Dharamsala, April 18 – The largest Tibetan non-governmental organization seeking complete independence from China appealed to the United Nations and governments to “intervene and pressure the Chinese government to immediately withdraw its troops from Kirti Monastery.”
The Tibetan Youth Congress launched an indefinite relay hunger strike here Sunday to protest against what it called “a critical situation” in and around Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, Tibet. 15 monks from Institute of Buddhist Dialectics today participated in the first batch of hunger strike.
The organization is also collecting signatures at the site for the petition demanding immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from the monastery that saw heavy presence of armed forces in its premises and vicinity since March 16, when a monk of the monastery, to mark three years of bloody crackdown on Tibetans of Ngaba, set himself ablaze and died the following day.
The TYC accused China of suppressing the freedom of the Tibetan people in the name of liberation. The TYC added that the sacrifice by Phuntsok, the monk who died of self immolation, has “unmasked the true face of the illegal Communist Chinese regime saying the Chinese government has launched the so called “patriotic re-education” campaign and deployed hundreds of military personnel in and around Kirti Monastery to suppress the religious freedom of the Tibetans.
China must allow the Tibetans enjoy their basic rights including religious freedom and freedom of movement for the monks, the TYC said.
The regional chapters of the TYC across the world will also organize parallel fasts.
Six days after Chinese government’s additional troops being brought into Ngaba Kirti monastery beat up local Tibetan civilians trying to stop them from entering the monastery, the situation in Ngaba still remains tense. Sources said several Tibetans were detained since last Tuesday. Latest figures put the Tibetans arrested in Ngaba at 34 with several others missing or unaccounted for. Tibetans say the Chinese authorities blocked food supplies to the monastery in an attempt to starve around 2500 monks since last Tuesday.
