(TibetanReview.net, Feb13, 2015) – The head of the exile Tibetan administration at Dharamshala, India, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, is to address a European rally for Tibet in Paris on Mar 14 and will also meet with lawmakers and other politicians during his visit, reported the AFP Feb 11.
The rally, which will take place near the Eiffel Tower, will mark the 56th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising against Chinese occupation.
It is not clear yet which leaders the Tibetan leader will meet.
Thousands of Tibetans and supporters from some 15 European countries are expected to take part in the rally and there will be other speakers too. The rally will “call on the international community to help restart dialogue between Tibetans and the Chinese at a governmental level,” Mr Thupten Gyatso, who heads a group representing the Tibetan community in France, was quoted as saying.
China maintains that Tibetans are happy and have prospered under its rule, that there is no Tibet issue to talk about, while condemning the exile Tibetan leadership as separatists and their demand for genuine autonomy a gambit for realizing independence.
The exile Tibetan leadership points to the more than 130 protest self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet since Feb 2009 as an indication of the depth of Tibetan grievances against the Chinese government.