting

traditional clothing made with the skins Feb. 8, calling for their destruction

by burning.

 

“Soon after national security officials and local public security officials

confronted him and demonstrated their dislike,” one source said. “That very

night he was taken to the public security bureau office and interrogated for a

long time.”

 

A witness to the burning confirmed that account.

 

“On Feb. 7, a group of Tibetans burnt animal skins for the protection of the

environment and of endangered wild animals. Those included the skins of tigers,

leopard, fox, and otter,” the person said. “I saw that there were a few hundred

Tibetans who were either participating in the burning of animal skins, or

watching them being burnt. There were perhaps about 500 to 600 people gathered.”

 

The authorities repeatedly asked if Tseten Gyal had any political motives for

his campaign, one source said. “He insisted that he had no other intention

except to protect the natural environment. The security officials forbade him to

burn the costumes in skins in public places.”

 

“They suggested that if his motivation was the protection of animals and the

environment, he should destroy the skins in his own home, and not in public,”

the source said.

 

Angry at these restrictions, Tseten Gyal brought all the skins and costumes onto

the main road in Sakyil village and set them on fire.

 

He was joined by other Tibetans, including a man named Gonpo Gyal, who added

more skins to the blaze, said the source. The incident was also reported in

Chinese on the Amdo-based Tibetan Youth Web site.

Caller echoes account

 

A caller from the Amdo region said the action was spontaneous, without a single

organizer.

 

“Some Tibetans vowed in writing that they will never again use animal skins for

clothes. All these activities came from personal initiative and voluntary

participation,” the caller said, adding that awareness of endangered species and

the need to protect the environment was growing among Tibetans.

 

The action in Rebkong county soon spread to neighboring areas. “Even in Tuo

(Daofu) and Gartha in Ganzi prefecture, Tibetans started giving up their

costumes made of animal skins and started burning them,” the source said.

 

The Dalai Lama appealed to Tibetans inside China during his traditional

Kalachakra teachings in Amaravati, northern India, in January to protect

endangered animals in Tibet and stop using animal skin on their costumes.

 

His teachings were heard by many exiles from the Amdo-speaking areas of Qinghai,

and many more Tibetans heard the appeal via Tibetan radio broadcasts from

overseas.

 

Original reporting in Amdo by RFA’s Tibetan service. RFA Tibetan service

director: Jigme Ngapo. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written and produced for the

Web by Sarah Jackson-Han and edited by Luisetta Mudie.