Japan: Tibetans hold demo to mark 64th anniv of Tibetan Uprising Day

TOKYO: Over 60 Tibetans and their supporters in Japan on March 11 held a demonstration through busy downtown Tokyo to mark the 64th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day.

They remembered the sacrifices of those who had laid down their lives trying to thwart the military takeover of Tibet in 1959.

The demonstrators, who carried posters of his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, shouted slogans asking China to leave their homeland, and for the Communist Party of China to stop its human rights violations in Tibet.

The activists also protested outside the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, urging China to respect the cultural and religious rights of Tibetans. In the evening, they held a solemn candlelight vigil to remind the world of the dire situation in Tibet and Tibetan areas of China.

One of the participants pointed out that at the ongoing session of China's rubber stamp parliament, three out of four delegates nominated by the central authorities to the Tibetan delegation were powerful Han Chinese linked to the security services, while the Tibetans in the group were very junior, with no power.

Tibetans on March 10 also protested in front of the Chinese Embassy in Vienna, Austria. They held the protest against the Chinese Communist Party.

Tibetan Uprising Day, observed on March 10, commemorates the 1959 Tibetan uprising against the presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.

The protest started at 10.00 hrs and continued till 11.00. Around 150 Tibetan diaspora members participated in this protest.
At 11:00, a peaceful march from the Chinese embassy to Stephanplatz, Vienna was organised. At Stephanplatz, a one-hour demonstration against the atrocities committed by CCP in Tibet were highlighted and anti-China pamphlets were distributed.

Also senior community members spoke about the current situation of Tibet and how CCP is executing minorities in China and suppressing the basic human rights by denying freedoms speech, freedom of worship and right to protest.

Tibetan diaspora was led by President Nawang Lobsang Taglung. A Vienna based NGO Voices against Autocracy also supported this protest and its members participated in this demonstration.

Nawang said that the fight for Freedom of Tibet will continue in future.
Meanwhile, the Central Tibetan Administration issued a statement on the 64th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day and expressed the Tibetan people's sincere gratitude and appreciation to India for providing them a second home and its unwavering support as well as to the United States and other Governments, Parliamentary Tibet Support Groups including the newly-formed Parliamentary Tibet Support Groups in Mexico and Spain following the Eighth World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet, Tibet Support Groups and individuals who supported truth and justice.