Delhi (AsiaNews) – The Indian chapter of Students for a Free Tibet, a group of exiled Tibetan students, marched carrying candles last night in solidarity with fellow Tibetan students in Tibet opposed to the Chinese government’s attacks against their language and traditions.
Last week, an estimated 6,000 Tibetans, mostly students, took to the streets in the Tibetan province of Amdo (Chinese: Qinghai) to protest the provincial government’s decision to replace Tibetan with Chinese as the medium of instruction in Tibetan schools.
Tibetan students in the neighbouring provinces also expressed their solidarity and accused China’s dominant Han ethnic group of launching a campaign designed to destroy Tibet’s traditional culture.
“Language is the foundation of Tibetan culture and this recent attack reveals the Chinese governments’ sinister attempt to assimilate Tibetans into Chinese society,” said Tenzin Choedon, national director of Students for a Free Tibet India. “Students across Tibet have spoken out clearly against this discriminatory policy”.
“It is the inalienable right of every Tibetan to learn in their own language. We call on governments around the world to press the Chinese government to respect Tibetan language rights,” said Tenzin Dorjee, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Language is not an issue limited to Tibet. Last July, some 8,000 Han Chinese protested against the central government’s decision to impose Mandarin in areas where Cantonese is used. Eventually, the authorities backtracked and dropped the policy.