TIBET SEALED OFF AS NEW YEAR AND TIBETAN UPRISING ANNIVERSARY APPROACH

24th, February, 09

Dharamshala – On the eve of the Tibetan New Year, Tibetans in Dharamshala held a protest in solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet who are under attack from the Chinese government as Tibetan New Year and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising on March 10th approach. China has flooded Tibet with thousands of troops in recent days and towns and villages are under constant patrol, as the authorities attempt to intimidate Tibetans from carrying out protests or other acts of resistance. The recent clampdown follows ten months of the most repressive political conditions and tightest security in Tibet in three decades.

“The Chinese government is exercising overwhelming force to intimidate and clamp down Tibetans before Losar – the traditional Tibetan New Year – on February 25th and the 50th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising on March 10th,” said Tenzin Choeying, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet – India. “With foreigners being banned and the state militarized, we are worried that another massacre might undergo unnoticed.”

In a widespread campaign of civil disobedience, Tibetans plan to forgo tranditional New Year festivities on February 25th in order to mourn those killed in protests against China’s occupation and brutal policies in Tibet over the past year. On February 15th and 16th, hundreds of Tibetans protested in eastern Tibet, calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and for no New Year celebrations. The protestors were beaten and at least 24 were detained. China has barred foreigners and journalists from Tibet and vowed to “crush” supporters of the Dalai Lama, setting the stage for the bloody suppression of Tibetans to take place out of site of independent eyewitnesses.

The Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement strives to recreate with which the first national uprising movement proceeded on March 10, 1959 and to put an end to the illegal occupation of Tibet by the Chinese government by carrying out non-violent action.

Tibetan Women’s Association
GuChuSum Movement of Tibet
National Democratic Party of Tibet
Students for a Free Tibet – India

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 3:30 pm and is filed under SFT News, Tibet News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.