Exile Tibet Parliament condemns Tawu shooting

Dharamshala: The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has condemned the Chinese police firing on Tibetans celebrating the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Tawu region of eastern Tibet on 6 July, 2013.

The Chinese government has imposed strict restrictions on any form of celebrations; Tibetans however celebrated the 78th birthday of His Holiness in several Tibetan areas incorporated to into China's Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, such as Tawu, Karze, and Drakgo in Sichuan, and Golok, Tawo, Labrang, Chabcha, and Kumbum in Qinghai.

"Celebrating the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is a Nobel peace laureate and the supreme spiritual leader of Tibetans, has nothing to do with politics," the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile said in a statement.

In Tawu, hundreds of local Tibetans joined monks of Nyisto monastery and nuns of Geden nunnery for a grand prayer ceremony on Machen Pomra, a sacred hill in their region, to celebrate the auspicious day. A large number of Chinese armed police arrived there to disrupt the prayer service. The Tibetans told the police that it is their tradition to hold such prayer ceremony. But the police opened fire on them and pelted stones on a car, which left several Tibetans severely injured. Those injured include Jangchup Dorjee,Tsering Dhondup and Tashi, monks of Nyitso monastery; Urgyen Tashi from Dakchu town; Nyendak from Mikya town and Tashi from Geden Choeling nunnery. Tashi Sonam sustained head injuries while Urgyen Tashi still lies in a critical condition in a hospital in Chengdu.

"Celebrating birthday is a quintessential part of the culture followed by people across the world. The indiscriminate firing by Chinese police on Tibetans holding prayer services to mark His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday is an extremely brutal and inhuman act. We strongly urge the peace and truth loving governments to condemn such human rights violations committed by the Chinese government in Tibet," the statement noted.