Monasteries given state funds to be restored tend to be those on the tourist route. Tibetans claim that others have been built with private funds and donated labour. In rural areas reconstruction is discouraged. Religious practitioners cannot be Party members, which affects access to housing and employment as well as political influence. But Article 36 also says religious rituals, festivals and meetings can be banned on the grounds of disrupting social order.
Religious education is banned from schools.
Overseas Organisations The Party guidelines on religion state that no contact with overseas religious organisations is tolerated, rendering communication with Dharamsala unlawful. Showing devotion to the Dalai Lama can be construed as maintaining links with separatist organisations. Two monks were sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 1989, charged with spying for the Dalai Lama and accused of starting riots under instructions from Dharamsala. That November, four monks received sentences of up to 15 years each. In October 1994, police in Lhasa confiscated all the photographs of the Dalai Lama that were on sale.