Sikyong Lobsang Sangay addresses the closing ceremony of the Second Special Meeting of the exile Tibetans in Dharamshala, India, on 28 September 2012. Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal
By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun
MCLEOD GANJ, India, 29 September 2012
Exile Tibetans urged their fellow Tibetans in Tibet to stop giving up their lives in self-immolation protests.
More than 400 Tibetans from 26 countries gathered at their exiled headquarters in Dharamshala to find out ways to stop the current grave situation in Tibet as a wave of self-immolation protests has seen 51 Tibetans burning themselves since 2009. Out of this figure 41 have died from their burn injuries.
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of exile Tibetans, said that the self-immolations were due to Chinese occupation of Tibet and the repressive policies of the Chinese government.
“We send a strong message to China that we will not tolerate these repressive policies.”
The delegates asked China to investigate the reasons why the self-immolations were occurring, failing which the situation may become worse and that they will hold China responsible for the crisis.
The delegates have resolved to seek more international support to pressure China to ease the situation in Tibet.
After four days of deliberations, the delegates adopted 31 different recommendations to resolve the Tibetan issue in the immediate and long-term basis.
One of the recommendations urges the Kashag, the executive body of the exile administration, to make efforts to re-establish the stalled talks with the Chinese government. Nine rounds of talks between the Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials since 2002, the most recent in January 2010, have failed to produce any tangible result.
Free speech does not imply lying, fabrication, and slander, which are happening under the guise of free speech. Very few people have ever visited Tibet — I have seen Lhasa with my own eyes. I have been talking and chatting with people there and I have a lot of Tibetan friends. There were no peaceful demonstrations in Lhasa that were brutally knocked down! Young men went to action after a well-prepared scenario at many places at the same time so that police and fire brigade should be taken by surprise and unable to act everywhere at the same time. People were just knocked down without differences and all what could be broken was broken in the shortest possible time. Fires were lit and fire cars were stopped. 18 normal citizens where killed without feelings, and one police.