Gonpo Dhondhup, President of Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), who is currently leading a month-long Tibet Matters March, called for international support for Tibet amid China’s repression and breaches of human rights, reported Tibet Rights Collective (TRC).
“It’s been one week since the start of TYC’s #TibetMatters rally & the energy is still going strong!” tweeted TRC.
Notably, “Tibet Matters March” comes in the wake up of the recent disinformation campaign against Dalai Lama. It started on April 29th from the state of Sikkim and will cross West Bengal and conclude at Tezpur in Assam on May 23rd 2023. The march involves over 80 volunteers from the regional chapters of TYC in India and Nepal.
Speaking on the importance of the need to educate the world about Tibet and Tibetan culture, Dhondhup said, “Our march also plays an important role in educating the masses. We were very pained and hurt by the recent incidents. It was sad to see people misjudging Dalai lama based on a few seconds of an edited video. It has hurt the sentiments of millions of Tibetans, Buddhist followers, and admirers of the Dalai Lama around the world. So through this campaign, we aim at creating awareness among the people of what is our struggle, and what is our culture.”
After the Dalai Lama’s video of purportedly kissing a boy went viral, a group of Tibetan leaders and activists from across the globe, expressed their solidarity and support for him.
Tibet matters for India’s security, Tibet matters for global peace, and Tibet matters for the betterment of a whole section of the population and their livelihood.
Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all the world leaders to raise the issue of Tibet in the upcoming G-20 meeting in September this year, Dhondhup said, “For India, we always say that Tibet’s and Tibetan people’s call for Tibet’s independence is not just for the Tibetan people. India’s security is also a key point. Since the illegal Chinese occupation of Tibet, there is a continuous border tension along the Line of Actual Control.”
He demanded that the Chinese government address the deteriorating human rights situation under its repressive role in Tibet and immediately shut down the colonial boarding schools which are there inside Tibet and eliminate the Tibetan culture and identity, reported TRC.
Notably, May 23, 2023, marks 64 years since the forced signing of the 17-point agreement which legitimized China’s invasion of Tibet.
“It is one of the worst days in modern political history. It was the day when China forcefully asked to sign a so-called 17-point agreement with the Tibetan delegation. The Tibetan delegation then was given two options- either to sign the agreement on their responsibility or to take a full-fledged war in the Tibetan capital city,” said TYC President.
On 23 May 1951, a small Tibetan delegation was forced to sign the ‘Seventeen-Point Agreement’ in Beijing. The agreement legitimized China’s invasion of Tibet and took away Tibet’s political independence. The agreement promised Tibet control over its internal affairs, respect for the religion and culture of Tibet and to protect the power and status of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. But China did not abide by its own agreement and forcibly occupied Tibet in March 1959.