By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 12: Every year since 1959, March 12 has been commemorated as, what is called, “National Tibetan Women’s Uprising Day” against “illegal Chinese occupation of Tibet”. On this day 50 years ago, two days after a hugely popular uprising in Lhasa was brutally crushed down by the Chinese Communist forces, thousands of Tibetan women assembled at the foot of the Potala Palace to protest against continuing Chinese presence in their homeland.
In Dharamsala, a small hill town in northern India that serves as the base for Tibet’s Government in exile, the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) held a somber official function to mark the 50th anniversary of the women’s uprising day.
“Today, March the 12th, 2009, is a historically significant date for Tibetan women across the globe as they stand in observance of the 50th founding anniversary of the ‘National Tibetan Women’s Uprising Day’ in Lhasa, Tibet,” the women’s group said in their official statement.
In commemorating the painful anniversary, TWA said they would organize year-long activities to mark 2009 as the ‘International Year of Tibetan Women’.
“This observance of the ‘International Year of Tibetan Women’ is to honor the great sacrifices made by our Tibetan sisters, sacrifices that allow us our futures, and to renew our conviction to be the support, the encouragement, and the inspiration of the upcoming generation of Tibetan women,” TWA president Dr B Tsering said in her statement this morning.
Several new books were released and a photo exhibition, largely reflecting on the contribution the women’s group has rendered side by side in the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom, was launched here to mark the anniversary.
The photos and publications, along with a documentary film by the TWA, will later travel through Asia, Europe, Australia and the American continent, where the group’s regional chapters spread across the globe will organize events to showcase them in their exhibitions.
“In chronicling 50 years of struggle, from the first ‘National Women’s Uprising Day’ to the 50th, the story of Tibetan women elucidates the consistent efforts, perseverance, and selfless dedication that characterize the integral role Tibetan women have played in the Tibetan freedom struggle,” Tsering said.
“This observance of the ‘International Year of Tibetan Women’ is to honor the great sacrifices made by our Tibetan sisters, sacrifices that allow us our futures, and to renew our conviction to be the support, the encouragement, and the inspiration of the upcoming generation of Tibetan women,” she added.
The women’s organization also used its historically significant anniversary to call on China to respond positively to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s offer of resolving the issue of Tibet peacefully.
It urged the Chinese government to “open actual, honest negotiation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and work sincerely towards resolving the issue of Tibet in the interests of both Chinese and Tibetan peoples.”
“The restoration of a peaceful Tibet as envisioned and outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama through the Middle Way approach will benefit the whole of Asia politically and environmentally and will contribute fundamentally to world peace,” TWA, which supports the exile Tibetan leader’s approach, said. “We urge the Chinese leadership to seize this opportunity, to change the image of China from one of despotic tyranny to one of open transparent government, from of a regime of violence and oppression to a nation founded upon freedom and justice,” it added in its statement.
The Tibetan Women’s Association, headquartered in Dharamsala, boasts 49 regional chapters and over 15, 000 members outside Tibet, making it the second largest Tibetan non-governmental organization, next only to the pro-independence group Tibetan Youth Congress, in the exile Tibetan community.
The group describes itself as the “only women’s NGO in exile that advocates human rights for Tibetan women in Tibet and works to empower Tibetan women in exile, in particular newly arrived refugees from Tibet.”
“The Tibetan Women’s Association appeals to human rights advocates, international governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, the Chinese people, and women’s groups across the world to join us in our fight for justice and freedom, not only in Tibet but in any regimes across the world where a woman’s body is ruled by the state,” the group said in its statement today.
