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Defiance still alive in Tibet

By Prerna Suri | NDTV

A woman prays outside a temple in the Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet 11 February 2009. Despite heavy security in Lhasa, many Tibetans are still defiant in their spirit towards Chinese rule. File photo/Reuters/Emma Graham-Harrison/Tibet

For the people of Tibet, 14 March 2008 became a watershed moment. It was at the Central Square outside the Potala Palace that the biggest protest rally was launched by Tibetan monks against Chinese aggression.

The UN passed three resolutions against the Chinese government and the international community reacted sharply towards what they saw was China’s hard handed reaction towards the protests.

Despite heavy security in Lhasa, many Tibetans are still defiant in their spirit towards Chinese rule.

Amdo, a key leader in those riots, told NDTV from a secret location in Lhasa what had happened during those restive days.

“A group of people were demanding jobs for the jobless Tibetans. Another group of people were asking the Chinese to leave Tibet,” said Amdo, Eye Witness.

For the first time in decades, it seemed, Tibetans had a voice. But this was soon to be crushed by the might of the Chinese army.

The iron fist with which the Chinese responded to these protests was heavily criticsed. And the aftershocks, were even felt in India, and Nepal.

China still denies that any wrongdoing took place.

“Nine hundred protesters were detained and 70 were arrested as they had broken the law,” said Apeijinyuan, DDG, Ethnic & Religious Affairs Committee.

Religion has become, by necessity, politicised in modern Tibet with Buddhist monks being regularly targeted for their religious views.

The peaceful protests launched by monks last year was also crushed at the Jokhang temple, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s holiest pilgrimage sites.

We managed to trace out Tashi, a 25-year-old monk who was arrested by the Chinese police, during last year’s March uprising.

“Most of the monks were tortured very badly in the jail. They asked me a lot of questions and beat me if they weren’t satisfied,” said Tashi, Monk.

NDTV visited the biggest refugee centre for Tibetans in South Asia in Kathmandu run by the Red Cross, it houses over 20,000 Tibetan refugees.

“The brave men and women who were arrested during the March protests were all innocent. I feel very angry at the Chinese government,” said Kham, Tibetan Refugee.

Although the voice of thousands of Tibetans such as Tashi and Amdo was eventually crushed and silenced by the Chinese since the March protests, their struggle has ensured that their echoes would be heard for many more generations.

Copyright © 2009 NDTV.com

Published in NDTV.com