Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala observe 50 years of Chinese oppression

Dharamsala, Mar 28 (ANI): Hundreds of Tibetans, including monks and nuns, marched through the streets of Dharamsala on Saturday to observe 50 years of Chinese oppression in their homeland.

China marks March 28 as its inaugural Serfs' Emancipation Day, marking the date in 1959 when Chinese troops took direct control of the government in Lhasa after being rushed there in to quell an uprising.

However, the Tibetan exiles mark the day with protests and demonstration, as they believe since that day they have suffered unimaginable religious, cultural and political repression at the hand of the Chinese authorities.

Holding placards, flags and banners, the Tibetans exiles from various organisations took out the protest march raising slogans against the Chinese Government.

"China believes that this is the liberation of Tibet. While for us, its 50 years of enslavement. And China sends out this propaganda all over the world that this is the 50 years of liberation of Tibet. They send out video footages, photographs and make drama all over the world trying to fool the world that China has liberated. For us, it is the enslavement, the torture and the death and the genocide that China is doing in Tibet," said Tenzin Tsondu, a Tibetan activist.

China marked the day by declaring it as the annual public holiday in Tibet and with testimonials by Tibetans on the merits of Communist rule, denunciations of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and vows to crush any attempts at independence.

China has kept Tibetan areas under lockdown this month, which is not only the anniversary of last year's riots, but also marks 50 years since the failed uprising against Chinese rule and the Dalai Lama's flight into exile in India.

Beijing has also pulled out all the stops to convey its version of the region's history and to brand the Dalai Lama as a separatist who threatens stability. (ANI)