Chennai, July 31: Tibetan students in Chennai today held a peaceful demonstration against editor of a major English language newspaper; The Hindu protesting against publishing what they called was a series of “misleading articles”, Statesman New Service reported.
The Tibetans students further countered it with a statement on the reality in Tibet, which they said the editor, Mr N. Ram had failed to see.
The demonstrators, numbering 160, were students from various colleges in and around the city. Under the banner of Tibetan Students Association, Madras, the students put up posters and banners where they demonstrated asking the editor to “please open your eyes.”
The students also made a reproduction in colour of The Frontline magazine cover featuring the article offensive to them, calling it an “illusion,” and featured a similar cover stating what they said is the reality facing Tibet.
“In a decade, it (Tibet) will become a region of muddling prosperity” the poster said showing a poor Tibetan begging for alms with a baby in the lap, the baby too reaching out for alms. The real magazine cover had a baby learning to write.
The students took strong objection to the article published dated 3 and 5 July, 2007 in the oldest English daily from the state and the magazine from the same publishers featuring a cover story on Tibet, dated 27 July, 2007. The students charged that the articles were nothing but a “Chinese misinformation campaign” and they said they wish to correct it.
The editor Mr N Ram failed to note the lack of religious freedom in Tibet. The conclusion in his articles that 96.5 per cent children are in school was incorrect as Unicef had stated that access to compulsory education remained elusive to about 70 per cent of the students.
The editor was blind to the state repression of communication channels including the internet which too is censored in Tibet, they observed.
The reality of forced abortions and sterilizations among Tibetan women and statistics on the health of Tibetans released by international agencies which go against Chinese statistics have been overlooked.
