Dharamsala, October 27 – Protests by Tibetan school children in Qinghai Province have spread to the neighboring province of Gansu with thousands of Tibetan students in Gansu Province taking to the streets yesterday and today, a week since the first protest was reported from Rebkong against a planned language swap in schools in Qinghai province.
According to the Voice of Tibet radio service, students of a Tibetan school in Tsayi in Sangchu County in Labrang “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture”, Gansu province voiced their support to the movement against introduction of Chinese language as medium of instruction in Tibetan schools in Qinghai province, the only province so far to introduce the new rule.
The planned introduction of Chinese language as the medium of instruction in Tibetan schools in Qinghai — in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo, which is known for producing scholars and intellectuals — is a serious threat to the survival of Tibetan language, a Tibetan exile told the radio service.
Meanwhile, Tibetan exiles in various parts of the world also held parallel protests against the Chinese government’s “forced” introduction of Chinese language to “eliminate” the Tibetan language.
“Tibetan language is intrinsically linked to Tibetan culture and identity. Denying Tibetans the right to learn in their own language is denying them the right to exist as a people,” said Tenzin Choekyi, General Secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest pro-independence Tibetan youth organization.
The Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) India says it is planning to organise an event next week here at the Tsuglakhang in solidarity with Tibetan students in Qinghai Province.
