By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, MAR. 10: The day in a year which starkly reverberates Tibetan issue among the Tibetans is the ‘Tibetan Uprising Day’ commemorated on the March 10 in remembrance of the 1959 Lhasa uprising where thousands of Tibetans were brutally killed by Chinese army.
Here, in the virtual capital of the Tibetan exile set up, the Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay at Tsuglakhang courtyard said, “Although today is a time for us to mourn, there are reasons for us to be proud and hopeful. Hopeful of the fact that on this historic day, Tibetan men and women from all three provinces marched in unison, bravely challenging Chinese invasion.”
“Even today, as we speak, there is a major military presence in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, and on March 3 this year, a 5000-strong army officers with a convoy of 1000 military vehicles conducted a massive military drill in Lhasa making it reminiscent of a war zone,” Sangay said while addressing a congregation of a few thousand Tibetans.
Attending the commemorative event of the 58th anniversary was Dr Arno Kompatscher, President of South Tyrol, an autonomous region in northern Italy. Other high profile guests included Mr. Michel Raison, President of Tibet Group in the French senate, Mr Andre Gattolin, French senator and Mr Consiglio Di Nino, (retd) Canadian Senator and dignitaries from the exile Tibetan government.
On China’s continued and blatant handling of the Tibetan issue and the Tibetans inside Tibet, the Sikyong said, “The Chinese government under President Xi Jinping’s leadership has taken an alarming position on Tibet that states ‘China’s security and stability is dependent on Tibet’s security and stability,’ based on which individual Tibetans are having to ‘give up on their security in return for gaining harmony.’ Such strategic approach warrants increased repression in Tibet.”
The same day, five non-governmental organizations organized a protest march in Dharamshala locality venting out stern and much repeated calls for freedom in Tibet and cessation of human rights violations in Tibet. The five NGOs, Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, The Gu-Chu-Sum Ex Political Prisoners Movement and the National Democratic Party of Tibet, all based in Dharamshala, led a procession of local Tibetans who carried placards and the Tibetan national flag.
In Delhi, Tibetan Youth Congress activists stormed into the compound of the Chinese consulate protesting against the illegal occupation of Tibet. Subsequently, the Vice President of the organization, Tamding Hrichoe along with 150 activists have been detained by the Delhi police and held at the Mandir Marg police station. Similarly, protests and commemorative events were initiated in various corners of the Indian Subcontinent by exile Tibetans.
