This week, people across the world took to the streets to commemorate the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day!
On this day we honor the sacrifices of thousands of Tibetans who took to the streets of Lhasa on 10 March 1959 and called for Tibet’s independence and the removal of the occupying Chinese military forces. They were met with a brutal crackdown over the following weeks that killed thousands and saw the entire city of Lhasa, including the Potala Palace, bombed relentlessly by mortar fire.
Over the course of the 65 years of Chinese occupation, Tibetan National Uprising Day represents an unbroken chain of remembrance and resistance for Tibetans and allies.
The recent protests in Kham Dege show us that the Tibetan people continue to reject China’s occupation of their homeland. The risks they have taken to share information out into exile calls us to amplify their voices.
From Dharamsala to Japan to London to New York, slogans echoed throughout the streets; many of these slogans were the exact same ones that echoed across Barkhor Street in Lhasa during the first ever Tibetan Uprising Day 65 years ago.
Tibetans demand freedom and human rights—then, now, and until Tibet is free.
Toronto photograph by @brian.chiem