Dharamshala: On December 10th, Members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), India delivered more than 50 video messages to the Prime Minister of India urging him to participate in a multilateral action for Tibet with other world leaders. Numerous individuals in various professions expressed their solidarity with Tibet through these videos.
This video promotion was part of a larger campaign that included 120 messages. The messages directly speak to the wave of self-immolations in Tibet where the toll has now reached a shocking 95. The purpose of the campaign, which occurred on International Human Rights Day, focuses on Tibetans and Tibet supporters who took part in global solidarity rallies and demonstrations calling on world leaders to jointly take action for Tibet in response to the intensified crisis in there.
"It is hard to imagine circumstances so extreme that they drive people to light their bodies on fire, but this is the reality today for Tibetans living under Chinese rule,” said Sarah Haq, Chapter Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet, Delhi. “The humanitariancrisis unfolding in Tibet demands immediate and coordinated action bythe European Union, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other world leaders. It pains me to see that my country India has continued to?remain silent on this matter which requires urgent attention.
Multilateral action is the only immediate way to pressure Beijing to?end the repression that is driving Tibetans to give up their lives in these heartbreaking acts of protest.”
Instead of addressing Tibetan grievances, however, the Chinese government has increased its military presence in the Tibetan plateau, further aggravating the conditions that are driving the devastating wave of self-immolation protests. Beijing's new leaders under Xi Jinping reinforced, on December 5, its hardline position on such protests by announcing that anyone caught aiding or inciting self-immolations will be charged with murder.
