Dharamshala — Shilong-led northeast India Tibetan People's Movement held a press conference at the Guwahatu Press Club, to address the ongoing human rights crisis in Tibet, which led to the self-immolation of Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen, in front of UN headquarters in New York, on July 2, 2026. They told the media about who is Tibetan independent activist Lobga Rangzen and why he self-immolated in front of UN headquarters in New York. They further recalled China's invasion of Tibet and denounced the Chinese government's eradication of Tibetan language, identity, culture, and religion in the name of so-called China's “Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress"; finally they rejected the law by tearing the law paper, in front of reporters.
Shilong-led northeast India Tibetan People's Movement, planned to organise a large peaceful protest in Guwahati (Assam) on July 29, 2026, to protest against China's so-called "Ethnic Unity Law" and demand freedom, justice, and respect for human rights in Tibet. Tibetans from various northeastern states—including Dimapur (Nagaland), Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Tezpur (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya), and Guwahati (Assam)—were set to participate; however, due to flooding in Assam, the demonstration had to be postponed, and a press conference was held instead on the originally scheduled date of July 29, 2026.
Two former members of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, Tsering Dolma and Yangchen Dolkar, Tenzin sangmo, media coordinator and Youndoung, secretary of Shilong-led northeast India Tibetan People's Movement held the press conference.
The statement of the Shilong-led northeast India Tibetan People's Movement said," Lobga Rangzen, a 52-year-old Tibetan activist, died after a self-immolation protest he carried out in front of the UN headquarters in New York City on July 2, 2026. He called for the restoration of Tibet's independence and spoke against the imposition of China's "Ethnic Unity and Progress Law" that went into force on July 1 in Tibet. Tibetans reject this law as it is designed to legitimise the imposition of sinicization policies in Tibet. Tibetans are not an ethnic minority of China to be subjected to its ethnic unity law in the name of unity and progress.
"In 1950, the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet, fundomentally changing the course of Tibetan history. Following the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and approximately 80,000 Tibetans fled into exile in India. Since China's military occupation of Tibet, Tibetans have lived under policies that many governments, UN experts and international human rights organisations say have severely restricted fundamental rights.
"More than 170 Tibetans have self-immolated since 2009, pealing in 2012 with 85 self-immolations in one year. All the self-immolators unanimously called for freedom in Tibet, the protection of Tibetan Identity, the return of His Holiness the Dalai lama to Tibet, and unity among Tibetans. His Holiness the 14th Dalal Lama and the exile government continue to make efforts toward peaceful resolution of the Sino-Tibetan conflict through its "Middle Way Approach". However, China has only turned a cold shoulder to the proposals and responds with rhetoric that undermines the spirit of dialogue. It has put the Tibetans in a difficult position of experiencing the worsening human rights situation in Tibet, while watching China intensify its hold on Tibet. Self-Immolations don't occur in a vacuum, but as a result of deep-seated anguish and exhaustion of tangible recourse.
"On July 1, 2026, China's "Ethnic Unity and Progress Law" come into force. According to the Chinese government, the law "promotes national unity". However, eight UN human rights experts and international human rights organisations have warned that it further institutionalizes policies affecting the linguistic, cultural and religious rights of ethnic minorities.
There are major factual inaccuracies in the law and in the UN response:
• Tibet is not part of China to be absorbed into the project of national unity
• Tibetans are minoritised by the Chinese occupation and are not one of the ethnic minority groups China claims to constitute.
• China is ethnically Han Chinese dominated, with no historical, cultural, racial, linguistic or political association with the Tibetans, except as the dominast race of the colonising power.
"On the ground in Tibet, the law has real time impact on education, language, religion and cultural rights as it mandates cultural integration. The single Chinese national identity it promotes includes provisions with extraterritorial application, raising concerns that it could exacerbate the patterns of transnational repression against individuals and organisations globally. For many Tibetans, the law is seen not as a new policy but as the formal codification of decades of assimilation measures through instrumentalisation of law.
"Why should India and northeast care for Tibet. The Tibetan Plateau forms much of the strategic frontier between India and China. Since China's occupation of Tibet, the Himalayan region has become one of Asia's most heavily militarised borders. China has escalated its territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, referring to it as "South Tibet," and maintains unresolved border disputes with India in eastern Ladakh. These disputes have contributed to recurring military tensions, including the 2020 Galwan Valley clash.
"For the people of Northeast India, Tibet is not only a human rights issue—it is also an environmental and regional concern. The Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo) originates on the Tibetan Plateau before flowing through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, sustaining millions of people. Decisions affecting Tibet's rivers and fragile ecosystem-including dam construction, hydropower stations, water diversion, and mining have implications for communities downstream that constitute two billion people."
