Enhanced legal awareness helps monks better exercise civil rights

Tibetan Buddhist believers pray outside the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on March 7. Photo: Li Qian/GT

As China mulls all-out efforts to ensure that the country's achievements during the past six decades are shared by each and every citizen, there's no reason that monks and nuns from monasteries in Tibet are excluded. Such an idea was strongly felt by Global Times reporters during their visits to the monasteries in the region in early March. 

China's national flag was frequently seen at monasteries in Lhasa, capital city of the autonomous region in Southwest China, as well as posters introducing the country's policies to protect religious freedom. 

Articles written by monks and nuns expressing gratitude for the change in their lives brought about by Party and government policies are posted in the monasteries' offices, including some handwritten ones from elder monks. 

Since 2011, Tibet has invested nearly 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) on a campaign to ensure that all monasteries or temples in the region are connected to roads and have access to electricity, water and telecommunications services. 

Temples are also building public bathrooms, canteens and reading rooms and movies for the monks and nuns. The films, mostly featuring patriotic and religious themes, are provided with subtitles in the Tibetan language.

Phurbu Tsering, a monk at the Sera Monastery, who is also the head of Lhasa's Buddhist Association, said that the most impressive film for him was the 90-minute documentary Amazing China. The film highlights a series of major developments the country has made since 2012, including the world's largest radio telescope FAST, the world's largest maritime drilling rig Blue Whale 2, and the development of 5G mobile technology.

"It broadens my eyes and I had a strong feeling of those great achievements our home country has made," said Phurbu Tsering. 

As of March, 98 percent of Tibet's temples had achieved the goal of the campaign. The intention is simple: Monks and nuns are also citizens, and they have the same rights to enjoy modern facilities as other citizens do, said Luobu Dunzhu, deputy head of Tibet's religious affairs bureau. 

A Chinese national flag is raised at the Potala Palace in Tibet in March. Photo: Li Ruohan/GT

Rights respected 

"About 10 years ago, not many monks and nuns had citizen awareness. But now, being a good citizen and being patriotic has been acknowledged by many as an important quality of being a good monk," Phuntsok Gyaltsen from the Jokhang Temple told the Global Times. 

The result comes from enhanced efforts to introduce laws and regulations at monasteries. In 2018, over 3,200 lectures to promote the legal awareness of monks and nuns were held in 1,787 monasteries across the autonomous region.  
Officials from judicial departments, lawyers, scholars and police were invited to monasteries to explain and answer frequently asked questions from the monks and nuns.

Activities such as group study and seminars on China's law and national policies, such as the Constitution, National Flag Law and Religious Affairs Regulation, are held regularly in monasteries. 

WeChat and other platforms are also used to introduce China's law and religious policies.

In the eyes of monks and nuns, such activities are necessary and helpful to know how to exercise their civil rights and protect the rights from being violated.

"I am a monk. I am also a Chinese citizen, and knowing the laws and regulations could better help protect myself," said Phurbu Tsering from the Sera Monastery. 

Monks and nuns should be punished if they violate laws, but many of them are not aware when and whether they violate laws, and that makes such activities more necessary, he said. 

In some monasteries, monks and nuns also took examinations on laws and regulations, according to autonomous region's religious officials. 

"I experienced the unrest times and I know the reasons behind such turbulence. As a citizen I have the obligation to fight separatism and safeguard stability," said Sonam Phuntsok from Gaden Monastery. 

"Stability in Tibet and in the whole country is the most important guarantee of the development of Tibetan Buddhism," he said, noting that separatist activities bring no good to the development of the religion.

"Dalai Lama's using Tibetan Buddhism as a political tool to serve his own separatist agenda has hurt the future and credibility of the religion. Monks and nuns should realize that the religion could thrive only when it separates itself from the negative impact of separatists and plays a positive role in society," said Zhu Weiqun, former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body.

Transparent operation

Since 2011, monasteries in Tibet have gradually established committees to manage religious and civil affairs. The management committees normally consist of senior monks and non-religious people who are mostly former or current government officials. 

The committees also include members who are responsible for the conservation of culture relics and ensure that the monasteries are free from fire or other hazards.

Such a work approach was not welcomed by all when first introduced to monasteries, as some monks and nuns did not understand the logic behind the change and feared that they might lose control of religious affairs in the temples, said local officials.

However, those committees are an inseparable part of the monasteries' daily activities and the lives of monks and nuns as they realize that the officials are not here to be a boss, but a server, said Anu Tsering, head of united front work department of Lhasa, the government body that oversees religious affairs. 

Monks in the committees are still in charge of religious affairs, such as how a ritual should be held, while officials in the committees are helping with paperwork and formalities to organize those activities and ensure that those events are held in accordance with law and administrative requirements.

"The officials are like bridges to facilitate the interaction between monasteries and government agencies," said Phurbu Tsering from the Sera Monastery. 

"For instance, the officials are very helpful in applying for more government funds for monks and nuns and ensuring that they have access to all social welfare benefits," he said.

All the monks and nuns in the Tibet autonomous region are provided with medical, social and accident insurance. They can also have a free physical examination once a year, officials said.

Over 290,000 rooms for monks and nuns have been renovated with government funding of 146 million yuan as of March. The region also has an annual budget of 15 million yuan to maintain small and medium-sized monasteries and the cultural relics stored there.

Such a mechanism actually makes the monasteries' management and operations more transparent and efficient, monks and nuns said. 

Before such a committee is launched in the Sera Monastery, major religious positions, such as Guige, who oversees monks' behavior and religious study, are normally appointed or decided by senior monks. 

After the establishment of the committee, those positions are elected every three years and in a democratic manner, said Phurbu Tsering, who is also deputy head of the monastery's management committee. 

The committee will make public the list of candidates first, and if any monks think the nominees are not qualified, they could suggest a new candidate. A vote will be held and announced to ensure the transparency of the process, Phurbu Tsering said.