CHENNAI: “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.”More details about the movement are available at www.standupfortibet.org, www.phayul.com, www.tsamfamily.blogspot.com.
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