Fifty five years after thousands of Tibetan women took to the streets of Lhasa to speak out against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, hundreds more around the world marched this week in their memory and in protest of China’s continued assault on Tibetan culture.
Arrests outside the Chinese embassy in Delhi
Photo: phayul.com
As in 1959, many protesters found themselves in police custody at the end of the day. Twenty female students were arrested on March 13 after demonstrating outside the Chinese Embassy in Delhi, according to Phayul.com. The protesters, members of the Rohini Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, carried signs and shouted slogans demanding Tibetan independence and action by the international community on Tibet issue. A spokesperson told Phayul.com that the 20 arrestees were meant to reflect the 20 women who have self-immolated in Tibet since 2009.
Photo: phayul.com
A large protest in Dharamsala on March 12 saw hundreds of women, including former Tibetan minister Rinchen Khando and other female Tibetan parliamentarians, honour the sacrifices of hundreds of women before them that had fought Chinese occupation of their homeland. The event, organised by the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), also featured the award of 25,000 rupees to Tsering Dolkar, who has earned the moniker of “Tibetan Mother Teresa” for her work providing medical care for Tibetan refugees in Chandigarh, India.
Former Kalon (minister) Rinchen Khando addresses Tibetan women gathered at the Martyrs’ pillar, Tsuglakhang
Photo: Phayul/Kunsang Gashon
Protesters also echoed calls for the international community to exert more pressure on the Chinese government to address Tibetan grievances within its borders and to resume dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan government. “TWA believes that the Tibetan struggle is not only a political struggle of the Tibetan people against the Chinese Communist regime, but also essentially a struggle against injustices that bear moral weight on the international community to respond to travesty of justice taking place at an unprecedented stage, thus stirring the human conscience,” said TWA in a press release.
March 12, 1959 was a major date in the history of the Tibetan independence movement, as thousands of Tibetan women gathered in front of Potala Palace in Lhasa to protest against Chinese rule. The following week would see the Dalai Lama flee Tibet and tens of thousands of Tibetans lose their lives. The date remains infamous for Tibetan independence advocates and Tibetan women in particular.
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