Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Wednesday appealed for international pressure on Beijing to halt what he alleged was a mounting Chinese military crackdown in his homeland.
”Chinese authorities have deployed large contingents of troops in these traditional Tibetan regions and have not only started to crack down heavily on the Tibetans allegedly involved in the unrest, but also sealed off the areas where protests have taken place,” he said in a statement.
The Dalai Lama asked ”world leaders, parliamentarians, NGOs and [the] public” to call ”for an immediate end to the current crackdown, the release of all those who have been arrested and detained, and the provision of proper medical treatment”.
Quoting ”reliable sources” in his homeland, the exiled spiritual leader said there were also reports of ”many injured Tibetans being afraid to go to Chinese-run hospitals and clinics”.
”I would also request you to encourage the sending of an independent international body to investigate the unrest and its underlying causes, as well as allow the media and international medical teams to visit the affected areas,” the statement said.
An international presence in Tibet, he said, ”will also exercise a restraining influence on the Chinese authorities”.
Exiled Tibetan leaders have put the toll from the Chinese crackdown at least 135 people dead, with another 1 000 injured and many detained.
China has reported a total of 20 deaths, 19 of them in Lhasa.
Protests against Beijing’s rule of Tibet began in Lhasa on March 10, the anniversary of a 1959 uprising that saw the Dalai Lama go into exile. — AFP
