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Toronto Tibetans mark uprising

Toronto Sun

Hundreds of protesters from one of Tibet’s largest expatriate communities took to the streets of Toronto yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of an uprising against China.

The demonstrators, many carrying Tibetan flags or signs and chanting slogans like “Free Tibet, China out,” marched to the Chinese Embassy near Bloor St. W. and Avenue Rd.

Toronto is home to about 3,500 Tibetans, the third-largest expat community outside India and Nepal.

“It’s already been 50 years since Tibet was occupied, and it’s been 50 years too long,” Bhutila Karpoche, 25, said.

Karpoche, who was born in a Nepalese refugee camp after her parents fled their native Tibet over the Himalayas, said she hoped the march would help continue putting pressure on governments to help Tibet regain its freedom.

“It is our land. I want my independent Tibet,” said Karma Tenzin, 46, who was born in India shortly after his parents fled Tibet in 1959.

The protest was mirrored by similar demonstrations in Europe and Asia.

In London, more than 100 protesters marched near the Houses of Parliament, some dressed in monk outfits.

“I can hold this flag here, but a Tibetan person couldn’t hold their flag in their country,” said Julie Speechley, one of the protesters in London. “I could say ‘freedom for Tibet’ here, but a Tibetan person could be imprisoned and tortured for that.”

Yesterday marked a half-century since the 10 March 1959, riots inside Tibet that led to a Chinese crackdown and, later that month, the Dalai Lama’s flight across the Himalayas and into exile.

There has been a widening rift between those still in Tibet and their Chinese rulers since new violence engulfed the region last year.

In India, thousands of young Tibetans marched through the streets yesterday in Dharamshala, the town where the Dalai Lama set up his base after fleeing Tibet.

The spiritual leader, now 73, told followers there that Chinese rulers were treating his people “like criminals deserving to be put to death.”

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