Bengaluru, India – With the aim to bring international attention to China’s gross human rights violations in Tibet and East Turkestan, and to boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) organised a motorbike rally from Bengaluru to New Delhi on World Human Rights Day.
On December 10, 2021, the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) Samyeling Delhi organised a five-point bike rally from Bengaluru to the national capital, New Delhi, urging people from across the world to support the Tibetan cause.
The five points of the bike rally were to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, release the 11th Panchen Lama and all political prisoners imprisoned by China, and remind people of the Chinese government's atrocities in Tibet. They also mentioned that there have been 167 self-immolations of Tibetans since 1998. While thanking India for its support, they urged people to remember 1962 (the Sino-Indian War). Tibet was an independent nation.
"We call upon and appeal to the basic human conscience of all people and boycott Beijing Olympics 2022 as an expression of solidarity with the people in Tibet, East Turkestan, South Mongolia, and Hong Kong who are suffering under Chinese government’s repression and oppression," said an official statement from the RTYC Samyeling.
They urged all international governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, and sports personalities to turn the spotlight of the Games on the ongoing human rights violations by the Chinese government and to hold the host country accountable for its serious actions.
"We cannot and should not keep sports away from basic moral principles. The international community cannot go on like business as usual with China regarding its repressions at home and aggression abroad from India's Himalayan borders to Taiwan and the South China Sea," the statement added.
The motorbike rally was initiated by Sonam Tsering, General Secretary of the TYC, Rinzin, Member of Tibetan Parliament, and other Indian dignitaries. There were seven Tibetan activists on motorbikes, who will be riding throughout the campaign. They wore the flag of the map of Tibet and also carried the Tibetan flags(snow lion flag) on their bikes. 30 Tibetan college student bikers saw them off from Bangalore to Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education as they rode to Kollegal.
"I urge the international community to hold China accountable for the spread of the Chinese virus and human rights violations in Tibet and other colonized countries by boycotting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics," Sonam Tsering said.
“I request my fellow countrymen to commit themselves to the greater cause of Tibet and contribute to the Tibetan freedom movement at their best capacity,” he further added.
International events like the Olympic Games should be a celebration of human brotherhood, freedom, and dignity. They should never be sold out and become a platform for totalitarian and imperialist regimes to whitewash crimes against humanity.
On the occasion of World Human Rights Day, the RYTC Minnesota organised a protest in Downtown Minnesota. Tibetan Activists held banners that read: “No Rights, No Games”, “Boycott Beijing 2022”, “China out of Tibet”, “Support Human Rights”, and “Support Tibet”.
Further, protests were held across the world to condemn the Chinese government’s aggression and cultural genocide of ethnic groups. Members of the Tibetan and Uighur community protested in many countries including Austria, France, the UK, Switzerland, and Australia by organising protests and candlelight vigils.
