Tibetan religious activity slashed, Lhasa mayor confirms
- Rare confirmation of extent of Beijing’s religious control ahead of sensitive 60th anniversary of Tibetan uprising
Just days before the 60th anniversary of Tibet’s deadly uprising against Beijing’s rule, the mayor of its capital Lhasa has made a rare public statement about the extent of the government’s restrictions on religious activities in the spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism.
Speaking at China’s annual legislative meetings in Beijing, Go Khok, mayor and deputy Communist Party chief of Lhasa, said on Wednesday that the number of days spent observing religious events, and the number of people attending them, had both been reduced to less than 10 per cent.
“In 2018, Lhasa … took a clear-cut stand in eliminating the negative influence the Dalai Lama exerted via religion and took great effort in ridding the passive religious influence,” he told a room of Tibetan delegates and journalists in the Great Hall of the People.
“Based on the premise that believers’ religious needs were met, the number of days major religious activities were held and the number of people attending them both reduced to below 10 per cent,” he said, without specifying if the figure referred to a proportion of the entire year and the entire Lhasa population.
Repeated calls to the Tibetan delegation’s press officer for clarification went unanswered. According to the 2010 census, 76.7 per cent of Lhasa residents are Tibetans.