http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=12081&size=A
04/22/2008 14:07
INDIA - TIBET - CHINA
Tibetan prime minister: China has made Tibet a trap to destroy us
by Nirmala Carvalho
Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile,
analyses for AsiaNews the provocations of the Chinese government and
the smear campaign against the Dalai Lama, intended to weaken even
further the condition of the Tibetan population. An appeal to the
international community: Beijing has been ignoring you for 30 years;
do something before Tibet is destroyed.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - At this time, "a political re-education
campaign in Tibet is of no use. Continuing this smear campaign
against the Dalai Lama deeply wounds the Tibetan people, who before
these provocations are unable to be calm, creating the conditions
necessary to depict them as violent. It is a trap". This is the
commentary on the new Tibetan policies of Beijing given to AsiaNews by
the prime minister of the government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche.
China, the politician explains, "knows that attacking our leader will
make the people lose their temper. Economic marginalisation, the
disastrous condition of public sanitation, the lack of adequate
schools are situations that Tibet has learned to live with: denouncing
the Dalai Lama is the only way for the communists to provoke Tibetans,
making them seem violent".
It is clear to all, Rinpoche continues, "that the communist government
has an enormous ****eld: that of the international market, which
protects them from everything. The 'verbal pressure' of the
international community does not create any problems for the regime,
which continues with its violations exactly like before. Over the past
30 years, China has demonstrated that it doesn't care one bit about
the opinions of the international community, and the world knows it".
Precisely for this reason, the Tibetan government-in-exile has issued
an urgent appeal to the international community, which must take
immediate and effective action to stop the brutal repression of the
Tibetan population, and halt the cultural genocide of Tibet being
carried out by Beijing.
We reproduce below the complete text of the appeal:
Since 10th March 2008, there have been widespread protests in all
areas of U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo, including in various cities of China
where Tibetans live. These protests are the outburst of
dissatisfaction and deep-rooted resentment perpetuated in the hearts
of the Tibetan people for the last five decades by excessive
repression and mishandling of peaceful protests by small number of
monks and lay people in several places in and outside "TAR" on 10th
March 2008. 10th March is a historic day for the Tibetan people.
Every year there is some kind of peaceful demonstration, which does
not continue beyond that day. But this year protests continued in the
succeeding days due to unnecessary repressive measures and use of
force. If the objective of using force by the Chinese authorities is
to maintain peace and order in Tibet, they could have achieved it
within a day. But normalcy did not return even after more than five
weeks and more protests and repressive measures are happening day
after day. This arouses the suspicion about the intentions of the
Chinese authorities. Among the many suspicious incidents, the
following are conspicuous:
a. On 14th March, unusual unrest was allowed in Lhasa for several
hours without the authorities taking any preventive measures.
b. Most of protesters involved in violent acts on that day were
unfamiliar to the local people. In particular, there are cases where
people have seen Chinese policemen in Tibetan dress and in monks'
robes taking the leading role during the protests.
c. The Chinese authorities claim that they have found guns and bullets
at some Tibetan monasteries. This claim is based on recovering some
unserviceable country-made guns and swords, which were offered to the
chambers of the protective deities (Gonkhang) of monasteries. And in
some other cases, the military personnel themselves brought arms and
ammunitions to monasteries. Later they claimed to have found these in
the monasteries and blame the Tibetans for harbouring arms and
ammunition in the monastic compounds.
d. Chinese authorities also claim that Tibetan independence forces are
planning to launch suicide attacks.
e. They accuse some monks of exploding a bomb that damaged a building
in Chamdo in east Tibet. The authorities are yet to produce any
convincing evidence.
f. Patriotic re-education campaign is re-launched and monasteries and
households are ordered to fly the Chinese national flag on their
buildings.
g. Anti-Dalai Lama campaigns are being rigorously carried out
everywhere. This hurts the sentiments of the Tibetan people most.
h. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is carrying out a systematic
and vigorous effort to create a rift between the Tibetans and the
Chinese people. This is being done by a huge propaganda to fan
nationalism and hatred of the "Dalai clique" amongst the Chinese
people.
These acts do not help in restoring mental peace and social order in
Tibet. On the contrary, these acts are considered highly provocative
by the Tibetans because they hurt them the most. All these acts appear
to be aimed to undermine the Tibetan people's tolerance and provoke
them into violent retaliation. They also indicate that various
agencies of the PRC have plans to carry out more bombing and other
destructive activities and put the blame on the innocent Tibetans for
such actions.
We are deeply concerned by the ongoing repressive action such as
brutal beatings, torture, killings, deprivation of essential foods and
drinking water, which lead to the starvation of concerned Tibetans. We
are also very much concerned that such repressive action may continue
for many more months to come.
Tibet is virtually sealed off and in a short period, the Chinese
authorities will destroy all evidence by executing the innocent
Tibetans. The international community must intervene immediately and
persuade the PRC authorities to end these atrocious acts. The vexed
situation in Tibet has lingered because of the ultra leftist policies
adopted by PRC authorities during the year 1957/58, which led to the
popular uprising on 10th March 1959. Since then the Tibetans have
suffered immensely. Over a million Tibetans perished and the situation
remains troubled. These policies were recognised as wrong and reversed
in Mainland China. But no change in policy has taken place for the
Tibetan nationality. Even now, unless the basic policy of PRC towards
the Tibetan nationality is changed, no amount of force can keep the
Tibetan people under control.
The PRC leader****p on one hand demand that His Holiness the Dalai Lama
use his influence to restore normalcy in Tibet. On the other hand they
have not created any space or channel to allow His Holiness the Dalai
Lama to use his influence in Tibet. On the contrary, the Chinese
leader****p have stepped up their anti - Dalai Lama campaign throughout
Tibet.
The PRC leader****p refuse to find out the root cause of unrest in
Tibet and make efforts to remove the cause. On the contrary they are
aggravating the problem by various means. This is a clear indication
that they do not want to have peace and stability in Tibet.
We, therefore, urgently appeal to the international community to take
effective and immediate actions to prevent the PRC from indulging in
such brutal acts against the Tibetan people and to stop their policy
of systematic cultural genocide in Tibet.
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