Czech deputy PM concerned over Tibet situation
March 2nd, 2012 - 6:38 pm ICT by IANS
Dharamsala, March 2 (IANS) Czech Deputy Prime Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has expressed concern over the grim situation in Tibet at the UN Human Rights meeting in Geneva, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based here said Friday.
“With serious unease, we follow the continued escalation of tensions in Tibetan areas of China as evidenced by a spate of self-immolations,” Schwarzenberg said.
He said last year 22 Tibetans decided to act in such a “tragic way in order to wake up the establishment and attract our attention”.
The statement by Schwarzenberg, who is also the foreign minister, was made during the UN meeting Feb 29.
Twenty-four monks, nuns and other Tibetans have set themselves afire in the past 12 months in Tibet to protest China’s policies and to demand return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, according to the CTA.
“The situation inside Tibet is extremely grim. Tibet is virtually sealed off. The military build-up is very heavy,” Thubten Samphel, a CTA spokesperson, told IANS.
CTA said the Chinese have launched a massive crackdown on Tibetans, who visited India for the Kalachakra teachings presided over by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya in Bihar in January.
The Dalai Lama along with many of his supporters fled Tibet and took refuge in India when Chinese troops moved in and took control of Lhasa in 1959.
Some 140,000 Tibetans now live in exile, over 100,000 of them in different parts of India. Over six million Tibetans live in what is now known as Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
- Tibet situation grim, needs global intervention, say exiles - Feb 24, 2012
- Tibet situation volatile amid Chinese crackdown on dissidents, say exiles (Lead) - Feb 24, 2012
- China, not Dalai Lama, to be blamed for self-immolations: Sangay - Mar 10, 2012
- China, not Dalai Lama, cause for self-immolation: Sangay (Lead) - Mar 10, 2012
- Dalai Lama to attend prayers for peace in Tibet - Oct 17, 2011
- Two self-immolations in Tibet - Mar 05, 2012
- Refrain from self-immolation, Tibetian government-in-exile appeals - Sep 02, 2012
- Self-immolations in Tibet politically motivated: Lawmaker - May 16, 2012
- 'Another monk has self-immolated in Tibet' - Jul 17, 2012
- Not encouraging self-immolations in Tibet: Dalai Lama - Nov 19, 2011
- Exiled Tibetans ask China to stop repressive policy - Nov 04, 2011
- Adopt liberal policies for Tibet, exiles urge China - Jan 07, 2012
- Karmapa concerned over unrest in Tibet (Lead) - Feb 06, 2012
- Exiles predict more trouble in Tibet - Mar 17, 2012
- Exiles seek UN intervention in Tibet - Mar 21, 2012
Tags: bihar, central tibetan administration, chinese troops, cta, dalai lama, deputy prime minister, feb 29, gaya, kalachakra teachings, karel schwarzenberg, lhasa, massive crackdown, nuns, spate, thubten samphel, tibet autonomous region, tibetan areas, tibetan spiritual leader, tibetans, unease