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Round The World
Violence Lhasa Protests
CHINA MUST TREAD CAUTIOUSLY
By Monika Chansoria
(School of International Studies, JNU)
New Delhi, March 24, 2008
The Tibetan capital of Lhasa has been ablaze with severe
rioting breaking out during the past week. According to
official figures at least 10 people were burnt to death, in
what could well be termed as the most violent pro-independence
protests to have rocked the region in nearly two decades.
However, Tibetan activists claim the figure of casualties was
much higher.
This turmoil in Lhasa has occurred at a politically fragile
time for China, which has incessantly been under the scanner
over its human rights record as it prepares to host the 2008
Olympic Games in August. Beijing has kept a tight lid on
dissent before the Olympics and may be wary of cracking down
by the use of force in order to curtail any form of
opposition. Negotiations and diplomacy are the call of the
hour.
On March 14, the remote, mountain capital witnessed fresh
violence as shops and police vehicles were set afire, in
addition to the rioters burning police cars and targeting many
shops that were owned by the Han Chinese, China’s biggest
ethnic group. Thereafter, the police burst teargas shells to
control the crowds and ordered monks to confine themselves
within the monasteries as hundreds of Tibetans joined
demonstrations as a sign of protest against Chinese rule.
The Chinese authorities came down heavily against the rioters
and announced that people who took part in the riots should
surrender by March 17, according to the official Chinese news
agency Xinhua. “Those who turn themselves in to public
security or judicial organs March 17, could receive light or
reduced punishment, according to law,” said a notice issued by
the Chinese-controlled Tibetan government police and judicial
authorities.
The announcement of the security crackdown came as state
television for the first time showed scenes of rioters burning
buildings, another sign that authorities are preparing a
public campaign to condemn the riots.
The Chinese media and the government of the Tibetan Autonomous
Region (TAR) accused the Dalai Lama for ‘inciting the riots’.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader too lashed back by
condemning the use of ‘brute force’ by Beijing. He described
the protests as a manifestation of the ‘deep-rooted resentment
of the Tibetan people under the present governance’.
Crucially, the Tibetan government-in-exile has demanded the
United Nations to intervene so as to end what it called
‘urgent human rights violations’ by China in Tibet.
Apparently, the initial incident that triggered the ongoing
violence and bloodshed occurred on March 10, when around 500
monks left the Drepung Monastery intending to march five miles
west to the city center. This move could well be termed as a
lucid public challenge to the Chinese rule as the monks from
the monastery defied the authorities by staging a rare march
in the remote Tibetan capital.
Subsequently, around 2,000 Chinese security personnel fired
tear gas in an effort to disperse 600 monks from the Sera
Monastery taking part in the second day of street protests in
Lhasa. The demonstrations over past couple of days have
followed marches around the world to mark the 49th anniversary
of an uprising against Communist rule in the remote,
mountainous region that has become a focal point for protests
ahead of this year’s Beijing Olympics.
Monks belonging to the Sera Monastery began a hunger strike
demanding the withdrawal of paramilitary People’s Armed Police
forces from the monastery compound and the release of monks
detained during the protests. Resultantly, Chinese military
and police forces are reportedly heavily guarding and
surrounding the monasteries in and around Lhasa. Moreover,
news of the protests has been censored all over the Chinese
news media, and Beijing has restricted foreign journalists to
travel to Lhasa without permission.
Beijing has already made clear it saw no rationale to alter
its policies in Tibet, where many locals resent the presence
of the Han Chinese. “We are fully capable of maintaining the
social stability of Tibet,” Xinhua quoted an official as
saying in a statement that was repeated across Chinese state
media. Furthermore, the Chinese government termed these
incidents ‘an illegal activity that threatened social
stability’ thereby attempting to scar China’s image months
before the upcoming Olympics.
The spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry Qin Gang confirmed
that protests had in fact erupted in Lhasa, but declined to
provide details. “In the past couple of days, a few monks in
Lhasa have made some disturbances in an effort to cause
unrest,” Qin stated at a news conference. “Thanks to the
efforts of the local government and the democratic
administration of the temples, the situation in Lhasa has been
stabilized.”
The International Campaign for Tibet in a statement has said
that “The demonstrations are the largest by monks since the
1989 protests that led to the imposition of martial law in
Tibet’s capital.” Yet another Tibetan rights group said about
400 monks from Lutsang Monastery in the northwestern province
of Qinghai, known in Tibetan as Amdo, protested and shouted
slogans for the return of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama heads the Tibetan government-in-exile in
Dharamsala, a town situated in the hills of north India. He
fled to India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule
in 1959, nine years after the People’s Liberation Army troops
marched into the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan region. In
his hard-hitting remarks, the Dalai Lama said that “repression
continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable and gross
violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and
the politicization of religious issues” by China. He has
called for greater pressure on China over its human rights
record and the Tibetan activists are hoping to use China’s
hosting of the Olympics to publicize their cause.
In India, over 100 Tibetan exiles have been barred by New
Delhi from marching to Tibet to protest against China holding
the Olympics, according to local police officials. The planned
six-month march from India to Tibet began on March 10, to
coincide with the anniversary of the failed uprising in 1959.
Before the marchers in India set off, the Dalai Lama said he
approved of China hosting the Games because it provided the
world a chance to pressurize Beijing to uphold the Olympic
ideals of freedom of speech and equality. “China should prove
itself a good host by providing these freedoms. Therefore,
besides sending their athletes, the international community
should remind the Chinese government of these issues,” he
said.
Significantly, violent demonstrations in the heavily
militarized region is precisely what the Chinese leadership is
keen to avoid ahead of the Olympics, so as to enhance its
stature as a regional power and most significantly, a
responsible player on the global platform. The current
defiance in Lhasa appears as an attempt to draw global
attention to what is seen as Chinese suppression of Tibetan
identity. And, the present conflict is a comprehensible
indication of spars between the Tibetan and Chinese
authorities in the coming future. ---INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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