19 June 2006
Re-education campaign in schools in Tibet
(Phayul) The Chinese government has allegedly started a ‘re-education campaign’ for school children in order to prevent students from getting involved in the recent campaign against using fur adorned costumes by Tibetans in Tibet. According to a young Tibetan student, a recently-arrived refugee from Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, "Soldiers in uniform came to our school and told us that Tibetans could not burn animal skins and if anybody wanted to do it, they were asked to burn them in the privacy of their homes; they also asked the students class by class whether they liked His Holiness the Dalai Lama, if somebody said they didn't, they were encouraged to trample underfoot a photo of His Holiness but I could not do such a thing, so before the day soldiers reached my class I escaped from Tibet; I would rather die but never do such a thing in my life". He also said that when he called home after reaching Lhasa, his parents informed him that seventeen students were arrested and detained for showing their respect to the Dalai Lama. It is unclear what happened afterwards to the detained students.