Persuade China not to use force: Tibetan exiles

April 23rd, 2011 - 8:10 pm ICT by IANS  

Dharamsala, April 23 (IANS) The Tibetan government-in-exile Saturday once again appealed to the international community to persuade China not to use force against locals in northeastern Tibet.

The situation in Kirti monastery is grim following self-immolation by a monk there, it said.

“We strongly appeal to the international community, governments and parliaments to persuade China not to use force to resolve the crisis that is facing the monks in Ngaba,” the Kashag (cabinet) said in a statement here.

The Kirti monastery, housing nearly 2,500 monks, has been completely surrounded since March 16 by Chinese armed forces, who at one point prevented food and other vital supplies from entering the monastic compound, it said.

The cabinet also demanded the release of the detained monks.

“We hope that the issue will be raised and discussed during the annual meeting on human rights between the US and China next week. We make the same appeal to other countries to raise this issue in their bilateral dialogues with China,” the statement said.

Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has already made an appeal to the international community in this regard.

“I am very concerned that this situation, if allowed to go on, may become explosive with catastrophic consequences for the Tibetans in Ngaba,” he said.

The tense situation arose when monk Phuntsok set himself afire March 16 to protest the massive repression of the widespread peaceful protests across Tibet in 2008.

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