by Tenzin Phende
Dharamsala, May 26 – At least 6 Tibetan women have been injured Sunday after Chinese security forces opened fire indiscriminately at a crowd which had gathered to protest China’s forceful relocation of ‘tens of thousands of Tibetans to make way for a hydroelectric dam in Tawu County’, the exile Tibetan government says on its website.
Citing unnamed sources, the exile government based here said China’s construction of a major hydroelectric dam between Nyagchu and Tawu County led to a large-scale displacement of local Tibetans. The government coerced local residents of Tawu County to sign a document as it began to plan the construction work in early 2008, the website said.
The injured women have been identified as Tsering Lhamo, Rigzin Lhamo, Dolma, Kelsang, Dolkar and Khaying.
The residents reportedly shouted protest statements saying: “This place has been our ancestral dwelling place for countless generations and therefore we don’t want to leave our homes. We are not going to move away to any other places come what may.”
It is not clear if the women have succumbed to injuries after being moved away in a van, sources said.
The centre said since May 5, Chinese security forces and construction workers have been permanently stationed in the area for the construction of the dam.
The reporter is a second year student of BA journalism at Madras Christian College, and currently on internship with phayul
