Delhi Sept 23: Thirteen days and 312 hours later, without any food, the three Tibetan Youth Congress Executive members on hunger strike (2male, 1 female) bodies are weak but their minds are strong and their will to go on with conviction and determination is even greater. On Sept 10, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) the largest Tibetan NGO in exile working for the freedom and independence of Tibet, initiated this “Indefinite Hunger Strike” for Tibet campaign in Delhi, with demands urging the United Nations for an Immediate Intervention in Tibet.
This campaign is aimed at the United Nations who has a responsibility to stand up and speak up for truth and justice. Resolutions on Tibet have been passed at the UN General Assembly but the communist Chinese government is never held accountable for their actions.
Since the People’s Republic of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet in 1949, the Communist Party has enforced a series of campaigns and policies to systematically stifle Tibetan culture, language, identity, and spiritual traditions and destroy Tibet’s fragile environment. Tibet today faces a life and death struggle.
TYC demands to the UN:
1. United Nations member states to raise the issue of Tibet at its General Assembly and Human Rights Council Session
2. Urge China to address the demands of the Self Immolations in Tibet
3. Urge China to give evidence that the 11th Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima is alive
4. Send a fact-finding UN delegation to assess the current critical situation in Tibet
5. Urge China to release all political prisoners
Tibetan Youth Congress also urges the American President Barack Obama to speak strongly on the issue of Tibet with Xi Jinping when they meet in Washington DC. “Leaders of the world have a responsibility to speak up for those oppressed”, stated TYC President Tenzing Jigme. “We ask that the President not only raise the issue of Tibet with Xi but send a strong message that human rights and freedoms of Tibetans must be respected”, added Jigme. North American chapters of Tibetan Youth Congress will submit a memorandum and organize protests during the meeting in DC.
Since 2009, 149 Tibetans have sacrificed their lives self-immolating themselves for their nations freedom inside Tibet and in exile. These brave men and women who set themselves on fire have called for the ‘Return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet’, ‘Independence for Tibet’ and ‘Freedom in Tibet’ etc. However, instead of addressing the demands of these courageous Tibetans, the Chinese government has tightened its control over Tibet and introduced new policies to clamp down on peaceful protestors.
On hearing the news that the delegations of the United States and the European Union who TYC has been lobbying have raised the Tibet issue at the ongoing 30th Human Rights Council session in Geneva, TYC VP Tamdin Hrichoe who is one of the participants of the Indefinite Hunger Strike said, “reports that the US and EU have raised the issue of Tibet at the Human Rights Council session is welcoming and one of our demands, but we will continue until the aims and objectives are met”.
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