Dharmshala News

By Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala, Mar 25--- Large number of Tibetans here today geathered in a cermony tonsuring and shaved their head hair en masse in protest against Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protestors in Lhasa and other adjoining provinces.And expressed solidarity with the anti-China protestors in Lhasa.They also appealed to the world to mount pressure on the Chinese authorities to ensure free media access in Tibet."More than one hundred people have already cut their hair. The Chinese Government has kicked out all the mediapersons from Tibet and information is not emerging from Tibet. All the countries should mount pressure on the Chinese to allow the free media inside Tibet," said Ugen Tenzin, Director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy."We are hoping that our chants and prayers will reach them. There are so many people captured by the Chinese regime," said Sonam.Dharamsala has been the scene of daily protests over the past several days. We are urging the Chinese Government and the international world to stop using repression as a way to stop the unrest inside Tibet. We are looking for a more realistic solution, which is political dialogue with our leader, his holiness Dalai Lama, said Pema Dorjee, a demonstrator.Hundreds of Tibetan exiles took out a candle light demonstration here last night to urge the Chinese Government to refrain from repression in Tibet.
By Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala March 25 --Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Prime Minister and chairman of the of the Central Tibetan Administration, here today in his public address to the Tibetans residing in and outside, underlined the need for unity and steadfast commitment to follow the guidelines of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the present crisis.He said, we urgently appealed the international community to bring an immediate end to the repressive acts of killing and beating in Tibet and immediate release of all those Tibetans arrested, following the protests.He further appealed to give medical help to injured Tibetans and provide food and drinking water facilities. Efforts should be made in sending independent fact-finding organisations to monitor the situation inside Tibet and give free access to reporters without borders.Rinpoche, appealed the Tibetan people to remain alert of Chinese government's agents and miscreants, who are trying to sabotage unity and efforts by creating problems within the Tibetan community, between Tibetans and Chinese, Tibetans and local Indian community and within our community. He emphasised that activities carried out by Tibetans particularly in India, which is the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and across the world, should not breach the laws of the host government and not to cause any trouble or embarrassment to local residents.He also appealed that efforts and methods employed by Tibetans should remain non-violent.The Tibetans must firmly speak out against Chinese misrepresentation of the protests as a communal and sectarian dispute between Tibetan and Chinese, he added.Rinpoche, underlined that Tibetans should engage in as much merit-earning activities as possible to enhance the collective merit of the Tibetan people. And in particular, recite these prayers on a regular basis - Dolma, Sherab Nyingpo, Yigdug, Gurue Thugdham nekul - to bring an end to the repression and bring immediate recovery of injured Tibetans, he added.While expressing concern that the present crisis might linger on, He appealed to Tibetans to live a more stable way of life in the future by adopting a rightful livelihood, shunning lavish spending of any kind and aside a portion of your income, to be contributed for the future welfare activities in and outside Tibet.

By Bijender Sharma

DHARMSHALA March 25---Central Tibetan Administration claimed here today Since the start of the Demonstrations in Tibet on March 10, there has been a steady rise in the death toll. As the demonstrations continue to spread vastly to many areas in Tibet, the number of people who have died from the brutal military and police suppression during the peaceful demonstrations is astounding.In a press note CT A claimed, we have confirmed information on the death toll from the demonstrations so far, it has been extremely difficult to get the details due to all the restrictions that have been imposed by Chinese authorities, especially since March 10th.The most recent death toll from the demonstrations in Tibet is around 140 and releasing the names and details of 40 identified people. While we do have reliable information on other individuals killed during the demonstrations, we are gathering more comprehensive information before we release more names from the death toll list.reliable sources confirming the death of numerous individuals killed during the recent demonstrations; however, we are still in the process of gathering more details (such as name and place of residence). For instance, while we can confirm that during the protest in Dabpa County (Karze "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture," Sichuan province), an elderly person, a young girl and a boy were shot and killed by the Chinese military, further details are still being gathered.Many of the dead bodies from the recent demonstrations are being turned into the People's Procuratorates instead of being returned to their respective families. This has also made it more difficult to gather details on the death toll.

By Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala,March 25 - Dr Anand Kumar, national convener of Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society (ITFS) here today has expressed deep concern over the Chinese governments violent crackdown on peaceful protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on 10 March, which has virtually spread across whole Tibet."We strongly condemn Chinas brutal suppression of the peaceful demonstration by the Tibetans and salute those who have sacrificed their life for Tibetan cause," he said. He condemned Chinese government's accusations against His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has been following the Middle-Way policy for dialogue and reconciliation in resolving the issue of Tibet.ITFS demanded that the United Nation should send an independent enquiry commission inside Tibet to bring out the truth.It called on the United Nations and the government of India, to bring about unconditional dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government.A "Save Tibet Day" will be organized by the ITFS on 31 March at their district headquarters across India, with a day long token hunger strike to express their solidarity with the Tibetans.