French Parliament’s Tibet Group Raises Concern Over Repression in Ngaba[Saturday, 7 May 2011, 4:46 p.m.]

Lionnel Luca, President of Tibet Working Group of French National Assembly/File photo

PARIS:
Supporting His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s appeal to the international
community over the Chinese government’s repression on Kirti monastery
in Tibet, the Tibet Working Group in the French Parliament had lodged
an urgent representation to the French foreign minister and the Chinese
ambassador in Paris.The Tibet Working Group had drew the
attention of the two officials on the deteriorating situation borne out
of military blockade of Kirti monastery, which left 2 Tibetans dead and
over 300 monks detained.In an appeal letter to foreign minister
Mr Alan Juppe on 3 May, Tibet Working Group’s president Lionnel Luca
said, “Our country cannot remain indifferent to the situation of the
monks of Kirti monastery and the Tibetan population of the area. I
would, therefore, like to know the position of France on this
situation.”Similarly, Mr Luca also sent a letter to Chinese
Ambassador Kong Quan asking him about the condition of over 300 monks
detained from the Kirti monastery.The Tibet Working Group
reaffirmed His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s concern that the situation at
Kirti monastery would become explosive if force is used in handling the
crisis.His Holiness the
Dalai Lama also made an appeal on 15 April to express his concern over
the prevailing situation in Kirti Monastery and requested the
International community and the foreign governments to persuade the
Chinese leadership to exercise restraint in handling the situation. The
Chinese government has sealed off Kirti Monastery by deploying armed
security forces to crackdown on Tibetans and stopped the essential
supplies to the monastery. The local Tibetans fearing the risk of
massive detention of the monks are confronting the soldiers who are
enforcing the blockade of the monastery.  In the subsequent crackdown,
many Tibetans were severely beaten and arrested. The death of
Phuntsog, a 21-year-old monk from Kirti monastery who set himself on
fire on 16 March this year to protest China’s repression in 2008 led to
the blockade of monastery by the Chinese authority. The
Tibetans gathered at the monastery, who were mostly elders, were
severely beaten by the police as they attempted to resist the police
from taking away 300 monks in 10 military trucks on the night of 21
April.