藏人地震纪录片遭没收

在中国西部藏人聚居地，当局没收了一部纪录片。该片颂赞藏人“团结”是从去年那场毁灭性地震中恢复过来的主要动力，该地区的消息人士称。

2010年4月，发生在中国青海省玉树县的地震，摧毁了藏人居住的城镇Jyekundo（结古多，即玉树），又称Gyegu（结古）镇，造成当地及周边地区至少约三千人遇难。

这部纪录片名为《灾难中的希望》，由佛教僧侣制作，在藏人观众中很受欢迎。但中国当局已从玉树县的三家商店及邻近的康地囊谦(Nangchen)的两家商店，没收了这部电影的数百张DVD。

玉树县的一家餐厅也因放映这部电影而被罚款，餐厅的DVD机和一台投影仪遭没收，不愿透露名字的藏人称。

中国官员还从一位僧人住所没收了3000张DVD、一台电脑、几幅唐卡，以及一些家居用品，包括三万元人民币（折合$4,581美金）。

消息人士说，政府声称这部纪录片的制作人没有从“有关部门”获得发行此片的许可。

担心藏人团结

但是当地藏人认为打压这部纪录片，更可能是因为它歌颂了来自西藏传统三省的藏人，在震后的救灾和救援工作中所表现出的团结一致。

该片还敦促藏人在未来的奋斗中继续保持团结。

“安多、康和卫藏，同属一家，”影片中的一首歌曲《团结之声》唱到。

许多藏人认为西藏主要由安多、康和卫藏三省组成，尽管北京已将康和安多的部分地区并入中国的青海省和四川省。

“雪域藏人，团结一心！”歌曲如此激励。

消息人士告诉自由亚洲电台，纪录片的制作人尚未被拘留，但当局已下令制作人不得离开玉树地区。

与此同时，约四、五百名囊谦藏人已在一份请愿书上签字或按手印，要求当局不拘留、不逮捕制作纪录片的僧侣。消息人士补充说，玉树和囊谦两地的代表已敦促当局“妥善”处理此事，否则会有社会不稳定的危险。

“敏感话题”

在多个单独采访中，玉树的藏人居民称，有关2010年大地震的其他DVD，目前在当地流传。

他们说，其中一些是由政府发行的，旨在宣扬中国军队如何努力帮助地震受害者。

如果中国当局下令禁止某部DVD，“他们就一定会从我们这里拿走。”一位知情者说。

“好在我们可以从朋友那里得到……把它藏好，只借给可以信任的朋友、邻居和亲戚，而且只借出很短的时间。”

“有时，我们根本不知道发生了什么——尤其是有关‘敏感话题’，”另一位消息人士如此说。“政府会立即向公众隐瞒这些事情。”

“简单地说，他们就怕我们知道事实。他们非常紧张！”

【自由亚洲电台藏语组Tseten Dolkar和Guru Choegyi报道。Dorjee Damdul翻译。Richard Finney英文写作。】

Tibetan Earthquake Film Seized

2011-03-31

Authorities in a Tibetan-populated region of western China have seized copies of a documentary film that praises Tibetan “unity,” seen as the driving force in the recovery from a devastating earthquake last year, sources in the region said.

The April 2010 earthquake, which struck Yushu county in China’s Qinghai province, destroyed the Tibetan town of Jyekundo, also called Gyegu, killing an estimated 3,000 people there and in surrounding areas.

The film, titled “Hope in a Disaster” and produced by Buddhist monks, has proven popular with Tibetan viewers, but Chinese authorities have confiscated hundreds of DVD copies of the film from three shops in Jyekundo and from two shops in the nearby region of Kham Nangchen.

A restaurant in Jyekundo was also fined for screening the film, and the restaurant’s DVD players and a projector were seized, Tibetan sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Chinese officials also seized 3,000 DVDs from the residence of a monk, along with a computer, religious paintings, and household items including 30,000 yuan (U.S. $4,581) in cash.

Government statements claim the film’s producers had failed to obtain permission from “relevant departments” to distribute the film, sources said.

Tibetan unity feared

But local Tibetans believe that a more likely reason for the documentary’s suppression is that it praises the unity of Tibetans from Tibet’s traditional three provinces in carrying out relief and rescue work in the aftermath of the earthquake.

It also urges their continued unity in fulfilling future tasks.

“Amdo, Kham, and U-Tsang all belong to the same family,” says a song, “The Sound of Unity,” included in the film.

Many Tibetans consider Amdo, Kham, and U-Tsang to be the three provinces that make up Tibet, although Beijing has largely incorporated Kham and Amdo into the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan.

“Tibetans of the Land of Snow, unite as one!,” the song urges.

The film’s producers have not been detained, sources told RFA, but authorities have ordered the filmmakers not to leave the Jyekundo area.

Meanwhile, some 400-500 Tibetans living in Nangchen have signed or placed their thumbprints on a petition asking authorities not to detain or arrest the monks who made the film, sources said, adding that representatives of villages in both Jyekundo and Nangchen have urged authorities to “properly” handle the issue or risk social instability.

‘Sensitive topics’

Speaking separately in interviews, Tibetan residents of Jyekundo said that several other DVDs related to the 2010 earthquake are now circulating in the area.

Some, they said, were issued by government sources and purport to show how Chinese troops worked to help victims of the quake.

If Chinese authorities issue an order to ban a particular DVD, “they will definitely take it away from us,” one source said.

“The good thing is that we get it from friends … And we keep it secretly and lend it to our trusted friends, neighbors, and relatives for only a short time.”

“Sometimes we never know what is going on—particularly with regard to ‘sensitive’ topics,” another source said. “The government will immediately hide these things from the public.”

“Simply, they are afraid of us knowing the facts. They are very cautious!”

Reported for RFA’s Tibetan service by Tseten Dolkar and Guru Choegyi. Translations by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.