OTTAWA—Fifty years ago, a valiant but futile attempt by the Tibetan people to overthrow their Chinese communist oppressors left the country in shock and resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing across the Himalayas to India.
In remembrance of that March 10, 1959 uprising and the Tibet protests of March 2008, tens of thousands of Tibetans and their supporters held commemorations and vigils around the world on Tuesday.
In a speech in New Delhi, India, the Dalai Lama called Chinese rule in Tibet “hell on earth,” while on the other side of the globe in New York City, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 participated in a rally and march.
Events also took place in cities across Canada. In Toronto, home to the largest Tibetan immigrant community in the world outside India and Nepal, a crowd of 900 gathered at the Chinese consulate. On the west coast, Vancouver Tibet activists held vigils and a protest march.
In Ottawa, the Canada Tibet Committee with other Tibet support groups held two days of events, including a day of lobbying and rallies both on Parliament Hill and in front of the Chinese embassy.
On the Hill, protestors waved Tibetan flags while speakers denounced China’s mistreatment of Tibet and its people. Parts of the Dalai Lama’s speech were read in Tibetan, English and French, and a minute’s silence was observed for those who died in the protests of March 2008.
He said that in the years since Chinese forces entered Tibet, “tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands imprisoned, over 6,000 monasteries, temples and nunneries pillaged and destroyed, thousands more Tibetans disappeared last year or were imprisoned, and more destruction directed toward thousands of monasteries and religious objects.”
Kilgour said the Dalai Lama advocates Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule, strongly disavows violence and does not favour secession, yet the Chinese regime “has always unfairly accused him of fomenting violence in Tibet.”
“The Dalai Lama is Beijing’s best chance for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue,” he said.
Liberal MP and noted human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler said the time has come to “put an end to what the Dalai Lama called today this ‘hell on Earth,’ to put an end to this persistent and pervasive state-sanctioned policy of persecution and prosecution of the innocent Tibetans.”
He called on China to restore full autonomy to Tibet and Tibetans, to protect and preserve the rights of Tibetans to their heritage, to their history, and to their secure future, to honour the treaties between China and Tibet and to allow the Dalai Lama to return from exile.
Dermod Travis, executive director of the Canada Tibet Committee, read from an email that had been sent to him by a Chinese-Canadian who wanted to send a “message of peace and reconciliation that has nothing to do with politics or religion.”
Travis read: “Friends, do not feel that your voices are unheard for I too share your anger, pain and suffering at the current situation that is happening … Tragedy such as this brings people of all ethnicities together to condemn the senseless violence. Friends, you have every right to fight for self-determination in Lhasa, for that is your capital city and Tibet is your home land, it belongs to you. I encourage all of you to stand firm and to spread the message of peace and compassion. I stand in solidarity with you and you have my full support for a free Tibet.”
She praised the Dalai Lama’s pursuit of non-violent solutions, and called on China to allow more autonomy for the Tibetan people.
“We call on the Chinese government that 50 years is enough. It’s time to find a way to live together and to allow the people of Tibet their ability to express their religion, their culture, to be people in a land that includes China but is not oppressed by China.”
Conservative Senator Consiglio Di Nino said he is “tremendously frustrated” at the lack of movement in talks with the Dalai Lama and the Chinese regime’s failure to meet the Dalai Lama’s modest demands. He said China’s response to the Dalai Lama has been “an insult.”
“I think they (the Chinese leadership) have been taking advantage of his holiness’ peaceful nonviolence and his holiness’ good heart. I think they have been fooling the rest of the world in saying that they have been talking. The frustration is even much greater because what his holiness is asking for is really the least that could take place after a country was invaded illegally and has been oppressed for 50 years.”
Di Nino observed that there were young people in attendance who were not even born in 1959, yet they came to make a stand for human rights.
“They’re here because of the fundamental human element which believes in freedoms, which believes in rights, which believes that every man and woman, every child should be free to practice, to believe in what they rightfully believe is their destiny and their culture.”
Lindsay Mosman, campaigner with Amnesty International Canada, spoke about the situation in Tibet since the 2008 protests, saying more than 1,000 of the 4,000 detained during the protests remain unaccounted for.
“Amnesty International fears that many of the detainees have faced unfair trials including charges related to the peaceful expression of their beliefs. Detainees may also face torture and ill treatment including beatings, refusal of medical treatment, inadequate food and overcrowded conditions in prisons.”
Mosman said a white paper issued on March 2 by the Chinese regime “indicates that the authorities have failed to acknowledge the very real and long-standing grievances of Tibetans, including serious human rights violations such as arbitrary detentions, arrests, torture, ill treatment and violations of freedom of expression, association and assembly, including also the Tibetan people’s right to maintain their language, culture and religion.”
On this 50th anniversary, said Mosman, Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese authorities to end its “strike hard” campaign initiated in January and to allow human rights monitors, the media, and independent observers access to Tibet.
“The Chinese authorities must respect the right of Tibetans to their culture, language and religion,” she said.
Other speakers include MP Wayne Marston, NDP critic on human rights; Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy; former Team Canada rower David Kay; Bloc Quebecois MP Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac; Terry Lama, national director of Students for a Free Tibet; and Roman Mukerjee of the Canada Tibet Committee.
