The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

 

 

The Tibet Post International 9 August 2008. Thousands of Tibetan exiles took to the streets in Nepal, India, US and many of European countries, as the peaceful demonstrations occurred worldwide to coincide with the start of the Beijing Olympics, around 1000 Tibetans detained in Kathmandu and above 200 Tibetans detained in front of Chinese embassy in New Delhi.

In Katmandu, Nepal's capital, thousands of Tibetan exiles demonstrated at the Chinese Embassy, shouting, "China, thief: Leave our country. Stop killing in Tibet." Police forcibly dispersed the protesters, some of whom tried to storm the embassy, police official Ramesh Thapa said. More than 1,000 people were detained for violating a ban on demonstrations — the largest number of Tibetans detained in a single day in Katmandu. a senior Nepali official reported.

 

In India, more than 2,000 protesters marched in Dharmsala, the heart of exile Tibet or a northern hill town that is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader. At around 11 in the morning, a small spark was ignited when around 5000 Tibetans of all ages and from different walks of life started their peace march from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar. It was highly fitting as Rajghat is a final resting place of Mahatma Gandhi, personification of peace, the messiah of the down trodden who with his 'Salt March' started a non-violent march, peaceful movement which stopped the colonial Juggernaut of the British Empire.

Keeping the "Mahatma" and his ideals in their minds, 5000 high spirited souls walked on their path laid down by him, a movement had restarted. Under the scorching sun, the mass including elderly and a handicap swaying forward covering the distance of 5 kms, marching briskly, chanting slogans denouncing the Chinese regime, seeking support from the world and raising a cry for truth, for justice to Boycott Olympics, for Free Tibet which is rightfully theirs.

"Today, we, above 200 activists from TYC are protesting against the brutal occupation of Tibet by China and the hosting of the most prestigious sporting event worldwide in a country which lacks human spirit and looks down upon democracy and fundamental rights." Vice President Dhondup Dorjee said.

In China, three Americans who planned to hold Tibetan flags during the opening ceremony were detained by police as they travelled to Beijing National Stadium, Students for a Free Tibet executive director Lhadon Tethong said. Police did not confirm the incident, AP reported.

While the spectacle of the opening ceremonies was broadcast on large screens in London's Trafalgar Square, the Chinese Embassy was the focus for protesters railing against the country's treatment of people in Tibet, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. As the Beijing Olympics begin, the world looks on with mixed emotions. It's a moment which should bring the people of world closer together, and Chinese deserve their excitement -- but the Chinese government still hasn't opened meaningful dialogue with H.H the 14th Dalai Lama, or changed its stance on Burma, Darfur and other pressing issues.
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"The 2008 Olympics shouldn't have been offered to the only last dangerous communist regime of China on the basis of their human rights record and particularly Tibet issue, we came here for Tibet independent, and Chinese and IOC authorities politicized the Olympic games and torches, Tibetans are get killed if they protest or to voice for the truth of Tibet, the real terrorist is china not TYC" said, 25 years old, Tenzin Khedup, an activists from TYC.

In San Francisco, Buddhist monks holding up the Tibetan flag and chanting led between 200 and 300 protesters bearing banners across the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday. The crowd, clad in yellow, drew honks and the occasional "Free Tibet" cheers from passing tourists. "The Olympics for China is a giant spectacle, a game, but for us it's much more than that — it's a chance to call attention to what is happening in Tibet," said Tsering Gyurmey, of San Francisco, who is a member of the Tibetan Association of Northern California.

In Paris, a judge reversed a local authority ban on protests around the Chinese Embassy and demonstrators marched there. A man and a woman climbed the front of a five-story building, unfurled a large banner picturing the Olympic rings as handcuffs and attached it to the top floor balcony. Police dragged the pair away when they reached the ground, scaled the building and retrieved the banner, as protesters booed.

Hundreds in Brussels joined the global protest, with five demonstrators standing outside the European Union headquarters with Olympic rings around their necks, bloodstained bandages on their heads and their wrists bound in chains to call for a free Tibet. In Amsterdam, many protesters ran or cycled from the stadium that hosted the 1928 Olympic Games just outside the city, waving Tibetan flags. One protester, Lobsang, 30, said he had fled his monastery in Tibet six years ago after being caught with a book written by the Dalai Lama and beaten. "It's important that we show the world that we stand up for those in prison and dying" in Tibet, he said. "We in free countries should support them."

The Beijing Games have become a focus for activists critical of China on issues ranging from its human rights record and heavy-handed rule in Tibet, to its abortion policies and repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Beijing considers the Olympic Games a huge source of national pride and is doing all it can to make sure they go off without a hitch — such as ugly television images of protesters scuffling with police.

In China, authorities were on their highest alert, guarding against anyone who might try to take the shine off the opening ceremony watched worldwide. Beijing's landmark Tiananmen Square was sealed off. Foreigners who have protested in recent days were deported, and Chinese who did the same were in custody. The tight controls imposed by China's autocratic government have so far ensured that the handful of protests in the host city has been small and relatively quiet.

In semiautonomous Hong Kong, Briton Matt Pearce was detained after unfurling two banners on a major bridge reading: "We want human rights and democracy" and "The people of China want freedom from oppression." Forty other protesters chanted slogans urging China to democratize near one of the venues for the Olympic equestrian event, to be held in Hong Kong.

Tibet activists have stepped up their international campaign against Chinese rule in their homeland since demonstrations erupted in the Tibetan capital in March and Beijing responded with a military crackdown. Those protests were some of the biggest against almost 50 years of Chinese rule. Many Tibetans insist they were an independent nation before Communist troops invaded in 1950, while Beijing says the Himalayan region has been part of its territory for centuries.