Tibetan National Uprising Anniversary - 3/10/2008 - Press Release
Global Protests Target China’s Olympic Games Tibetans Commemorate 1959 National Uprising
Protests and rallies by Tibetans and supporters around the world today will commemorate the 49th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day when Chinese troops crushed a mass uprising in Lhasa, Tibet and began half a century of authoritarian rule. In the Bay Area, rallies and marches are scheduled in Berkeley and all over San Francisco. Political theater, colorful banners, and speeches from local representatives and organizers will highlight the protests. Local organizers expect this year's event to be particularly large and boisterous and are viewing it as a direct lead up to massive protests against China's official Olympic torch relay run through San Francisco on April 8th and 9th. Tibetan activists from throughout North America will be converging in San Francisco for the protests in April.
As a Tibetan and a San Franciscan, I refuse to be a pawn in China’s games. China is using the Olympics as a political tool to legitimize their illegal occupation of Tibet and to whitewash their horrendous human rights record. I am calling upon my Bay Area neighbors to stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people in our fight for freedom.said Yangchen Lhamo, board member of Students for a Free Tibet. Drawing attention to the ongoing abuses inside Tibet, San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress president, Tenzin Subhar stated,
Protests by hundreds of Tibetan monks and lay people in Rebkong, Tibet and the subsequent violent crackdown by Chinese police just this month show there has been little change in China’s rule over Tibet and the cycle of repression. China must face the fact that it can never be accepted as a legitimate member of the international community as long it occupies Tibet.
Ngodup Tsering, president of local Tibetan community said
On March 10th, 1959, tens of thousands of Tibetans thronged the streets of Lhasa, undeterred by the Chinese army's heavy shelling and mass killings. Today, 49 years later, Tibetans will be out in full force in the streets all around the globe to tell China that we will not surrender to their brutal rule and to call the world's attention to China's lies.
In Dharamsala, India, Tibetan refugees launched a historic return march to Tibet, that is being organized as a part of a united effort put together by five major Tibetan NGOs. The march will pass through Delhi and then head toward Tibet, with the goal of reaching the Tibetan border around the opening of the Beijing Olympics. Also today, young Tibetans from across the globe gathered in Greece to light the Tibetan Freedom Torch – pre-empting China’s Olympic Torch lighting later this month.
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