New Delhi April 18 – A lack of one united approach by the Tibetans and their supporters during Chinese president Hu Jintao’s visit may leave Hu guessing who the winner is, Hu himself or the Dharamshala based exile Tibetan government. Well, it seems both.
As Hu Jintao begins his US visit today, the Kashag may breathe a sigh of relief for the positive responses it got to its appeal asking Tibetans and supporters to refrain from protesting.
The Students for a Free Tibet, one of the noisiest agitators against visiting Chinese leaders all over the world, decided to withhold protest demonstrations during Hu’s visit this time. This, many believe, is the biggest success of Kashag’s appeal. SFT activists say that they will wait and see if there will be any positive gesture from China this time.
While the Capital Area Tibetan Association (CATA), representing the Tibetan community in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia, decided to comply with the Kashag’s appeal, regional chapters of the Tibetan Youth Congress in Portland, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver are all set to make their voices heard by Hu through protests in Seattle where the Chinese president begins his visit today.
For Tsewang Rigzin, who is heading the RTYC Portland and Vancouver, the visit of Hu is an opportunity to voice the truth and perform duty as a citizen of Tibet. “Despite being under the gun of the Communist Chinese since 1959, even today Tibetans inside Tibet continue to put their life on the line by refusing to accept Tibet as part of China and continue to revere His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Hu’s visit is a great opportunity for us in EXILE to rise up and perform our Duty as citizens of Tibet by reminding Hu that we will not rest until Tibet is independent”, Tsewang says in a press release of his organisation.
Meanwhile, Tenzin Tsundue, a writer and a staunch activist of independence for Tibet, says that there he will continue protesting China. “There may be lathi charges, I may have to spent days in prison or may be summoned to never-ending court cases. But I will fight for Tibet’s independence until Tibet is free again.”
Tsundue says that being in a free country and allowing the Chinese leaders to go unopposed as if everything is fine back in China and Tibet is a DUTY not performed. “We protest not because we hate the Chinese, but because we want to speak to their conscience for their wrong doing, and tell them we have not forgotten, and also to tell the world the injustice we are suffering at the hands of the brute and the bully, thereby seeking their support,” he writes in an article just days after Kashag’s appeal.
Attention – Reports just came in about a decision by SFT to protest. Click here to see our latest report.
Updated on 7:45PM IST
