Author: Sangeetha Neeraja
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: October 20, 2011
URL: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Save-us-from-China-cry-Tibetans/325033.html
"Please hear us out. Save us from the
cultural genocide by China. Only when the Tibetan issue is resolved, the Indo-China
border issue will be resolved." These were some of the strong voices
that emerged during a day-long hunger fast demonstration staged by the Tibetan
Students Association of Madras.
The demonstration, while highlighting the
deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet due to Chinese occupation, also
recalled the sacrifice of the martyred monks who had laid down their lives
for Tibet's freedom.
Tenzin Thuntsok (24), who is doing his Masters
in Political Science in a city college, said, "Across the Indo-China
border along the Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, there is an increase in Chinese
infiltration into Indian boundaries. I think it is high time the Indian government
does not dismiss this as just another human rights situation in Tibet, but
sees it as a national security issue and immediately brings it to the global
platform for dialogue."
Since March this year, the worsening human
rights situation in Tibet has been highlighted by a string of self-immolation
attempts by monks, who have been demanding the return of his Holiness The
Dalai Llama to Tibet and claiming Tibet as a free nation. On October 15, the
eighth monk succumbed to burn injuries, which made Tibetans all over the world
observe October 19 as a day to remember each martyr who had laid down his
life for Tibet's cause.
The students said, "What is saddening
is that the world had failed to view the self-immolation of monks as a desperate
measure, crying for the attention of the world to resolve the worsening human
rights situation in Tibet." Around 200 students participated in the demonstration.
Seven of these self-immolations are linked
to Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, one of the largest and most influential monastic
institutions in Tibet, which was broken down after a crackdown by China.
Though the students were thankful to the Indian
government for accepting them as political refugees and being a friendly neighbour,
they also pointed out at the political muddle that a speech by Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru in 1949 had led them into. Tenzin Thuntsok (24) and Tsering Dolma (23),
Tibetan student leaders, pointed out, "After Jawaharlal Nehru made the
statement that Tibet is an autonomous part of China, we are facing difficulties
in making the world view us as a separate geo-political and cultural entity.
We respect India. We want India to represent our issue in the world podium
and talk about the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet."
Dolma observed that China was developing Tibet
for the Chinese. In Tibet, there were more Chinese people than Tibetans. And
one can get a job only when they know Chinese. Rinchem Namgyal, President
of TSAM, said, "We urge the Indian government to persuade the international
community to focus on the situation in Tibet. In China, it is a state-run
media. We do not have complete information on the atrocities committed on
the Tibetans by the Chinese. We want the world to send independent bodies
like Amnesty International to Tibet to assess the worsening situation."