Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Ninth Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day, 10 March 1968

The commemoration of this day has become sacred to all Tibetans and is
an important landmark in the historic struggle of men to free
themselves from their oppressors. For it was on this day, nine years
ago, that the people of Tibet made a very brave attempt to free
themselves from their Chinese rulers who in 1950 had forcibly occupied
our country under the guise of an ambiguous and obsolete claim to
suzerainty. Thrown against the superior size of the Chinese forces, our
resistance that day was doomed and resulted in the large-scale massacre
of thousands of our countrymen. But the spirit of a people who believe
in the dignity of man and in the freedom of all nations large or small
cannot be quelled by the might of an aggressor. It was that fateful day
which united the whole country in defiance of the Chinese and
re-declared our sense of nationhood in no uncertain terms to the
outside world, and that struggle to assert ourselves as a people still
continues today both inside and outside Tibet.

For those of our countrymen remaining in Tibet the struggle is both
physical and moral. The Chinese have used every ruse and force to beat
down the resistance of the Tibetan people. The fact that they have not
succeeded is admitted by China and evidenced by the number of Tibetans
who escape into India and other neighbouring countries every year in
spite of increasingly stringent border controls imposed by the
Communist Chinese. Only recently almost 500 Tibetans died trying to
flee to India. They knew that chances of their bid for escape were
well-neigh impossible, and yet they preferred to face this risk. Is it
conceivable that a people whom the Chinese Communists claim are content
with the regime under which they live, would resort to such suicidal
measures?

With every year that passed the Chinese have successively tried to
indoctrinate the thousands of Tibetan children by forcibly separating
them from their parents and sending them to China, where they are
alienated from everything that is Tibetan and are taught the doctrines
of Mao and made to deride and ridicule the Tibetan way of life. But
contrary to the Chinese expectations, a great majority of these are now
resisting the Chinese rule in Tibet. As long as men have the capacity
to think and as long as they seek after truth, the Communist Chinese
will not completely succeed in indoctrinating our children. There is no
doubt that the Chinese treatment of the conquered minority
nationalities is a clear case of Han chauvinism. However, far from
succeeding in their aims the Chinese are only adding fuel to the flame
of nationalism. It is for this reason that even young Tibetan
Communists are solidly lined up with rest of the country against the
Chinese.

Culture and religious belief in our country have been one of the major
targets of Chinese communist oppression. The destruction of monastic
universities, cultural centres and other allied institutions which were
undertaken from the very beginning of the Chinese takeover was
intensified with the recent Cultural Revolution and Red Guard Movement.
The remaining monks, nuns and scholars have been driven out from the
monasteries and cultural institutions and, with many of the local
populace, are forced to build a vast network of strategic roads linking
Tibet, which has now been turned into a huge military base, with the
borders of its neighbouring countries, thus posing an ever increasing
threat to the peace in those regions.

In 1966 drastic changes have taken place in Tibet. While the Chinese
continue to suppress the Tibetan people, the Chinese themselves have
been engaged in a long struggle amongst themselves. The total
bankruptcy of Chinese policy in Tibet is evidenced by the fact that all
the 301 so-called elected representatives of the Tibet Autonomous
Region Council have been dismissed. Likewise, practically all Tibetan
cadres have disappeared. Tibetans who have been trained for years in
China have been accused of “regional nationalism” and removed from
their posts for “re-education” in forced labour camps. Since September
last year, the military has taken up every apparatus of the
administration and the country today is entirely in the hands of the
Chinese occupation forces without even a semblance of civilian
administration.

It now remains for those of us who have been fortunate to escape from
the Chinese Communists to take up the noble task for which so many of
our patriots have laid down their lives on this memorable day. Our
people living in exile are conscientiously striving to prepare for the
day when we can return to a free Tibet. For instance, Tibetan children,
whom I look upon as the future foundation of a free and independent
Tibet, are being provided with the best possible opportunities of
development, of growing mentally and morally into men and women, deeply
rooted in their own culture, belief and living habits, as well as
acquainted with modern civilisation, enriched by the greatest
achievements of world culture, and thus becoming sound and creative
Tibetan citizens, capable of serving our nation and the whole of
mankind. There are 85,000 Tibetans living in exile outside Tibet. Of
these, we are in the process of rehabilitating 20,040 in agricultural
settlements, animal husbandry, small-scale industries and handicraft
centres in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim and Switzerland. This would not
have been possible without the generous assistance, both financial and
otherwise, in particular of the Indian government, of the governments
of the respective countries, and of the voluntary agencies, and I take
this opportunity to express my personal gratitude and that of my people
to them. There are still 20,000 refugees who are yet to be
rehabilitated and it is up to us to work hard to help expand and
improve on what has been done so that we may not only contribute to the
prosperity of our host country and our benefactors, but also that a
truly Tibetan culture may take root and flourish outside Tibet until
such time as we are able to return.

That we will be able to return some day is a hope which will always be
with us and for which we must always work. Many countries have
supported our cause in the United Nations and have condemned Chinese
aggression in Tibet. We are very grateful to them and hopeful that they
will continue to support us both in the United Nations and elsewhere,
for we firmly believe that the Chinese occupation of Tibet poses a
threat to Asia and more particularly to those countries which share a
common frontier with it. In this light as also from the humanitarian
standpoint of support for a just cause, we would once again request the
government of India for increased political support; for it is only the
voice of India which, we believe, can lead the way in championing our
cause, not only because of her position in the Asian world, but also
because of its cultural and physical affinity with Tibet and its role
in sheltering the thousands of Tibetans who have been forced to flee
their homeland. We believe that this support must come as long as men
believe in freedom. As Tibetans, let us then work for this and renew
our resolve to continue the struggle for what is truly our heritage.

In conclusion, I wish to offer my prayers to invoke the blessings of
the Triple Gems for peace and happiness of all the sentient beings.

The Dalai Lama
March 10, 1968