By Tenzin Tsering
Dharamsala, November 4 : A “nationwide” protest of all Tibetan schools in India was undertaken by Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) today to express solidarity and support with the Tibetan students’ protest in Amdo province (ch: Qinghai) against the imposition of Chinese language as the medium of instruction in schools in Tibet.
“All our Regional Tibetan Youth Congress chapters have been contacted to carry out parallel protests in their respective areas so that Tibetan students all over India on this day will hold simultaneous
protests,” said a press statement issued by the largest pro-independence group of the exile Tibetan diaspora.
In Dharamsala, around 700 students from Upper Tibetan Childrens’ Village (TCV), Lower TCV, Nobulingka Institute for Tibetan culture, Sarah College for Higher Tibetan Studies and Institute of Buddhist Dialectics participated in a protest rally from Tsuglagkhang temple to Kacheri (Indian Judicial Complex) at Lower Dharamsala.
“Freedom to language”, “Make Tibetan the medium of instruction in all over Tibet” were some of the slogans raised at the march.
Student representatives from the schools took to the platform and expressed their opposition to the China’s education policy laid out at the Provincial communist party meeting in Tsongon (Qinghai) on September 12 which declared the replacement of Tibetan language with Mandarin.
“If China did not retract in their attempt to destroy Tibetan language, it is equivalent to denying Tibetans the right to exist as a people,” said a student representative while addressing the gathering.
“Replacing Tibetan language with Chinese language (Mandarin) is an attempt at denying Tibetans their culture, identity and the right to exist. The Chinese government is practicing some of the theories advocated by staunch Communists like Lenin and Stalin who said ‘If you need to wipe out an entire race, then wipe out its language’,” said TYC’s Finnace Secretary Kunchok Yangphel.
On 19th October, thousands of students from six different schools from Rebkong in Amdo took to the streets protesting the Chinese government’s education policy of fading out Tibetan language in school curriculum. Many more schools from other areas of Mangra, Krigha, Golok, Chentse and Chabcha joined the protests in the following two weeks. “Equality of People, Freedom of Language” were the unanimous demand of the protest marches. The protests later spread to the neigboriing Gansu province, and even Beijing.
20 students were reportedly detained following protest in Chabcha county.
Similar solidarity protests are held by Tibetans in exile across the world.
