Students for a Free Tibet India Holds Solidarity Rally for Language Rights in Tibet

More than 350 people took part in a candlelight march and rally organized by Students for a Free Tibet India to support the recent protests for language rights in Tibet. 30 Tibetan students who recently escaped from Tibet led the march carrying banners in support of Tibetan language rights and each students displaying a letter of the Tibetan alphabet.

SFT members worldwide are taking action in support of the courageous protests by the more than 6,000 students in Tibet in recent weeks to protest the Chinese government’s newly announced language policy in the Tibetan province of Amdo (currently annexed into China’s Qinghai Province) designed to replace Tibetan language with Chinese by 2015.

Read SFT’s press release here:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2010

Contacts: Tenzin Choedon, +919882371332
Tenzin Dorjee, +919736514721

STUDENT ACTIVISTS MARCH IN SUPPORT OF TIBETAN STUDENTS’ DEMANDS FOR LANGUAGE RIGHTS IN TIBET

Dharamsala, India – Students for a Free Tibet India held a candlelight march and rally today in solidarity with Tibetan students in Tibet who are asserting their right to study in their own language. Last week, an estimated 6,000 Tibetans, mostly students, in the Tibetan province of Amdo (Chinese: Qinghai Province) protested the Qinghai Provincial Government’s decision to replace Tibetan with Chinese as the medium of instruction in Tibetan schools. Tibetan students in the neighbouring Tibetan province of Kham (Chinese: Gansu Province and Sichuan Province) and in Beijing have held solidarity protests.

“Language is the foundation of Tibetan culture and this recent attack on our language reveals the Chinese governments’ sinister attempt to assimilate Tibetans into Chinese society,” said Tenzin Choedon, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India. “Students across Tibet have spoken out clearly against this discriminatory policy and students worldwide are taking action to amplify their voices and support their demand for freedom of language.”

The protests by Tibetans followed similar protests by Cantonese speakers earlier this year. In July 2010, nearly 8,000 Chinese people marched in Guangzhou, China to protest Beijing’s plans to replace Cantonese with Mandarin in state television broadcasts. Authorities relented, agreeing to maintain Cantonese language broadcasts, and no widespread crackdown on the protesters occurred.

“It is the inalienable right of every Tibetan to learn in their own language. We call on governments around the world to press the Chinese government to respect Tibetan language rights,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. The Tibetan students’ actions over the last two weeks are the largest protests in Tibet since 2008.

Tibetan teachers are also concerned about the new language policy. More than two hundred teachers signed an appeal letter on October 10th to Chinese authorities emphasizing the negative impact the policy would have on their students’ academic performance and intellectual growth. Just days ago, Radio Free Asia reported that Uyghur students and teachers were also expressing widespread support for the Tibetan language protests.

Students for a Free Tibet India collected petition signatures during the rally addressed to China’s Ambassador to India, Mr. Zhang Yan, calling on the Chinese government to allow Tibetans to use Tibetan as the medium of instruction. The petition also calls on Chinese authorities to ensure that no one involved in the protests be persecuted for their actions.

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