Dharamshala — During the Tibetan New Year (Losar), China tightened its grip on Tibetans by deploying massive troops in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Chinese government showed the world that Tibetans were happy during Losar via state TV, but in reality, China deployed large numbers of soldiers, troops, special police, armed policemen and firemen to control their every move.
The Tibetan New Year, a significant annual event in the Tibetan calendar, is observed on February 28, 2025. The Tibetans in Tibet and in exile, engages in celebratory activities from February 28 to 14, 2025. Notably, the Tibetans in Tibet faces constraints imposed by the Chinese authorities, who regulate their expressions of festivity, including the performance of dance and song, with a focus on praising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leadership, as well as songs expressing gratitude towards the Chinese government is permitted. The Chinese authorities also allow them to dance and sing in public, but they are surrounded by Chinese troops and police, and their every move is closely monitored. The performance of songs in honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is strictly prohibited during this period.
A source confirms that the Chinese Communist Party deployed the army, special police, armed police, public security, traffic police, civil police, and fire-fighting army, among others, to control Tibetans in U-tsang, Amdo, and Kham, the three provinces of Tibet, on the occasion of the 2025 Tibetan New Year. Videos also show that large armed forces and police are checking all Tibetans and vehicles in the streets and on the roads on the eve of Losar.
A video showing that Tibetans were dancing in a circle, that is what we usually see, but in reality, a large number of armed police surrounding the dance circle and their every move is closely monitored. Horribly and shockingly, the number of dancers and armed police is almost the same, but we don't usually see this kind of situation in their propagative videos or on state television.
Another source said, “Chinese authorities deployed large number of armed force, particular fire-fighting army, because they fear that when there is gathering, Tibetans will protest against Chinese government and also self-immolate in the public to protest against CCP and calling for free Tibet and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
The Chinese government has tightened its restrictions on Tibetans every year, banning them from monasteries, prohibiting Tibetan children from becoming monks or nuns, and forcing them into Chinese colonial boarding schools to learn Chinese language, culture and ideology. Tibetans inside Tibet are not allowed to leave Tibet, nor are Tibetans in exile allowed to visit family members in Tibet. The Chinese government has not only banned Tibetans from travelling and meeting their parents and children, but has also violated freedom of expression, religion and education.
China-Tibet: The one-thing you need to know:
Over the past 70 decades, there has been ongoing political repression, social discrimination, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation, particularly due to Chinese migration to Tibet which is fueling intense resentment among the people of occupied Tibet.
The communist-totalitarian state of China began its invasion of Tibet in 1949, reaching complete occupation of the country in 1959. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, 20% of the nation's population of six million, have died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation. In addition, over 99% of Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, temples, and shrines, have been looted or decimated resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures.
Until 1949, Tibet was an independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse of the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of Buddhism. Religion was a unifying theme among the Tibetans -- as was their own language, literature, art, and world view developed by living at high altitudes, under harsh conditions, in a balance with their environment.
