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Protest in Mangalore | Photo: Tsering
Mangalore: Showing their solidarity for the cause of Tibetan freedom, over 550 Tibetans including the monks of the highest rank from Tibet, Bailukuppe (in Mysore) and Tibetan students from Mangalore organised a peace protest, here on Friday.
The protest was characterised by a hunger strike and a street play revealing the Chinese atrocities, with a demand for an autonomous Tibet. It was organized on the 25th of April, which is the 19th birthday of their 11th Penchan Lama, the 1st political prisoner of Tibet, imprisoned by the Chinese.
“We are determined to take the Tibetan struggle for freedom to its logical end and no power of suppression or curtailing the freedom of expression by the Chinese authoritarian rule can stop Tibet from becoming a free country”, said Tsewang, an activist of the Tibetan Student Association (Mangalore).
The plot of the street play staged by the students exposed the many illusory policies adopted by the Chinese in Tibet, including the killing of masses by Chinese soldiers in the name of Buddhist monks and of nabbing the freedom protests. The many banners, ’Free Tibet’ slogans and grisly pictures of the genocide by the Chinese elucidated the stance of the International community on the Tibet issue and the torture inflicted upon the Tibetans.
The Chinese Government refuses to budge from its stand that Tibet belongs to China. The occupation of Tibet has been characterized by systematic violations of human rights. It is estimated that 1.2 million Tibetans (one-sixth of its population) have been killed so far. Very recently, over 140 peaceful Tibetan demonstrators have been killed, over 500 Tibetan have been injured, and over 1,500 Tibetan have been detained and tortured. Since the 10th of March monasteries have become prisons and monks are being starved to death with no food or water.12 monks and nuns have committed suicide owing to the torture inflicted upon them.
Furthermore, 6000 monasteries have also been destroyed.
The Chinese are conducting door to door searches, arbitrary arrests and the freedom of the press is also curbed in Tibet. Foreign journalists have been barred from approaching any Tibetan areas where unrest has been reported and the numbers are extremely difficult to verify. Security is tight across Tibetan areas of China.
The Chinese occupation and militarisation of Tibet has led to the exploitation of Tibet’s natural resource, causing irreparable damage to Tibet’s forests, grasslands and nomadic pasture lands. Tibetans are deprived of their basic rights such as, the right to freedom, right to religion and human rights. Tibetans believe that China does not deserve the honour of hosting Olympics, an internationally celebrated event.
“We seek refuge and support from India and not elsewhere, because we find the roots of our religion ‘Buddhism’ in India. For Tibetans, India is ‘phakyul’, i.e. ‘the land of everything that is noble’. We believe that India has the moral responsibility to support us”, says a Tibetan activist, Tsering.
The demands of the protest being, release of all political prisoners, the establishment of a UN peace keeping force in Tibet and Red Cross facilities for medical aid, are reasonable demands that ought to be fulfilled.
At this point we can only speculate about whether the Tibetan struggle will be successful and fulfills its goals to contribute to the overall development, in the words of the Dalai Lama, “a more humane and more beautiful world.”
Sub-edited by Sara Mohammad Siddiqui |
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