By Karma Ösel Lhamo
Dharamsala, March 6, 2010 – With the launch of “Strike Hard Campaign” by China in the Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, exile Tibetans walked with candles to the Tsuglakhang temple yesterday and said prayers as they expressed their solidarity with the Tibetans inside Tibet.
Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, National Democratic Party of Tibet, GuChuSum Movement of Tibet, and Students for a Free Tibet (India) jointly led the candle-light vigil here to condemn the Chinese Government’s recent partake in “Strike Hard” crackdown.
With the historic March 10 uprising commemoration only four days to go and the possibility of a repeat of the nation wide uprising two years ago in Tibet, China has launched the “Strike Hard” campaign which exile Tibetans accuse is to quell political dissent through mass detention and arrests. Nearly 500 Tibetans were reportedly detained in Lhasa since the launch of the campaign and the Tibetan capital Lhasa continues to remain under huge military and police presence.
Tibetans at today’s vigil also expressed their grave concern and sadness over the persecution of Tibetan political prisoners and the execution of Loyak and Kangtsuk earlier in 2009. The Kardze People’s Intermediate court recently sentenced Pema Yeshi to two year suspended death sentence on the charges of “inciting separatism” and “disturbing social order.”
Tibetans and their supporters will take to the streets in the coming days to stand in solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet and to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising against China’s illegal occupation in 1959, the year that saw the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama flee into exile.
Street mobilizations are planned in dozens of cities worldwide to commemorate more than five decades of Tibetans’ courageous resistance and to show support for a powerful, non-violent resistance movement being led by the younger generation of Tibetans inside Tibet to challenge China’s brutal rule of their homeland, say the organizers.
