BOULDER — Forty Tibetans huddled on the ground as their 24-hour hunger strike began on the Pearl Street Mall this evening, a protest and a commemorance of the conditions in their native home.
As a biting temperatures set in at dusk along with wet, heavy snowfall, Tenzin Dhongyal, president of the Tibetan Association of Colorado said the moisture would not effect the protesters’ spirits the way it was dampening the candlelight vigil.
“This is nothing, when people in Tibet are being killed, maimed and denied any kind of freedom,” he said.
China has exacted violent reprisals against demonstrators in riots that began more than a week ago to protest China’s 57-year rule of Tibet. Demonstrations began in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on March 14 and have since spread to neighboring Chinese provinces.
The 11-year-old Tibetan Association of Colorado said the Centennial State is home to more than 200 exiles, with the first significant numbers arriving in 1993, as a result of the Immigration Act of 1990.
The Colorado organization cites the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan Government in Exile report that:
China has accused the Dalai Lama, a U.S. Congressional Gold Medal recipient last year, of staging the riots as part of a push for independence for Tibet. On March 16, he called for international response to China’s “cultural genocide” in Tibet.
Chinese leaders have vowed to crush the dissent, arguing recent events prove the Dalai Lama is not just a religious figure, but a political activist trying to sabotage Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has been in exile since a failed uprising against China in 1959.
Buddhist monks, who have waved American flags to mock the Chinese government, have denied his involvement.
The events in the Himalayan region could overshadow the Beijing Olympics in August. President Bush has said American athletes will attend, as will he.
U.S. officials, as well as Japan, Poland and other countries, have asked China for restraint. Events in Tibet have sparked demonstrations across the globe.
“As the last Super Power, the United States has moral authority,” said Dhongyal. “China fears the United States because the United States can hurt its economy. And if China’s economy goes down, so will its nationalism.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
