CHANDIGARH: On the 91st birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, the Kashag (Cabinet) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government-in-exile, urged the international community to legally review the 'Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress of China' with urgency.
The Cabinet asked the international community to act before the policy permanently reshapes the future of Tibet and other non-Chinese nationalities. It also alleged that the law is designed to systematically erase Tibetan identity, language, religion and culture.
The statement issued by CTA stated that the law, which came into force on July 1, institutionalises policies aimed at assimilating Tibetans and other ethnic minorities into a singular Chinese national identity by reshaping their language, culture, history, religion and education.
"China has been carrying out a policy of forced transfer of Tibetan children under the age of majority to boarding schools in a move that deprives them of the opportunity to preserve their own language, script and Tibetan identity and culture. The children have also been placed in a situation where they are deprived of parental love and care," the statement added.
"In connection with this situation, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, gave a profound speech at the beginning of this year, stating that one should be cognisant of the fact that the Tibetan language is the essence of Tibetan culture," the statement also said.
The Tibetan administration also expressed concern over provisions that seek to extend China’s legal jurisdiction beyond its borders by targeting individuals and organisations accused of promoting what Beijing describes as ethnic separatism.
"Such clauses, it warned, could undermine internationally recognised freedoms of expression, association and advocacy while setting a dangerous precedent for the extraterritorial application of domestic laws,” it said.
The Cabinet warned that the legislation could have far-reaching consequences if left unchallenged by the international community.
"We therefore request governments and parliaments across the world, the relevant sections of the United Nations, to legally review the 'Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress of China with urgency'. We request such a review with a plea that all available measures be employed to prevent the crime of ethnic genocide from being committed," it said.
"In particular, we call on the leaders of local and central governments of China to thoroughly review their stance to bring to an immediate end to their hardline policies of violent repression and relentless oppression being implemented in Tibet. We wish to reiterate that the government of China should, instead, initiate negotiations in an effort to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict in a meaningful way,’’ it stated.
The Kashag also highlighted the self-immolation of Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen (Lobsang Palden) outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York on July 2.
"On the day after the government of China implemented its 'Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress', a patriotic Tibetan hero named Lobsang Palden, also known as Rangzen Loga, a resident of New York City, took a Tibetan national flag on the square in front of the United Nations Headquarters and planted it on a crossroad," Kashag added.
"He also distributed placards with slogans such as “China Out of Tibet” written on them. He then set himself on fire in protest against the variety of policies being implemented by the Chinese government, directed at the destruction of Tibet. Reports soon emerged that he did not survive,’’ Kashag highlighted.
"Besides him, since 2009, over a hundred and fifty Tibetan people in Tibet and in exile have carried out self-immolations in a series of protests. In the history of the world, these protests remain the longest campaign with the highest number of non-violent acts of self-immolations,’’ it stated.