Statement of Speaker Karma Chophel on Lithang turmoil
For immediate release 2 August 2007
THE STANDING COMMITTEE of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is very
concerned to know about the happenings at Bumyag Qu, Litang Distict,
Karze Prefecture of Sichuan Province yesterday on the occasion of the
annual Horse-race Festival. According to our information, as the
programme of the festival was about to begin, a local Tibetan by the
name of Runggye Adak made an announcement on the public address system
in which he called for a visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet
as soon as possible, the quick release of His Eminence the Panchen
Lama, independence for Tibet and demanded a halt in the infighting for
water, pasture and the picking of the medicinal plant called ‘yartsa
gunbu’. He also addressed the large gathering and asked them whether
they agreed with his demands or not. The public responded
enthusiastically in his support. There upon Runggye Adak was
apprehended and taken to the police station.
Soon after, a large gathering of a few thousand people went to
the police station and wanted to know from the authorities whether the
Tibetans had a right to air their grievances or not. As the public
broke the iron-gate and entered the courtyard, some police personnel
took out their pistols. At this the Tibetans became more enraged and
some of them shed their upper garments. They bared their chests and
dared the police to shoot. In order to intimidate the crowd the police
fired machine guns, but fortunately, no one seems to have been hurt.
After a time, some police authorities asked the crowd to disperse, as
it was already 9.30pm local time i.e. 12.00 O’clock midnight IST. They
also promised that Runggye Adak would be released at 2.00 pm (local
time) the next day.
As per our latest information at 4.00 pm IST, a large crowd of
about five thousand people have gathered in front of the police station
but Runggye Adak has not been released. Some four Tibetan leaders had
gone inside to talk to the authorities. Eight armoured vehicles are
said to be on the stand-by near the crowd. The most alarming
development is that the police had rounded off about 200 people in the
courtyard of the police station and presently are threatening the rest
of the crowd to disperse or they would shoot the 200 people. It seems
that the others have vowed not to leave if Adak and the 200 people are
not released unconditionally.
Our immediate concern is that as our people are in a desperate
mood due to the long years of wrong and repressive policies of the
Chinese in Tibet, there may be an emotional outburst, which will give
the Chinese police the excuse to shoot the Tibetans and make them an
example to the many such cases happening in Tibet. We fear that there
may be a massacre of our people and many others put behind bars. We
therefore appeal to the international community including Governments,
Parliaments, the UN, the International Olympic Committee, NGOs and all
right thinking people to call upon the Chinese authorities to show
restraint and not resort to violence on our people. This should be done
most urgently, as the situation is very volatile.
We also advice our people not to lose reason and act with
constraint. We admire and respect the courage and spirit of our
brethren in Tibet.
(T.T. Karma Chophel)
Speaker