Dear
Joe Omigo, Thank you for your email. For a brief description on
the 10th March......As it was the Chinese forces had arrived in
Lhasa the capital of Tibet in 1959. It was in the March when the
Chinese forces, stationed on the outskirts of Lhasa, invited His
Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama to a stage show that they claimed
to have prepared especially for the Dalai Lama.
What
aroused the suspicion of the Tibetan people at that time was that
the invitation came with a sort of command stating that the Dalai
Lama should not be accompanied by anyone, not even His personal
bodyguards. The Tibetan people had lost all trust with the Chinese.
When this news spread in Lhasa, without having to announce, Tibetans
from all walks of life, old and young came to the Norbulinga (the
summer palace of the Dalai Lama) and formed a human shield shouting
long life prayers for the Dalai Lama. They pleaded with the Dalai
Lama not to attend the program. The Dalai Lama sensing the volcanic
situation, which could erupt anytime, assured His people that
He would not attend the program and asked them to return home.
He sensed that the Chinese forces would come to get Him to attend
the program and His people outside would not allow them to do
so and ultimately this would lead to massacre of His peace loving
and unarmed people. His Holiness was advised to escape through
a secret passage and leave the palace, as it was life-threatening
to be there. With a heavy heart, He slipped through the people
dressed as a common man into safety.
Click
on images to see enlargements
The
Chinese were enraged to learn that the Dalai Lama had turned down
their invitation and what happened next was as the Dalai Lama has
foreseen. The Chinese started bombarding the palace and many thousands
of Tibetans who were there as human shield were massacred mercilessly
by the Chinese force. The Tibetans tried to fight back with sticks,
stones and knifes. This incident spread quickly and swiftly through
to other parts of Tibet and there was wide spread resentment against
the Chinese. People rose up against the oppressors that day in many
parts of Tibet.
This day, March 10, 1959, went down in the history of Tibet as the
First National Uprising Day against the Chinese invasion. To this
day, we Tibetans in exile all over the world commemorate this day
to remember our brothers and sisters who gave away their lives selflessly
and our message to the Chinese that we Tibetans will never forget
this and all the other atrocities that they had let loose on us
Tibetans. That our commitment towards our struggle is even stronger
and will continue to grow stronger with each passing year.
March
10, 2004 marked the 45th Uprising Day.
My regards to Sazzy and Sheri. That's it Omigo, Take care my friend,
Adeious, Wangden Tibetans observe Uprising Day
Dear
Joe,
The
second photo (left) of the two person posing are of those two persons
who had volunteered to sit for the hunger strike unto death in year
1997 or '98 I am not sure but their strike was broken forcefully
by the Indian police after about 45days. One person named Thupten
Ngodup burned himself to death in protest of the Indian police high
handedness. He is a martyr. The one on left is Karma and the other
on the right is Yongdung. Enjoy the photos,
Take
care and Adeious Omigo Wangden
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