Guwahati: As China is preparing for the next Winter Olympic Games, the Tibetan freedom fighters around the world start raising strong voices against the worst human rights records in the authoritarian country.
They exclaimed that the IOC’s decision to hold a prestigious and influential games in China is nothing less than an endorsement of all atrocities against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers, and southern Mongolians by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Beijing 2022 Olympics are intended to represent international unity. This is the message that will be broadcast to the world. But this February, when millions sit down to watch these games, what they do not see is that beyond the screen there are Tibetan nomads who are being forcefully removed from their lands, Tibetan children who must learn Mandarin in place of their mother tongue, and Tibetan activists sent to prison for merely opposing China’s repressive policies,” said the Tibetan freedom fighters.
In a statement issued by the revolutionary, they also commented that the participating athletes would not see that, not far beyond that arena, Uyghurs are being sent to concentration camps and Hongkongers are being imprisoned for standing up for freedom and democracy.
Activists belonging to Students for a Free Tibet demonstrated in Greece recently to send a clear message to the IOC that hosting these games in a country committing genocide is unacceptable. They reminded of Tenzin Nyima, who died earlier this year from beatings and torture in a Chinese prison. The 19 years old’s crime was handing out leaflets calling for Tibetan independence. But in any way, no amount of censorship can hide the truth, they asserted.
“Growing up, I always heard stories about Tibet, my father’s homeland, and celebrated my culture – dressing up in chuba, making momos, and singing my heart out to Tibetan folk songs. Yet one disconcerting question always lingered in my mind- why could I not go to Tibet?” said Tsela Zoksang, a Tibetan exile, adding that his family attends the Tibetan National Uprising program every year, where Tibetan activists chant for slogans for a free Tibet.
“China has no business hosting the 2022 Olympics given that the CCP is hell-bent on trying to eliminate the Tibetan identity, genociding the Uyghur people, destroying democracy in Hong Kong, and restricting the language rights of southern Mongolians,” said a Tibetan-Canadian activist Chemi Lhamo, adding that only a boycott of these ‘Genocide Games’ is the solution to address the unprecedented crimes.
