Sydney’s Tibetan community will today mark the 65th anniversary of the uprising against the Chinese occupation, calling on the Australian government for stronger action against human rights abuses.
On this day in 1959, thousands of Tibetans took to the streets of the capital Lhasa to resist China’s invasion of Tibet.
The brutal response to the protest led to the loss of many Tibetan lives and forced the Dalai Lama to flee to neighbouring India, as well as 80,000 other Tibetans.
Of those in the Tibetan diaspora, around 3000 live in Australia.
At the rallies today, three generations of Tibetan-Australians, whose lives were affected by that day in 1959, shared their stories with Amnesty International.
They are:
- Lobsang Norbu, who joined the protest in Tibet’s capital Lhasa on that day as a young monk and spent over 20 years in Chinese prison
- Kyinzom Dhongdue, born in a refugee camp in India and currently Amnesty International Australia’s Government Relations Lead
- Tenzin Chokrab Kundeling, a high school student born in Sydney who spends his weekends learning Tibetan language and music
A statement released on behalf of the Tibetan community that will rally today described the significance of the event, saying, “With each passing year, the Tibetan Uprising Day carries an added sense of urgency as the human rights situation in Chinese-occupied Tibet continues to worsen.”
“As much as 10 March marks the dispossession of the Tibetan people and the loss of their homeland, equally, it is a day of showing Tibetans’ unwavering resistance against China’s illegal occupation of Tibet,” the statement continues.
The rally will begin at 9:30am in Martin Place. A peace march to the Chinese consulate in Camperdown will commence at midday, finishing with a rally at 1:30pm.
