Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the failed armed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. Saransh Sehgal, reporting for the Asia Times Online, says that Tibetans, young and old, are planning a protest march even more massive than the protests that rocked Lhasa earlier this year in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics:
“Though the government in exile has said nothing yet on marking the 50th uprising day, it is certain that support groups and non-governmental organizations worldwide are sure to make that day as big as they can,” said an official with the Tibetan government in exile.
In recent meetings between exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala and Delhi, officials said that Chinese political campaigns in Tibet had led to further unrest and increased tensions between (Han) Chinese and Tibetans in the Himalayan region. This could intensify the sentiments of Tibetans in their commemoration activities next March.
And Tibetans in exile in general believe that the current situation in Tibet benefits neither the Tibetans nor Beijing. The development projects the Chinese government has launched in Tibet – purportedly to benefit the Tibetan people – are, however, having negative effects on Tibetans’ distinct cultural, religious and linguistic identity. More Chinese settlers are coming to Tibet resulting in the economic marginalization of the Tibetan people and the diminishing of their culture.
Tibetans in exile are keen to mark uprising day because they don’t want to forget their homeland and always dream of possibly returning there in freedom one day. Not only those who followed the Dalai Lama to flee Tibet 50 year ago, but even the young ones who sneaked out of Tibet after 1959, or were born overseas, hold that dream.
“It’s been decades. I’ve seen my culture change. Tibetan Buddhism is in deep threat, my homeland is in danger. Since we fled, our culture and homeland is losing its importance. I still hope to get back to my province in Tibet, I will devote every effort to this course,” said Tenzin, an old Tibetan who fled to India five decades ago.
