Crackdown on Drepung Monks

"(Reuters) - Several Tibetan monks have been detained for their opposition to a Chinese political campaign they were forced to participate in, leading to a rare mass protest, two advocacy groups said on Thursday.
The Dharamsala-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said five monks at the Drepung monastery, on the outskirts of the capital Lhasa, were expelled and detained after refusing to sign a document denouncing the Dalai Lama as a separatist.

In protest, more than 400 monks staged a sit-in in Drepung's main courtyard on November 25, refusing to denounce the Dalai Lama and accept that Tibet is a part of China and calling for the release of the five monks.
Soldiers and police put down the protest and "resisting monks received severe beatings", the report said.

After the crackdown, severe restrictions have been placed on the monastery and nobody has been allowed to either enter or leave the premises since 25 November 2005. The officers maintain strict vigilance of the monastery and the monks’ activities round the clock."

My opinion: Asking Gelugpa monks in Drepung Monastery, the main Gelugpa monastery in Tibet, to foreswear the Dalai Lama , is analogous to asking Catholics to renounce the Pope.

I suggest writing the Secretary of State a letter bringing this to her attention, at:

The Honourable Condoleezza Rice
Office of the Secretary of State
2201 C Street, N.W.Washington, DC 20520, USA


and also sending an email to Brian Williams at NBC Nightly News.
nightly@nbc.com
He might even write back according to a story in USA Today.