Potala Palace
Video footage has emerged from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, showing that Lhasa was flooded with Chinese people on the eve of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP )’s Centenary anniversary celebrations on July 1. A propaganda light show was projected onto the walls of the Potala Palace – the Potala is the home of the Dalai Lamas and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s home before coming into exile and is regarded as the defining symbol of Tibet, as well as being the holiest symbol of Tibetan Buddhism and visited on pilgrimage by Tibetans from across Tibet.
The projection showed messages written in Chinese, which translate as “Celebrate the CCP’s 100th founding anniversary”, and posters were displayed on the Jokhang Temple in Barkhor Street nearby. The Jokhang Temple is considered to be the most sacred Buddhist temple in Tibet.
Tibet has been closed to the international media for decades. Many Tibetans living inside Tibet have been arrested and faced prison sentences for sharing information, or even having contact with, Tibetans in exile.
This video of the projection onto the Potala has been widely shared on social media; it was recorded by a woman who included a commentary, sounding very distressed, and saying that while Tibetans are not allowed to circumambulate around the Potala Palace and Jokhang temple, which is part of their daily prayer routine, these places are filled with Chinese tourists. *High Peaks Pure Earth translated the woman’s commentary :“Now look at what they’ve done on His Holiness’s Palace. The nerve, how did they even think of this? Look, it’s exactly the same as being in China. Damn Chinese… Chinese people everywhere.”
Exiled Tibetans worry about the safety of the woman who shared this video.
Chinese tourists in front of Jokhang Temple
A newly arrived Tibetan from Lhasa, who is currently staying in Dharamshala, commentated, “the woman must be already arrested by the Chinese police. After sharing information like this on social media it is impossible to escape from authorities. To record and say such things are out of desperation and anger, it is a common feeling among Tibetans living there. When something like this happens, it is sure that the person has made their mind about their arrest and safety. They know what will happen to them.”
The Tibetan continued, saying that these arbitrary arrests and detentions of Tibetans have been common over the last few years; that people are taken at night, and that no one knows where they are taken.
“In the absence of foreign media and press freedom in Tibet, Tibetans inside Tibet put their lives at great risk and send such footage to the world. In this rare video, we hear the deepest pain of a Tibetan woman in Lhasa as the CCP projects its glorified history on the walls of the Potala,” said Tenzin Choekyi, a researcher at *Tibet Watch.
While China celebrates CCP’s 100th anniversary with much pomp and show, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, India was stormed by members of the Tibetan Youth Congress and other activists in protest against the continued repression of Tibet by China.
Since the illegal invasion of Tibet by the CCP in 1959, the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, along with 80,000 Tibetans, fled to exile in India. Over 6,000 monasteries were demolished, and monks and nuns disrobed in an attempt to wipe out Tibetan culture and tradition. China continues to maintain aggressive policies and implements brutal measures to curb Tibetans inside Tibet from voicing their concerns about the violations of their basic human right.
*High Peaks Pure Earth: Provides translations and Commentary from Tibetan Social Media
*Tibet Watch: Research partner of Free Tibet – a London-based organisation established to support the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom
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