Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - Chinese authorities have arrested five Tibetans in Sichuan province, who were protesting to demand the return of the Dalai Lama in Tibet. The march took place yesterday in the city of Dzachuka, on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising. The Beijing officials arrested three monks of Ganden Samten Dhargyeling monastery in Dzachuka and two lay people, who intervened to prevent the arrest. This is the first protest to have ever occurred in the area.
According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the monks had organized a march in the city, showing portraits of the Dalai Lama and shouting "freedom, democracy, and the need for a Middle Way approach to solve the Tibet issue." When Chinese police arrived, the two lay people rushed to the scene to try to resolve the situation peacefully, but were driven off with the monks. Following the protest, the police doubled inspections and security controls.
The monks are Lobsang Samten, 31, Sonam Namgyal, 26, and Thupten Gelek, 29. The lay people are Ngawang Gyatso, 41, and Lobsang Kelsang, 17. At the moment the whereabouts of the five arrested is unknown.
Events were held in other parts
of the world in honor of the Lhasa uprising. In
Nepal, Kathmandu 18 people - mostly Tibetans - were arrested for alleged
"anti Chinese activities". In
Taiwan, hundreds of Tibetans and Taiwanese activists marched peacefully through
the streets of the capital Taipei, in protest against Chinese rule in Tibet.
March
10, 1959, 300 thousand Tibetans revolted in fear that the Dalai Lama would be
forcibly deported to Beijing. In
the subsequent fighting the Chinese army massacred over 85 thousand Tibetans,
poorly armed and without military training, in a just few days. The Dalai Lama was
forced to flee into exile. On
10 March 2008 violent
anti-Chinese protests erupted in Tibet, bloodily suppressed with over 200
dead and thousands injured. Since then the
region has been under military occupation. (NC)