Tibetan exiles commemorate Tiananmen Square massacre
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - Tibetans in exile in India are commemorating, this evening, the 19th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square, and are drawing comparisons with the recent Chinese repression in Tibet: peaceful human rights demonstrations violently repressed by the army, followed by denial of wrongdoing on the part of Beijing.
In the main Buddhist temple of Dharamsala, the Tsuglhakhang temple, in front of the residence of the Dalai Lama, there will be a candlelight vigil and the showing of the documentary "The door of heavenly peace", dedicated to the Tiananmen Mothers movement. The three-hour film reviews the emergence and the history of the pro-democracy movement, until the massacre on June 4. Personal letters of solidarity with the Tiananmen Mothers will also be collected and sent.
The movement for the victims' mothers was created in August of 1989, by women including Ding Zilin, whose 17-year-old son was beaten and left to bleed to death in the square. The movement includes about 150 families, which are asking the government to make public amends for the massacre of their children. Until now, Beijing has responded by placing Ding and others under surveillance, in prison, or under house arrest.
Last February 28, the Tiananmen Mothers sent the government an open letter asking for public apologies, recalling that for the Olympics of August, 2008 "athletes from all over the world will tread upon this piece of bloodstained soil", and asking "how can the government present itself before the entire world" as if this had not happened.
On May 28, the group launched a website, in Chinese and English, again asking for justice on behalf of the victims. But the site was shut down by the authorities within a few hours.
Tensin Migmar of Students for a Free Tibet tells AsiaNews that "even 19 years later the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations are still described by the authorities as 'counter-revolutionary'. The Chinese authorities must stop harassing and imprisoning people who defend the memory of the Tiananmen Square students and immediately free all prisoners of conscience. They must exonerate the victims of the June 4,1989 massacre by recognising the Tiananmen Mothers movement".
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