Tibetan activists detained for storming Chinese embassy ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister’s arrival in Delhi
DHARAMSALA, 1 March: Tibetan activists protested in the Indian capital and urged the G20 Nations to protect Tibetan Children and raise the issue of China’s rampant sinicization in Tibet on Wednesday ahead of the Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s scheduled visit to India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meet.
Condemning Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s visit to India for the G-20 conference, activists from Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet-India (SFT) and National Democratic Party stormed the Chinese embassy in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi shouting slogans demanding Qin Gang return to China.
The 15 activists from the three Tibetan NGOs, who were all detained by the police also called on the G20 Nations to question China over Beijing’s harsh policies aimed at forcefully assimilating Tibetan people culturally, religiously and linguistically through a residential school system that UN experts said last week has affected around a million Tibetan children.
“As many as 1.2 million Tibetan students (80% of Tibetan Youth) are separated from their families and are forced into Chinese Colonial Boarding Schools, where they are stripped of their Tibetan identity; including language, religion, and culture and forced to learn Mandarin and the Chinese way of life,” The NGOs have said.
In a parallel protest, the activist also unfurled banners from a flyover overlooking the road which Qin Gang’s motorcade will pass in India’s Capital which read “Qin Gang Go Back!”, “G20 Protect Tibetan Children.”
However, the activists were in for a rude surprise as their banners and posters have been torn and taken down.
“Our banner and poster are torn and taken down. If this shows the insecurity level of #CCPChina then we will continue to do it BUT this also shows the suppression of freedom of speech of #Tibetans even in a free country,” the activist have rued in disappointment.
Additionally, the security officials’ heavy-handedness in stopping the protest which saw them shoved even inside the police bus has deeply hurt the activists and Tibetan netizens.
Like many Tibetan netizens, Tibetan parliamentarian Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar has taken to social media to call out the authorities on how they handled the situation.
“Such poor treatment by Delhi Police!!! You’ve managed to please #China!!! Where’s the freedom to peacefully protest and express in #india??,” she said in a Facebook post.
She has further questioned New Delhi for extending the invitation to a Chinese Foreign Minister and said, “Inviting a murderous nation and its leadership!! Have you forgiven China for killing our jawans that includes our Tibetan youth protecting India?”
Qin Gang is to attend the ‘First Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting’ (ACWG) of G20 to be held at Gurugram, Haryana from 1 – 3 March 2023 at the invitation of India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, media reports said.
He is scheduled to land at Delhi Airport in the wee hours of Thursday, making it the first high-level visit from China in almost one year.
