Times of India-Written by Shri Ajit Kamath
The 10 of March marks a very important day for Tibetan people all over the world. It was on this day in 1959, when the Tibetans (in Tibet) revolted against the forcible occupation of their motherland by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This revolt was preceded by several deliberate acts of the Chinese which deprived the Tibetans of freedom to follow their religious practices, customs, and traditions. The all-enveloping subjugation, discrimination and harassment resulted in pent up frustrations amongst the peaceful Tibetans which burst out in the form of an unprecedented uprising. The Tibetan Uprising of 1959 began as a spontaneous act of peaceful protest demonstration against the Chinese in capital Lhasa which later turned violent in which thousands of Tibetans were killed by the marauding soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army.
For thousands of years, Tibet was a self-governing, independent entity with its’ own language, script, costumes, traditions & religion that signed a series of treaties with several countries of the world as an equal party. However, China launched a succession of territorial aggressions against Tibet from 1949 and in 1950, it launched a full-scale invasion of Tibet. In 1951, the Chinese compelled a Tibetan government delegation (whose members were kept in a hostage-like situation), to sign a “17-Point Agreement” which formalized the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Click here to read more.