China struggles to quell protest Press Trust of India
BEIJING, March 15: At least 10 people were killed and many injured in the worst pro-Independence street protests to rock the Tibetan capital Lhasa in two decades as China struggled to quell the monks-led revolt that reverberated worldwide and threatened to cast a shadow on the 2008 Olympics here. “The victims are all innocent civilians and they have been burnt to death,” a local official said in Lhasa (“We have unconfirmed reports that about 100 people have been killed and martial law imposed in Lhasa,” the Tibetan government-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, said in a statement). The Chinese head of the Tibetan government vowed stern action against the rioters, while authorities asked the protesters to surrender by Monday or face punishment.
“We will deal harshly with these criminals in accordance with the law,” Champa Phutsok, Chairman of Tibetan government, told reporters here, adding: “the plot is doomed to failure.” After a day of rioting, streets in Lhasa remained virtually deserted today with burnt cars, motorcycles and bicycles strewn all over and smoke billowing from buildings.
While authorities said that the situation was “in the process of calming down” in Lhasa, fresh protests erupted on China’s northwest Gansu province near Tibet with police using tear gas to disperse the monks who gathered near Labrang Monastery , the London-based Free Tibet campaign claimed.
Monks had held a similar protest yesterday in the province which has a large ethnic Tibetan population. Protests were held at the UN headquarters, in front of the Chinese consulate in Sydney and outside the UN office in Nepal today as part of the stir launched to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region which turned violent on the sixth day yesterday. The protesters carrying placards and yellow and red Tibetan flags shouted “Free Tibet!” and “Wake up United Nations!” and “No peace, no Olympics!” outside the UN office in New York. Among the 10 dead in yesterday’s violence, two were hotel employees and two shop owners. No foreigner was among the dead, the government said. The demonstrations came ahead of the Beijing Olympics scheduled for August, which human rights organisations want to link with an improvement in the rights situation in China and have been pressing the West to take up the issue with the Communist state. Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organising committee, however, said the unrest would not have a negative impact on the Games or the Olympic torch relay that is to pass through Tibet.
While the international community including the USA, UK, France, Germany and Sweden expressed concern over the violence and urged China to exercise restraint, Beijing intensified its vitriolic attack on Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama describing him as an “impudent politician” who had turned Lhasa into a land of terror. “The intention harboured behind the monk’s claim of seeking “real or greater autonomy” for Tibet also proved hypocritical when hundreds of his followers yelled independence, attacked police, smashed windows, robbed shops, and set cars and a mosque ablaze,” state media said. (In Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based, hundreds marched through the streets protesting the Chinese government’s use of force against their brethren in their homeland even as a fresh batch of agitators today began a march to Tibet to join the rebellion there. Police said they were not aware of fresh march by Tibetans but if they are doing so they would not be allowed to cross even the boundary of Kangra district, leave aside the international border. Meanwhile, the MEA has urged all sides to work urgently to bring peace to the troubled region.
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