March VA to DC 2006

Final Day of March and Demonstration: Day 10 June 11, 2006

Tibetans and supporters from the Charlottesville community joined us on the Virginia side of the Potomac for a prayer session and opening interviews by Voice of America, which then filmed the entire day's events. Among the group was one of the Drapchi 14 Nuns who had been imprisoned for their advocacy for Tibetan Independence. Phuntsok, who was the last to be released this past year, had just recently arrived in America prior to her relocation to Switzerland. The Marchers first met with her at ICT Offices just prior to their climb up on the Hill, and as we left she expressed her desire to March with us on the final day. Shielding her face from the sun in the early prayer ceremony it was difficult to imagine how anyone could lay their eyes upon this fragile woman and justify doing physical and mental harm to her over simply speaking her mind.
Jigme Norbu, and Dorjee, our injured yet resilient Pa-la from Chicago, led the group out over the Bridge and into Georgetown where another pack of Tibetans and Western supporters increased the group's size to well over fifty. 'Marching along 'M' Street, a determined silence permeated those in line as well as those who began to notice our reflections in storefront shops. People simply stopped and stood solemnly in reverence, either from the awesome sight of fifty people marching single file, for the individuals who had been Marching for ten days up from Charlottesville, or for those Tibetans being tortured inside an occupied and colonized Tibet. Regardless as to why they chose to acknowledge the procession the Marchers certainly snapped all that crossed their path out of time honored Sunday morning routines.
While the pack continued up along M Street, Tsewang Rigzin, Tsering Youdon, Daw Phuntsok, and Tse Dorje spoke to the six million Tibetans inside Tibet via an hour long live show on Radio Free Asia hosted by Karma Zurkhang. The topic was Rangzen (Independence), as opposed to the Autonomy that His Holiness' Govt in Exile has been negotiating with the Chinese Communist Party over recent years. When Tsering Youdon and Dawa Phuntsok, an elderly couple from the Boston area who Marched throughout the week, were asked of their feelings, they both emphatically declared "The only way we will ever return to Tibet is when it is free of Chinese rule!" Tse-Dorje, who had fled Tibet by riding a mountain bike from Lhasa to Kathmandu in a clandestine protest by wearing the number 45 on his chest in recognition of the 45th anniversary of the occupation and signifying F R E E (4) T I B E T (5), furthered Ama-la and Pa-la's sentiments by stating "the only thing that is acceptable is independence. Tsewang Rigzin, an ITIM Board Member and major force behind the group's continued press for independence, spoke about the importance of the movement and rallied for all Tibetans to support those Tibetans inside Tibet who cannot.
Turning left onto Connecticut Ave and curving through Dupont Circle, the Embassy was finally within striking distance. Collecting in front of a Starbucks for a final conference and water break the group clogged the corner and caught the attention of absolutely all that passed by. Many cars and pedestrians out for lazy Sunday strolls prior to their brunches honked horns and screamed "Free Tibet!" in support of the Marchers who now resembled something more of a horde soon to descent upon the Chinese Embassy. From a higher vantage point atop an electrical converter box the site was awesome.
A shady tree lined block gave the Marchers one last relief from a relentless sun, which had been abusing the minds and bodies of the Marchers for over a week, before the finish line was crossed. As Jigme and Pa-la crossed side by side and stepped foot upon the grassy circle directly in front of the Chinese embassy another group of Tibetans from the Washington D.C. and Maryland area broke in to applause.
And so the scene was set for a demonstration that would draw upon the history of the movement and in effect set the stage for its future. By dusk the world had been informed that Tibetans were not going to accept anything less than independence in a way that will forever be burned into my mind.

After the Washington DC Tibetan Community congratulated the Marchers and applauded their effort for completing their task a statement was made that essentially set the rest of the day in motion. In an effort to celebrate the completion of the 120 mile route Lhondup, a leader in the DC community, said "The Tibetan Freedom March has successfully ended here in DC and should be applauded." However, after presentation of Khatas to the Marchers Dr. Larry Gerstein, President of ITIM took his turn on the mic and informed the crowd that although what Lhondup said is far from true. "Although it is true that we have completed this March here today, we will not stop Marching and screaming until we secure Tibet's independence!" He furthered "I am also not the underlying motivation and force for these events. Takster Rinpoche, His Holiness' eldest brother, who started this movement with me and who can no longer physically be out on the route remains the driving spirit, determination, and inner voice for Tibetan Independence. He is here every step of the way." With tears welling up in his eyes, and his voice cracking he delivered what I believe all those who participated in the March truly believe… "I am simply the messenger."
Tsewang Rigzin, an ITIM Board Member, took the mic and spoke aggressively in Tibetan as he held two flags, one sporting Five Stars on a field of red for China, and the other proudly representing symbols of Tibetan culture. He asked the crowd "which one do you want to raise up above your head, which one do you want to have flying outside your home, which one do you want to hold close to your heart, the Chinese one of the Tibetan one?" As he screamed into the microphone "It's your choice!" all the Marchers, held small Chinese flags up above their heads and then proceeded to try and pass them out amongst the crowd. No one took the flags and the Marchers solemnly returned to their post in front of the crowd while supporters from Students for a Free Tibet helped disseminate Tibetan, American, and Taiwanese flags. The impact of choosing autonomy over independence was felt strongest when Tsewang asked "which National Anthem they were now prepared to sing, the Chinese or the Tibetan?" As the Tibetan anthem began to ring through the trees with raw emotion the answer was obvious. "All the Tibetans inside Tibet want independence but they cannot state this publicly and so it is all of our responsibility to do it for them!"
Jigme Norbu, son of Takster Rinpoche and nephew of His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, spoke next and thanked those for the many different forms of support they provided but scolded the Tibetan community in Exile in general for their lack of such. "I am very thankful for all of you being here today but there is no reason why this area is not choked with Tibetans right now. It is everyone's responsibility as Tibetans to stand up and use our rights to bring an end to the Chinese brutality. There is not a single Tibetan inside Tibet that does not want their country back but they cannot say anything about it without being imprisoned, tortured, and potentially killed for it. It is our duty to speak for them." Jigme, who has been Marching in his father's footsteps became incensed.
Throughout the time I have spent with Jigme along these Marches and Bike Missions I have always seen something pour forth from him in the heat of battle, and as he continued to speak emphatically to the crowd, sending chills up my spine, I knew it was Rinpoche coming out of him. "Can we forget about our fathers who were imprisoned? Can we forget about the innocent children that were shot and dumped in a pit? Can we forget about our six thousand monasteries that were indifferently destroyed? Can we really forget about our sisters and mothers and grandmothers that were brutally raped by the Chinese? Can we forget about our country and our people and our ways? We have no choice but to fight because we are nothing!!! We are nothing without our country!!!" Tears were pouring out of Dolma's eyes as Jigme came close to her shoulder and screamed into the crowd one more time "I was born here in America and have lived my whole life here and we may think that we have things, that we are okay because of our cars and houses and jobs and comfort but we have nothing and we are nothing if we don't have a country!!!"
Nine years ago Jigme's Father- Thupten Jigme Norbu- stood in front of the United Nations and made a symbolic gesture that hammered home an uneasy truth. He stood defiant of China's claim to sovereignty over Tibet and cut out one of the five stars on the Chinese flag. He proceeded to do the same to three more, leaving only one large one representing the Han people of China. Today Jigme Norbu further mimicked his father by doing the same and invited three other Marchers to join him in the act. Khempo Ngawang Dorjee an abbot of a monastery in Amdo cut out the star representing Inner Mongolia; Tenzin Sherab from Hawaii, whose family is from Srinigar India, cut out the star representing the East Turkistani people; and Michael Yeun, who is a leader in the Taiwanese Independence Movement, cut out the star for Manchuria; leaving only the one rightful star for the ethnic Han Chinese. As Voice of America filmed the act, and later sent footage, images, and audio out on the wire throughout the world, the sentiment was clear:

As the crowd shifted to face the embassy and police refused to allow the 'cutters' to deliver the 'corrected' flag to the door, slogans overpowered the aggressive sounds of DC traffic. Gut wrenching pain spread across the faces of young and old as the screams against perpetrated atrocities embodied the cries of those still suffering. To a people who fully work towards the alleviation of suffering for all beings, it is very hard to see them struggle to see their cries fall on deaf ears. Flexed arms, taught jaws, tear filled eyes, and a resounding cry for freedom seemed strong enough to knock the embassy's walls to the ground but after an hour of yelling for what is right and just and necessary and provided to people the world over, those damn walls remained fully intact. But I could feel the will of a people hardening, stiffening, forming a new sense of resolve, and growing ever so much stronger than I have ever seen before.. I have been to rallies before and have heard the slogans shouted from similarly incensed and boisterous crowds, but something was different about this moment in time. Although lower in sheer numbers, the rawness of the emotion that came teeming forth from these wounded people spoke volumes of the depth of the pain one heart can feel. Many in the crowd have spent time behind prison, witnessed a loved one raped, tortured, or killed; or had been forced to flee their homeland by foot through the Himalayan Mountains. And then there are their children, either born in South Asia or the West who know of these things and their homeland only through the stories and the accounts of those travelers, like me, who have been where they cannot tread. They wear their pain on their sleeves right next to their hearts.
But this is not simply a Tibetan problem, nor is it an internal problem for the Chinese. If China were to be stripped of all the land acquired via hostile takeover from what they now claim are 'ethnic minorities' they would be more the size of America pre-Louisiana Purchase. The four little stars, which in the minds and hearts of all those who attended the rally and those who saw the images on Radio Free Asia no longer reside upon the field of red, represent four different trampled peoples. Manchurians, East Turkistanis, Inner Mongolians, and Tibetans are rallying together as Michael Yeun, a Taiwanese Independence leader who joined the March three days ago, states confidently. "Tibet's fight is Taiwan's fight, and Taiwan's fight is Tibet's fight! Together we will prevail."
Perhaps the most striking observation of the affair was hearing young Tibetan children screaming "Shame Shame China Shame", and as each star fell from the little flags "Bye bye Manchuria…Bye bye East Turkistan…Bye bye Mongolia…Bye bye Tibet…" After the flags had been cut the little girls stomped and ripped them to shreds. To see and hear this type of emotion pouring out of ten year olds and to know that it isn't simply an extension of their parents has an effect words cannot relay.
Once the crowds dispersed and the Police guards drove off the Core Marchers chose to exploit their protest permit, which lasted until 5pm, and planted a Chinese flag with four holes for where the stars were. Dr. Gerstein had relayed to the crowd the plan to mail these stars to the leaders of the nationalities they represented, and now all that remained was to hammer the point home by sticking it in their lost face. (See lead photo)
Although we have completed this particular March it is well understood by all, including the Chinese that WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL TIBET IS FREE….Takster Rinpoche wouldn't have it any other way. So says the Dogs!!!