Dalai Lama representative: Tibetan spirit still strong, Beijing must listen
Delhi ( AsiaNews) - The Chinese policy in Tibet "continues to be oppressive, but all acts of protest remain non-violent. And this is a very encouraging factor: the spirit of the Tibetan people is still strong, as is the support of the international community. But Beijing must respond to the cry that comes from those who choose self-immolation, relax its presence in Tibet and allow among other things, the return home of the Dalai Lama", Tempa Tsering , representative of the Buddhist leader in Delhi tells AsiaNews, on the 55th anniversary of the anti- Chinese riots in Tibet .
March 10, 1959 a violent popular uprising broke out against the rule of the Maoist army. The protest was crushed by the Chinese government with thousands killed and the Dalai Lama forced to leave the country to seek refuge in India. In 2008 , on the anniversary of the riots, several hundred Tibetans staged a mass protest in Lhasa that escalated into one of the worst acts of repression in the modern history of Tibet. About 200 people were killed in the clashes, and from that moment on a series of self-immolations has continued the protest against Chinese rule.
According Tempa Tsering, "the conditions of Tibetan people are very poor, but their spirit is strong, determined and non-violent. The situation is deteriorating and it is very sad to see that some Tibetans have chosen the path of dramatic suicide. What is most painful to us is that we have no alternative , no solution to offer to our suffering people". The Tibetan Youth Congress today presented a memorandum to the Chinese Embassy in India with five demands for China.
In the text, the young Tibetans claim that Beijing "must positively respond to the demands of the self-immolators, who have called for, among many other things, the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet; Free all political prisoners, including 11th Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima, Tulku Tenzin Delek and Rongye Adak who are in Chinese jails; China must allow the world media and an independent international youth group into Tibet to find out the ground reality; immediately cease population transfer into Tibet and stop insidious 'Patriotic re-education campaign' that is being forced upon the Tibetan people; stop nuclear testing, excessive mining and damming of rivers on the Tibetan Plateau which impact millions of people in Asia". (NC)
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