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The month-long march to Delhi began on February 8 from McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.
Photo: Lobsang Wangyal/Tibetsun

Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) members, on the “Tibetan Uprising March”, marched from Dharamsala to Delhi to coincide with Tibetan Uprising Day.

The TYC is the largest pro-independence Tibetan group. In their statement they said “The Tibetan Youth Congress carried out Tibetan Uprising March from Dharamsala to Delhi in order to create awareness about the critical situation in Tibet, to support the demands and aspirations of the self-immolators, and to show solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet”. The peaceful march started on February 8 in Dharamsala, ending on March 10 in Delhi covering a distance of 600 kilometers in a month.

The group, who’s headquarters are in Dharamshala, continued in their statement “as March 10, 2014 marked the 55th anniversary of the Tibetan people’s uprising against the occupying Chinese forces in Lhasa in 1959, there were 55 marchers – each representing a dark and painful year spent under the Chinese rule.”

On the completion of the march, the TYC presented a memorandum comprising five specific demands to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, and also submitted appeals to the United Nations and embassies of other countries to support its demands, saying “If the Chinese government fails to bring out any practical solutions to our demands, the TYC pledges that there will be renewed efforts to expose China’s misrule in Tibet”. Calling it a “global responsibility” to solve the Tibet issue, the group urged other nations to support their cause and put pressure on China to respect the wishes and demands of the Tibetan people.

TYC President Tenzing Jigme said that the Chinese government has enforced a series of policies to systematically destroy and stifle Tibetan culture, language, identity, and spiritual traditions. “Tibet today faces a life-and-death struggle,” he said. Referring to the self-immolators, Jigme continued “Instead of addressing the demands of these courageous Tibetans, the Chinese government has tightened its control over Tibet and vehemently criticises the Tibetan spiritual teacher His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.

The five demands made to the Chinese government are:

1. The Chinese government must positively respond to the demands of the self-immolators, who have called for, among many other things, the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

2. Free all political prisoners, including 11th Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima, Tulku Tenzin Delek and Rongye Adak who are in Chinese jails.

3. China must allow the world media and an independent international youth group into Tibet to find out the ground reality.

4. Immediately cease population transfer into Tibet and stop the insidious “Patriotic re-education campaign” that is being forced upon the Tibetan people.

5. Stop nuclear testing, excessive mining and damming of rivers on the Tibetan Plateau, which impact millions of people in Asia.