Beijing:
Earthquake survivors say it was the Tibetan monks who helped first, bringing food, pitching tents and digging through rubble after disaster hit far western China a week ago, killing thousands.
Now the Buddhist monks who responded first are being pushed out of the disaster area and off of state media, apparently sidelined by Beijing's unease with their heroism and influence. Monasteries were given verbal orders the last two days to recall their monks. Amid hours of coverage for China's national day of mourning today, no monks were visible in the official proceedings.
It was a jarring omission in light of their contributions to the week-long rescue and relief effort following the quake, which killed 2,064 people and injured more than 12,000 others. Tsebtrim, an ethnic Tibetan who works as a translator in Yushu, the county in Qinghai province hit hardest by the April 14 quake, was among thousands left homeless. He recalls heading to the local horse racing grounds shortly after the earthquake with hundreds of others who heard it would be a safe place if the local dam broke.
"There were these monks from Sichuan's Ganzi who had put up all these tents, 100 tents, in just a couple of hours and they provided drinks and food," said Tsebtrim, 31, who like many Tibetans goes by just one name. "That night, a lot of people didn't have a place to stay so I am really glad those monks showed up."