"He who allows oppression shares the crime" - Desiderius Erasmus
New Delhi, Dec 7 (ANI): Members of the Delhi Tibetan People’s Solidarity Movement staged a protest march near the Chinese Embassy here on Wednesday over the rise in Tibetan self-immolation cases.
“Well, with the self immolations happening it is very clear that the situation inside Tibet is very critical. People have lost control over their own lives. That is why they are driven to such extreme and desperate measures. We want China to review its policies on Tibet. China must do this because China wants to be a global leader, not just economically but overall. So, in that sense, they must have proper human rights standards,” said Youdon Aukadsang, Member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.
Aukadsang also added that in the aftermath of the Tibetan people’s mass uprising, the Chinese government has increased its military presence and subjected the monks to rigorous sessions of ‘patriotic re-education’ campaign, particularly in the monasteries in Tibet.
The Tibetans are being forced to denounce their most revered leader, the Dalai Lama, and are being denied their basic rights to freedom of religion, assembly and expression.
In a desperate move, the Tibetans resorted to self-immolation as their pleas were not being paid heed to.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Tenzin, a protestor said that it was important to bring to the notice of the Chinese about the plight of the people and hence they waged a protest near their Embassy.
“We feel that this thing will benefit us in some way because every Wednesday we protest near the Chinese Embassy and as we have heard that due to our protest people in Chinese Embassy feel uneasy. They also feel disturbed and they think over that something should be done about Tibetans and we are very hopeful that we will gain benefit from this,” Tenzin, added.
Waving Tibetan flags, the protestors marched on the streets and shouted slogans of ‘Free Tibet’.
China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since Communist troops marched in 1950. China’s Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators as “terrorists” and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns as a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame for the “immoral” burnings.
The Dalai Lama has not condemned or condoned the burnings but said the desperate conditions Tibetans face under Beijing’s rigid controls in what amounted to “cultural genocide” have led to the spate of self-immolations.
He denies advocating violence and insists he wants only real autonomy for his homeland. (ANI)
