Tiibeti kevadine protestilaine Hiina rahvamiilitsa patrull Potala ees
Tibetans stage protests as Tibetan New Year and key anniversaries approach. As Radio Free Asia reports new protests erupting in Tibet and nearby regions, China increased it's security forces across Tibet, according to New York Times.
On February 16, according to one Tibetan source, police cracked down on a group of Tibetans after the detention a day earlier of a solitary protester in Lithang, in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of China’s Sichuan province. Armed police used force to disperse demonstrators and detaining at least 13 people.
The campaign for the boycott of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, has spread via text and e-mail messages and fliers. The holiday begins next Wednesday (February 25, 2009). Crucial areas are Tibetan capital Lhasa, Xiahe in Gansu Province that is home to a large and restive monastery, Tongren in Qinghai Province and Lithang in Sichuan Province that has been locked down this week. Local officials last week confirmed that Western parts of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces, which have large Tibetan communities, are again closed to foreign travelers.
There, the call for a boycott on festivities not only pertains to Losar, but also included the recent Chinese New Year, which many Tibetans in Rebkong celebrated in past years. Normally, the town would convulse in singing, dancing and pyrotechnics during the two-week holiday. But this year, few Tibetans participated.
The boycott aims to use the holiday period to mourn Tibetans who were killed during the government crackdown last March and express concern for those arrested or tortured. These are the first significant protests reported in the run-up to two politically sensitive anniversaries next month in the Himalayan region—of a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule and of protests in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in 2008 that quickly spread throughout several provinces in western China.
Update on Febrary 28, 2009: The monk, identified as Tapey, was shot 27/2/2009, Friday afternoon in the Tibetan county of Aba in Sichuan province, after a thousand monks gathered at a local monastery to protest a ban on celebrating a traditional prayer festival called Monlam. One monk doused himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze, and security forces shot him, international Tibetan advocacy groups and AP reported Saturday, 27/2. (See videos)
Uusi rahutusi on täheldatud juba neljas tiibeti asumis praeguse Puna-Hiina alal. Sichuani provintsi Tiibeti autonoomses Kardze (Ganzi) ringkonnas nädala algul aset leidnud üksikprotesti järel vahistati Vaba Aasia Raadio (RFA) andmeil vähemalt 13 tiibetlast.
Punavõimude närvid on pingul, kuna New Yorgi Timesi teatel levivad ka üleskutsed boikottida läheneva aastavahetuse ametlikke pidustusi.
Boikotti õhutavad radikaliseeruvad noortiibetlased, kelle kannatus hiina surve ja ühteaegu ka dalai laama nn keskteepoliitika pärast on viimsel piiril, kui mitte katkemas.
Eksiilis viibiv laama on valmis mõõdukaks piirkonna ja kultuuriautonoomiaks — Tiibeti suveräänsuse loovutamise hinnaga, kuid Puna-Hiina pole valmis temaga sellegi üle läbi rääkima. Ilmselt püütakse nii elustada mulluseid proteste, nagu ka mälestust 1959. aasta ülestõusu julmast mahasurumisest hiina kommunistide poolt.
Hiina salapolitsei jälgimas tiibeti munki (foto: KyodoNews-AP-NYT) Vt ka Hiinas tehtud videot
Käesolevate arengute tõttu on võimud kohati taas sulgemas ajaloolise Tiibeti alasid välisturistidele ja karmistuvad seal politseijärelevalvet. Sündmuste kõrghetk võib leeda saabuval aastavahetusel (tiibeti keeles 'losar'). Kohaliku kalendri järgi saabub uus aasta talvise pööripäeva kannul teise kuuloomisega, so jaanuari lõpus või veebruaris (loe siit tiibeti kalendrist lähemalt)
Tiibeti järgmine, 2135. aasta saabub seekord 25. II 2009 hommikul, kuuloomise hetkel, so kl 3:35 Eaj.
