[The
two monasteries that Mr. Locke visited were in Songpan, an area about 100 miles
east of the town of Aba, which is called Ngaba by Tibetans and has been the
epicenter of the 55 self-immolations. The first self-immolation
by a Tibetan monk in modern history took place in 2009 in Aba. The monk was
from the Kirti Monastery, where Chinese security forces have been clamping down
since officers killed some civilians in Aba during a 2008 protest. The second
monk to set himself on fire, in March 2011, was also a monk from Kirti.]
By Edward Wong
 |
Courtesy of U.S. Embassy
U.S. Ambassador Gary F. Locke visited a Tibetan monastery in Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province, in late September. |
The ambassador, Gary F. Locke, visited two Tibetan
monasteries on Sept. 26 as part of a trip to western China. The monasteries,
which have not been involved in the self-immolations, are in Aba Prefecture of
Sichuan Province, where many of the Tibetans have set themselves of fire since
2009. It was Mr. Locke’s first trip as ambassador to a part of China where most
of the people are ethnic Tibetans.
Much of the Tibetan plateau
has been roiled by protests against ethnic Han rule since 2008, when an uprising spread
from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, to eastern Tibet,
which lies in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai.
“I went to Aba Prefecture to see it for myself,” Mr. Locke
said in a brief statement in response to questions from The New York Times. “I
was struck by the unique Tibetan culture and met many ethnic Tibetans to learn
more about how they live and work, such as an 88-year-old monk at one of the
monasteries I visited. Ethnic diversity adds richness to a society. I hope
others will make the same visit.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on
the trip. Tibet is particularly
delicate issue between the United States and China, which labels
Tibet a “core interest” and has admonished American presidents who have met
with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
The publicity around Mr. Locke’s visit could be seen by
China as a sign of further foreign interference in what it considers a domestic
matter. But an embassy spokesman said on Wednesday that the trip to Aba was not
made in secret and was known by Chinese officials. Before going there, Mr.
Locke, whose activities are of great interest to Chinese citizens because he is
Chinese-American, had spent time meeting officials and business leaders in
Chongqing and Chengdu, two major western cities.
The two monasteries that Mr. Locke visited were in Songpan,
an area about 100 miles east of the town of Aba, which is called Ngaba by
Tibetans and has been the epicenter of the 55 self-immolations. The first self-immolation
by a Tibetan monk in modern history took place in 2009 in Aba. The monk was
from the Kirti Monastery, where Chinese security forces have been clamping down
since officers killed some civilians in Aba during a 2008 protest. The second
monk to set himself on fire, in March 2011, was also a monk from Kirti.
A security cordon has generally kept foreigners out of the
town of Aba, and the Chinese government has restricted access to many other
parts of the Tibetan plateau. Foreigners, however, have had some access to
Songpan, where horse-trekking is popular among tourists.
Word of Mr. Locke’s trip to Aba first emerged on Monday,
when The Times obtained a photograph of the ambassador greeting the 88-year-old
Tibetan monk. A reporter posted the photograph on Twitter, but the embassy had
no immediate comment. After being asked about the trip at a daily press
briefing in Washington on Tuesday, a State Department spokeswoman acknowledged
that Mr. Locke had visited Aba.
“When he was in Aba, he met with a number of local
residents, including ethnic Tibetans,” said the spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland.
“You saw the quite poignant photo. Some of them work in the travel industry. He
also visited villages and monasteries to learn more about how ethnic Tibetan
people live and work, and to have a chance to talk to them.”
Ms. Nuland added, “We have grave concerns about
self-immolations in Tibet and about the underlying grievances that the Tibetan
people have.”
Mr. Locke released his statement the day after the
briefing. Robert J. Barnett, a scholar of Tibet at Columbia, said the visit
“suggests the embassy is finding creative ways to communicate messages within
China that are effective without being aggressive.”
In the photograph, Mr. Locke, in a gray suit, is bending
down to shake hands with the monk, who is seated, and Mr. Barnett said Chinese
would understand the symbolism — an “indication of respect toward religion, the
elderly and Tibetan culture.”
[On Monday, the Haryana Congress legislator Sampat Singh said, "Haryana has progressed economically, but it has not developed mentally and intellectually, leading to rising incidences of rape in the state." Meanwhile, the West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, said that the increase in rapes in India could be attributed to the fact that men and women interact with each other more freely than before.]
In Haryana, where a number of high-profile rape cases have attracted
national attention in recent weeks, 800 protesters took to the streets on
Monday to demand better policing and a safer environment for women.
"Women are no longer ready to take this kind of treatment meted
out by a patriarchal system and a government that connives with the accused
because they are the powerful," said Shabnam Hashmi, a trustee at Anhad, a
human rights group that works in the Mewat region of Haryana.
Several rape cases reported in Haryana in recent weeks have attracted
widespread attention for their severity, the fact that the victims were from
lower castes than their attackers and a "blame the victim" response
from local officials and village councils. Last week a teenage girl committed
suicide after being raped, by setting herself on fire, and another victim's
father killed himself after he was shown a video of his daughter being raped.
While activists and local media have repeatedly quoted a figure of 17
rapes in Haryana in the past month, that number is probably low. There were 733
cases of rape reported in Haryana, population 25 million, in 2011, or an average
of 61 a month, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
Over the last year, the Haryana government has been criticized for
their response a number of high-profile rapes and the state's seeming inability
to protect women. The Haryana spokesman for the Congress Party, Dharambir
Goyat, was quoted as saying that he thought 90 percent
of rapes were consensual, but he was later rebuked by the party for his
statement.
On Monday, the Haryana Congress legislator Sampat Singh said,
"Haryana has progressed economically, but it has not developed mentally
and intellectually, leading to rising incidences of rape in the state."
Meanwhile, the West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, said that
the increase in rapes in India could be attributed to the fact that men and
women interact with each other more freely than before.
Monday's rally was led by the All-India Democratic Women's
Association, who were joined by the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, the
National Federation of Indian Women and the Center for Social Research.
Protesters in Rohtak held a public meeting on Monday where activists
discussed possible solutions, while the families of rape victims shared their
stories. After the meeting, they marched to the district commissioner's office
and submitted a memorandum that demanded the government ensure quick and fair
investigations into rape cases, set up fast-track courts to deal with sexual
assault and rape cases and create more effective police forces.
"The protest was meant to express our anger and dissatisfaction
at the Haryana government who has yet not arrested many rapists, and to
pressurize the government to act," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the
Center for Social Research, who attended the protest.
The police attacked the crowd with sticks, she said, which caused a
stampede that injured three people. "What was a peaceful meeting suddenly
turned violent," Ms. Kumari said.
In Delhi, the National Federation of Indian Women held a rally in a
show of support for women of the Dalit caste, many of whom are victims of rape
in Haryana.
"In this country, the biggest challenge for women is to safeguard
their right to be born, and from that stage onwards women face all sorts of
discrimination," said Annie Raja, general secretary of the National
Federation of Indian Women. "Even though internationally we have a
reputation to be a developing country with prospects for economic growth, but
for the women of this country, day by day we are living a more frightened
life."
Ms. Raja said that while each successive government promises to put in
place new legislation to safeguard women, the government fails to enforce
existing laws.
What especially angers women's rights groups is the local authorities'
penchant for blaming the rapes on the victims. In September, a member of the
state's khap panchayat, a self-appointed council of village heads, said that in
order to curb such crimes the marriage age should be lowered to 16, from 18, so
that women won't be tempted to satisfy their sexual urges elsewhere. Balwan
Singh Nain, a 48-year-old farmer and khap member, told India Ink,
"Women maintain a family's honor. Not men. If she cannot keep her honor,
it is solely her fault."
Activists contend that the presence of khap panchayats undermines the
system of law and order in the state of Haryana. "The problem is not just
the numbers of women who are getting raped but the discourse after the rape and
the response of the state," said Kavita Srivastava, national secretary of
the People's Union for Civil Liberties, who attended the protest in Rohtak. "The
khap panchayats are not just an embarrassment but part of the problem - they
are reinforcing the unlawful behavior of these men."
Those who report rapes often find themselves shunned by the local
authorities. In a recent case that came to light on Saturday, a 13-year-old
schoolgirl was allegedly raped over a period of four months by a fruit vendor
outside her school in Fatehbad, a town in Haryana. When the girl's mother
lodged a complaint against the man, the school
authorities reacted by expelling the girl and her two younger sisters. On
Sunday, the school authorities said the three sisters had left the school on
their own. However, after the girl underwent a medical examination that
confirmed that she had been raped, the suspect was arrested.
"The whole attitude of the police is so anti-women," said
Ms. Srivastava. "There is the breakdown of the criminal justice system on
one hand and the lack of an enabling environment for women on the other. In
this kind of environment there can be no justice."
On Friday, the Haryana government announced
several measures designed
to reduce the incidence of crimes against women, including an increase in
police patrols in rural areas. The government also opened a 24-hour hotline for
women in the police control room in Panchkula district and is planning to set
up one in every district.
"The idea is that if any woman calls saying that they have been
harassed on the street, at college or elsewhere, we will send police help
immediately," said Meenakshi Sharma, a female constable who answered the
women's hotline in Panchkula, which has yet to receive any calls for help.
Ms. Sharma said that they did not receive any special training for
manning the hotline, which is one reason that activists are dubious about the
efficacy of such measures. "It is too little and too late," said Ms.
Kumari of the Center for Social Research. "Having a helpline is not
enough. There has to be somebody on the other side to provide help. The Haryana
police have to become much more effective if it hopes to actually protect these
women."
