EXILE NGOs CALL ON INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO TAKE STRONGER STAND ON TIBET

Dharamshala – Tibetans and supporters in the hill town of Dharamsala are marking the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising by holding mass rallies, demonstrations and vigils. Similar activities are taking place in hundreds of other cities around the world, from Delhi to New York, Sidney to Vancouver, Kathmandu to Taipei. This year’s anniversary is particularly significant because it marks a half century since the Dalai Lama was forced to flee into exile, and exactly one year since last year’s nationwide Tibetan uprising and the subsequent crackdown by Chinese authorities.

“We are here to speak out for the Tibetan people in Tibet, who for more than half a century have lived under the iron fist of Chinese rule,” said Chime Youngdung of the National Democratic Party of Tibet. “That the occupation of Tibet has unresolved for so long is one of the great disgraces of the modern world.” (more…)

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.” (more…)

Tibetans inside Tibet and around the world are refraining from Losar (Tibetan New Year) celebrations this year to mourn the more than 200 Tibetans killed by Chinese forces.

Read news coverage of the response by Chinese authorities. Learn more here.

For first hand information about the situation inside Tibet from Tibetan bloggers, visit: www.highpeakspureearth.com

Visit TCHRD website to learn about recent developments in Tibet.

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