Kirti Monastery Raided, About 300 Monks Bussed to Unknown Location

China's central government is taking advantage of the civil unrest in the Middle East to crack down on those who would resist its control. Friday Chinese military raided the Kirti Monastery in what is now Sichuan Province. The Tibetan monks there had been resisting the military since the self immolation of a monk on March 17, the third year anniversary of protests against denial of human rights for ethnic Tibetans.

The Kirti monastery had been under siege since March with the military cutting off food supplies to the approximately 2000 residents. Tibetan people in the small town attempted delivery of food and supplies to the besieged. Protesters interfered with the military entering the monastery and many were severely beaten, suffering broken arms and legs. Two people were killed.

Friday, the monastery was entered at around 9 pm. About 300 monks were loaded onto busses and taken away. Until then they had been resisting "political re-education".

Today, monks from the Kirti monastery in Dharmasala embarked on a peace march to draw attention to the human rights abuses in Tibet and the territories annexed by China. They plan to walk and drive the 300 miles from Dharmasala to Delhi hoping the world will witness the struggles of their counterparts in Tibet and Sichuan.

Since the widespread uprising in Tibet in 2008, 'education' teams have entered the monasteries to instill patriotic education.

"Under the campaign, Chinese “work team” officials are sent to especially monastic institutes on a regular basis to “educate” monks and nuns to be patriotic towards nation and one's religion, and to oppose ‘splittist’ forces, which include denouncing the revered Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, whom China reviles as a “splittist"Phayul.com