c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) National Uprising Day, which marks Tibet’s failed attempt to throw out the Chinese in 1959, brought hundreds of Tibetans to the streets on March 10.

But many monks and nuns, as well as lay Tibetans, probably had more than commemorations on their mind. Six decades of Chinese rule have dramatically changed Tibet’s religious traditions and left its people economically impoverished, said Ben Carrdus of the International Campaign for Tibet in Washington.

Decades of pent-up frustration spilled over into clashes between Tibetan protesters and Chinese police that have grown increasingly violent, according to news reports and international aid groups. As many as 80 Tibetans were killed over the weekend, according to a spokesman for the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

Tibetan monks and nuns lament China’s “re-education” plan, which requires dedicating as much as one-third of their time to learning about Marxism and Chinese patriotism. Public displays of support or reverence for the Dalai Lama, whom China calls a “splittist,” are forbidden. Monks are required to publicly condemn him.

“That has caused incredible resentment among the monastic community,” said Carrdus.

China also reserves the right to approve or reject a monastery’s abbot.

Meanwhile, lay Tibetans see themselves largely left out of economic progress in their quickly modernizing homeland. A new railway built by China in 2006 has brought a flood of tourists and ethnic Chinese workers to Tibet, but Tibetans, an estimated 50 percent of whom are illiterate, aren’t getting jobs.

As land prices and the cost of living rise, Tibetans are having trouble making ends meet, said Carrdus.

Protests that began peacefully with monks in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, soon gained steam among the laity and boiled over.

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