Dharamsala, March 6 – As exile Tibetans and right groups fear more clampdowns by China on Tibetans around two major anniversaries this year officials in Tibet deny any likelihood of unrest in the restive Himalayan region.
Qiangba Puncog, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said Thursday that he did not anticipate major unrest next week for the 50th anniversary of Tibet’s uprising against China despite reports of heightened tension in the region. Puncog was speaking to reporters on the first day of the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing.
Exile groups say that China fears more anti government protests this year and has beefed up security in Tibetan inhabited areas.
London based Free Tibet Campaign said in a statement today that Tibet is under “de facto martial law on the eve of a momentous anniversary which China fears may provoke protests on the scale of those that swept across Tibet last year.”
Tibetans and supporters worldwide are planning major protests and campaigns on the occasion of the 50th Tibetan uprising day on March 10.
Meanwhile, China is all set to celebrate March 28 every year as the Serf Emancipation Day, which, a senior Tibetan legislator said, was a “”tit-for-tat struggle” against the Dalai clique.
“We’ll, for a long period of time, face austere test in maintaining unification of the motherland, fighting ethnic splittism, and maintaining social stability,” said Legqog, director of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People’s Congress, on the sidelines of the annual national parliament session in Beijing.
Tibetan legislators agreed in January this year to set March 28 as Serfs Emancipation Day. China claims it freed millions of Tibetans from slavery while the Tibetans say their country was invaded by communist China in the guise of ‘liberation’.
