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No Losar celebration is now official

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A no Losar poster sent from Tibet.Designer unknown/Tibet

After more and more Tibetans from within and outside Tibet called for no Losar, or the Tibetan New Year, to mourn the lives lost last year in Tibet, the Tibetan government-in-exile announced that it will not organise or take part in any festivities.

An announcement issued by exile government said, “Taking into consideration the continuing repression in Tibet and the ruthless crackdown last year which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tibetans and thousands imprisoned, only the customary religious programmes will be held to mark the Tibetan New Year.”

The announcement asked all departments and offices of the exile government not to organise any lavish celebrations such as hosting feasts, dance parties and lighting firecrackers.

The officials have also been served a notice to refrain from taking part in such gatherings.

The supreme Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday said that this year’s Losar will be a time to remember those who laid down their lives fighting for a free Tibet.

“Prayers for those dead people as well as those tortured who still live very painful lives and then some of them are being missing. So, we must pray for them,” the Dalai Lama said before boarding a flight to Europe, according to ANI.

This year’s earth Ox Losar is on 25 February, exactly a month after the Han Chinese New Year. Traditionally the celebrations goes on for two weeks, but the first three days are officially celebrated.

Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest Tibetan organisation in exile, will organise a three-day hunger strike with 50 participants during Losar. The youth organisation will also organise a protest march in Dharamshala on the second day of Losar, and a prayer session on the third day.

Other NGOs — the Tibetan Women’s Association, National Democratic Party of Tibet, Gu Chu Sum and the Students for a Free Tibet — have also called for no Losar celebrations.

Tibetans inside Tibet are entrapped in a tight spot with China pressuring them to celebrate Losar, and crackdown on those who propagate no Losar celebrations.

A Tibetan youth, 24-year-old Pema Tsepak, has reportedly died on 23 January due to torture by Chinese police after he, and two others, publicly called for no Losar celebrations in Chamdo in eastern Tibet. All three held Tibetan national flags during their demonstration.

Reports indicate that China is already gearing up heavily to crackdown on any sign of dissent as Tibetans mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising against the Chinese rule of Tibet on 10 March.

The 49th anniversary a year ago led to widespread protests on the entire Tibetan plateau. Similar protest may occur again this year. China has closed some Tibetan areas for tourists since 25 January.

China, on the other hand, announced a permanent official holiday to mark “serf emancipation day” on 28 March, the day China announced the dissolution of the then government of Tibet in 1959. China spread the propaganda that its Peoples Liberation Army freed about one million Tibetans from the oppressive feudal rule of the Dalai Lama.

Copyright © 2009 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun