It has been a very sad time for Buddhists as the cycle of repression and violence has escalated in Tibet. Now Buddhists in Syracuse are joining in despair over hints of psychological thought control being imposed on Tibetans by the communist Chinese who are now forcing them to
display photos of their leaders in Tibetan monasteries. It has been reported by Phayul.com "Tibetan monasteries forced to display communist leaders' photos."
Chinese authorities in central Tibet have been distributing Chinese flags and photos of China’s leaders to local Tibetans in between shootings of unarmed Tibetan protesters by Chinese security personnel according to Phayul.com. The Xinhua news agency of China has reported that over a million Chinese national flags and portraits which depict the four generations of China’s top leadership have been distributed to monasteries, schools, offices, and rural households. It appears that households and temples which decide against the display of these flags and portraits may risk offending local communist party workers and leaders.
Padma Choling, who is the Beijing appointed chairman of the Tibetan regional government has been quoted by Phayul.com as saying that the hanging of the portraits was meant to express the “heartfelt gratitude of Tibetans for the PRC central government and the Communist Party of China”. Last year Phayul.com had reported that China was planning to send 20,000 Chinese officials to Tibetan villages in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region to “re-sculpture the minds of Tibetans”. And so the psychological pressure on Tibetans to re-think their positions on dealing with the communist Chinese is becoming more intense daily.
