(TibetanReview.net, Mar11’23) – Commemoration functions, protest marches (including demonstrations in front of Chinese embassies), issuances of statements expressing solidarity and support, observing of Tibet Days, and displays of Tibetan national flags on local government buildings in much of the free democratic world marked the observance of the 64th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising against Chinese occupation of Tibet on Mar 10. More than 60 Tibetans youths were reported detained by police for protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi.
The official exile Tibetan commemoration function was held at the Tsuglakhang in Dharamshala, India. More than 30 members of parliament from Mexico, European Parliament, Lithuania, and Taiwan, attended the event in an act of solidarity with the Tibetan people, according to the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Mar 10.
Other commemorative functions, attended by national and local leaders, followed by demonstrations and street marches, were held in major cities in Europe, USA, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, and other countries. They included those reported to have taken place in front of the UN headquarters in New York City, in front of the Chinese embassy in the US capital, in front of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in the Austrian capital Vienna, in Toronto in Canada, in Paris in France, in Geneva in Switzerland, in Canberra in Australia, in Wellington in New Zealand, in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, in London in the UK, and so forth.
A “Europe Stands with Tibet” march, with the participation of Tibetans and supporters from across Europe, including national political leaders, was held in Rome.
A protest was held against the Communist Party of China in front of the Chinese embassy in the Austrian capital Vienna, with the participation of around 150 Tibetan exiles, reported the ANI news service Mar 11.
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At the commemoration in Washington, DC, Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin, accused China of turning Tibet into an “open air prison,” likened it to the situation in Xinjiang province, where China has taken steps to eradicate Uyghur culture and assimilate the mostly Muslim Uyghurs, reported the rfa.org Mar 10.
He called Beijing’s government “bloodthirsty” and “power hungry”, noted the AP Mar 11.
In the US city of Easthampton, Massachusetts, it was a historic day for the Tibetan community, with Governor Maura Healey Keynote delivering the keynote speech at the commemoration event, reported the wwlp.com Mar 10.
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At the Jantar Mantar event in New Delhi, Rajya Sabha MP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sujeet Kumar called the Dalai Lama for being the “biggest ambassador of Tibet as well as India” and condemned China for planning to interfere in the search for and recognition of his reincarnation, reported the indianexpress.com Mar 11.
More than 60 Tibetan youths were detained for protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi in defiance of a ban on gathering of four or more people within two kilometres of the Chinese embassy.
“As they tried to jump over the barricades to reach the embassy, we detained them. Once the situation is under control, they will be released,” the PTI news agency Mar 11 cited a police officer as saying.
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Tibet groups in the parliament of several countries and others have issued statements for the occasion.
In Canberra, the Co-Chairs of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet – Susan Templeman MP, Senator Janet Rice, and Senator Dean Smith – issued a statement, saying, Australia should continue to raise concerns about this Chinese Government policy, which “appears to amount to a policy of acculturation and assimilation of the Tibetan culture into the dominant Han Chinese majority, through a series of oppressive actions against Tibetan educational, religious and linguistic institutions, in contradiction with the right to freedom of religion and belief, the right to education and cultural rights of the Tibetan people.”
Earlier, on Mar 7, Senator Janet Rice issued a statement at the Australian Senate, outlining the significance of the event, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Mar 10.
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The Tibetan flag was raised on government buildings in a number of cities in the US and Europe, as well as elsewhere to commemorate the occasion, including with the proclamation of the day as “Tibet Day”.
In the US state of Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers issued a proclamation, designating Mar 10 as “Tibet Day” in the state, reported the whbl.com Mar 10.
In the UK’s capital London, meeting with the Tibetan community, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Cllr Anthony Okereke, agreed to pass a resolution to raise Tibet Flag annually, the ANI Mar 10.
“It’s a struggle for liberation, a struggle for freedom and we raise the flag today in solidarity with the struggle”, Anthony Okereke has said while interacting with the members of the Tibetan community who also held a protest rally opposite 10 Downing Street.
In the Czech Republic, over 850 municipalities across the country had taken part in the commemoration of the Tibetan uprising day last year, with a similar number expected in 2023, reported the expats.cz Mar 10, citing Lungta, an organization helping to coordinate the event.
Raising the Tibetan flag at city and municipal buildings and other public places has been part of the commemoration over the past many successive years.
The city of Hradec Králové already hung up the Tibetan flag in front of its town hall this morning – it was one of the first cities in Czechia about 25 years ago to pay tribute to Tibetans, the report said.
On the following day, the flag was to be also hoisted on the Sněžka mountain. “Senator and chairman of the Friends of Tibet group Přemysl Rabas with the Czech Tibetans non-profit organization are walking up the mountain,” the report said.