By Gaurav Bisht
Dharamsala, June 23 – Even as the Chinese government has proposed a mega event to mark, the completion of long waited railways linking China with Tibetan Autonomous Region, the Tibetan support groups and the NGO’s, that have remained opposed to ambitious project ever since inception five years ago, has now decided to hold global protest at the Chinese embassies and consulates.
The exile community sees red in the railway, acclaimed as a landmark project in China’s plans to develop its western regions. The railway line that is about 1,142-kilometres involves a total investment of 26.2 billion yuan. The railways will connect the erstwhile capital of Tibet- Lhasa -to Qinghai provenience’s capital Xining and other major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai in East China, and Guangzhou in South China and Chengdu in Southwest China. The Tibetan community observes that the railways is a major threat to the entity of the Tibetan people, as they fear that rapid development and rampant industrialization could lead to cultural genocide.
They fear that the , railway connectivity will increase environmental pressure on Tibet’s high-altitude ecosystem, bolster China’s military strength in the region, and facilitate the entry of large numbers of Chinese settlers into Tibet, further marginalizing Tibetans socially and economically.
Many Tibetans see the railway as the final phase in China’s strategy to wipe out Tibetan identity and culture. ‘The Chinese government has openly stated that the railway is a political project intended to consolidate their control in the region’ said Ngawang Woeber, President of Gu Chu Sum. “Through our protests around the world we are showing China that Tibetans reject this railway just as we reject their illegitimate rule in Tibet,” said Tenzin Choedon, Program Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet India.
“China may have completed the railway but our Struggle is not over. We will continue to fight the illegal Chinese occupation Of our nation’’ she added. The Tibetans have decided to observe July 1 as ‘Blackday’. To express their resentments against the railways, Tibetan shopkeepers and restaurants in Dharamsala, home to Tibetan temporal leader Dalai Lama and Tibetan Government in Exile, will temporarily close their businesses on July 1st in solidarity with the “Reject the Railway” campaign. The campaign is jointly organized by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT),Gu Chu Sum (an association of former Tibetan political prisoners) and Friends of Tibet India. The campaign that was started on Dharamsala on June 18 will highlight the negative effects of the railway on Tibetan people, their culture and the environment. The three organizations opined that development of railways as the final phase in China’s strategy to wipe out Tibetan identity and culture. The three groups of the exiles stated that railway will “increase environmental pressure on Tibet’s high-altitude ecosystem, bolster China’s military strength in the region, and facilitate the entry of large numbers of Chinese settlers into Tibet, further marginalizing Tibetans socially and economically.” “Through our protests around the world we are showing China that Tibetans reject this railway just as we reject their illegitimate rule in Tibet,” said Tenzin Choedon, Program Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet India. “China may have completed the railway but our struggle is not over. We will continue to fight the illegal Chinese occupation of our nation’ said Choedon. The Tibetan will wear backbends on their arms to symbolize their resistance against the railways.
