1 April, 2009International Campaign for TibetDalai Lama's Special Envoy calls on Tibetans to record their suffering
Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has issued a call for Tibetans, in Tibet and around the world to record their experiences of suffering over the past 50 years. "It is vitally important, especially as a testament to those Tibetans no longer here, that we record our personal experiences of suffering. We should do this, not to fuel resentments but to help the Chinese people understand our true history and to know that we are justified in our hopes for a future Tibet."
Speaking at the March 31 opening of an exhibit on prison labor camps in Tibet, Lodi Gyari praised the work of Harry Wu, the founder and Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation, in documenting the vast network of labor camps in China and Tibet. "Harry Wu's work at the Laogai Museum is done for the same reasons that the Holocaust Museum was founded: to remember and to expose these ugly truths so that such things will never happen again," Gyari said. "The Tibetan people can learn to forgive, but we must not forget."
Lodi Gyari urged Tibetan youth in particular to learn about their family experiences from their parents and relatives. "This is a part of the legacy our Tibetan children have inherited, and it is the moral responsibility of every Tibetan family to know their history and to collect evidence of the events that have shaped their lives."
The exhibit at the Laogai Museum opened exactly 50 years to the day that His Holiness the Dalai Lama crossed the Tibetan border into India, having departed Lhasa in the dark of night on March 17, to seek asylum from the Indian government and, as he has written, "to devote myself to keeping hope alive for my people everywhere."
Harry Wu recalled in his remarks at the opening of the exhibit that, as a young man in Beijing in 1959, he went to an exhibition which purported to show atrocities in Tibet prior to its so called "peaceful liberation."
In reality, as soon as the People's Liberation Army had assumed full control of Tibet, an enormous program of labor camp construction got underway for the incarceration of the thousands of Tibetans who actively opposed or who were suspected of opposing China's invasion of Tibet.
"What has happened over 50 years in Tibet?" Wu asked. "One, temples and monasteries were destroyed. Two, labor camps were built. This exhibit is here to portray that suffering," Wu concluded.
The exhibit, "Laogai in Tibet" has been produced in collaboration with the International Campaign for Tibet and will run until May 30 at the Laogai Museum located at 1109 M Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20005.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tibetan Exiles protest "Chinese Oppression" in Tibet
Tibetan exiles protest “Chinese oppression” in Tibet
Phayul[Saturday, March 28, 2009 18:43]
By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 28: Hundreds of Tibetans and their supporters Saturday staged a protest rally to highlight what they describe as “50 years of Chinese oppression in Tibet”.
Tibetan exiles shout slogans against Chinese government as they burn a Chinese flag during a street march to commemorate 50 years of Tibetan freedom struggle in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 28, 2009. (Photo: AP /Gemunu Amarasinghe)The protesters marched through the streets of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibet’s Government-in-exile in northern India, carrying Tibetan flags and wearing “Free Tibet” headbands, and shouting “Stop 50 years of torture."
The protest came as Beijing celebrated the newly created “Serf Emancipation Day” on Saturday. The enforced celebration, the organizers of today’s protest, however, say, is taking place at a “time of high tension in Tibet when the entire region remains under de facto martial law.”
The Tibetan Government-in-exile on Friday dubbed the newly created holiday as a “massive propaganda” by Beijing to hide its “ongoing repression in Tibet.”
China vowed on Saturday to "severely crack down on any separatist activities" in Tibet as it launched the new national holiday.
On March 28, 1959, China forcefully dissolved the Tibetan Government in Lhasa after crushing down a massive uprising by Tibetans against a decade long Chinese presence in their homeland. The ensuing events forced the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to flee their homeland into exile for the first time in Tibet’s history.
Beijing sent military troops to occupy Tibet in late 1949. China contends that old Tibet was feudal and repressive and claims that its military occupation of the Himalayan region has “liberated’ Tibetans.
Tibetan Government-in-exile says over 1.2 million Tibetans died and more than 6,000 monasteries were razed to the ground as a direct result of Chinese communist rule over the years.
“Today, it is hard to come across a Tibetan family that has not had at least one member imprisoned or killed by the Chinese regime,” the exile government said in a press release yesterday.
Still image from a video footage recently smuggle out of Tibet shows Chinese police beating handcuffed Tibetans in the aftermath of March 2008 unrest in Lhasa. The video - China’s Brutality in Tibet Exposed - will be screened at a gathering in Dharamsala today.Five prominent Tibetan groups - Tibetan Women's Assocation, GuChuSum Movement of Tibet, National Democratic Party of Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet (India) and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (Dharamsala) organised today’s anti-China protest here.
“Serf Emancipation Day” is a blatant propaganda ploy by the Chinese government to convince the world that Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule but no amount of propaganda can hide the truth of what has actually been 50 years of Tibet’s enslavement, the groups said in a joint press statement.
Protestors also performed a short skit showing Chinese police beating up and torturing Tibetan demonstrators in Tibet this morning before taking to the streets. The organizers have also planned a candle light vigil later in the evening and will screen a rare video footage showing China’s brutal treatment of Tibetans in the aftermath of the March 2008 unrest.
The video, recently smuggled out of Tibet, was released by the Tibetan Government-in-exile last week.
“Despite the fierce clampdown of the Tibetan Uprising in 2008, Tibetans inside Tibet have continued to show their resentment against China's Oppression.” said Ngawang Woebar, a former political prisoner and the president of GuChuSum Movement of Tibet.
“China is claiming that everything is normal inside Tibet and that the Tibetans are happy, but the irony is, they are banning foreign media from witnessing the reality of the situation within Tibet,” Woebar said.
Phayul[Saturday, March 28, 2009 18:43]
By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 28: Hundreds of Tibetans and their supporters Saturday staged a protest rally to highlight what they describe as “50 years of Chinese oppression in Tibet”.
Tibetan exiles shout slogans against Chinese government as they burn a Chinese flag during a street march to commemorate 50 years of Tibetan freedom struggle in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 28, 2009. (Photo: AP /Gemunu Amarasinghe)The protesters marched through the streets of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibet’s Government-in-exile in northern India, carrying Tibetan flags and wearing “Free Tibet” headbands, and shouting “Stop 50 years of torture."
The protest came as Beijing celebrated the newly created “Serf Emancipation Day” on Saturday. The enforced celebration, the organizers of today’s protest, however, say, is taking place at a “time of high tension in Tibet when the entire region remains under de facto martial law.”
The Tibetan Government-in-exile on Friday dubbed the newly created holiday as a “massive propaganda” by Beijing to hide its “ongoing repression in Tibet.”
China vowed on Saturday to "severely crack down on any separatist activities" in Tibet as it launched the new national holiday.
On March 28, 1959, China forcefully dissolved the Tibetan Government in Lhasa after crushing down a massive uprising by Tibetans against a decade long Chinese presence in their homeland. The ensuing events forced the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to flee their homeland into exile for the first time in Tibet’s history.
Beijing sent military troops to occupy Tibet in late 1949. China contends that old Tibet was feudal and repressive and claims that its military occupation of the Himalayan region has “liberated’ Tibetans.
Tibetan Government-in-exile says over 1.2 million Tibetans died and more than 6,000 monasteries were razed to the ground as a direct result of Chinese communist rule over the years.
“Today, it is hard to come across a Tibetan family that has not had at least one member imprisoned or killed by the Chinese regime,” the exile government said in a press release yesterday.
Still image from a video footage recently smuggle out of Tibet shows Chinese police beating handcuffed Tibetans in the aftermath of March 2008 unrest in Lhasa. The video - China’s Brutality in Tibet Exposed - will be screened at a gathering in Dharamsala today.Five prominent Tibetan groups - Tibetan Women's Assocation, GuChuSum Movement of Tibet, National Democratic Party of Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet (India) and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (Dharamsala) organised today’s anti-China protest here.
“Serf Emancipation Day” is a blatant propaganda ploy by the Chinese government to convince the world that Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule but no amount of propaganda can hide the truth of what has actually been 50 years of Tibet’s enslavement, the groups said in a joint press statement.
Protestors also performed a short skit showing Chinese police beating up and torturing Tibetan demonstrators in Tibet this morning before taking to the streets. The organizers have also planned a candle light vigil later in the evening and will screen a rare video footage showing China’s brutal treatment of Tibetans in the aftermath of the March 2008 unrest.
The video, recently smuggled out of Tibet, was released by the Tibetan Government-in-exile last week.
“Despite the fierce clampdown of the Tibetan Uprising in 2008, Tibetans inside Tibet have continued to show their resentment against China's Oppression.” said Ngawang Woebar, a former political prisoner and the president of GuChuSum Movement of Tibet.
“China is claiming that everything is normal inside Tibet and that the Tibetans are happy, but the irony is, they are banning foreign media from witnessing the reality of the situation within Tibet,” Woebar said.
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