A Young student killed protecting his friend – A round up of events

Phayul[Saturday, January 28, 2012 08:22]

By Tendar Tsering Tharpa seen here in an undated photo. (Photo/Phayul) DHARAMSHALA, January 28: The Tibetan shot in yesterday’s police violence in Ngaba Bharma Shang has been identified as a young school student. Urgyen, a 20-year old student was shot dead while he, along with a group of local Tibetans tried to protect his friend and school mate Tharpa from being arrested by Chinese police. At around 12 noon local time on Thursday, Tharpa put up signed flyers in the locality, declaring that until the demands of the Tibetans who have self-immolated are met, Tibetans will never abandon their struggle and continue to organise more campaigns. Two hours later, Chinese security personnel arrived at Tharpa’s house to arrest him when a crowd of Tibetans obstructed the police from taking his away. In the confrontation, Chinese police opened fire on the unarmed crowd killing Urgyen and injuring many more. The situation in Bharma Shang is being described as very tense with thousands of Tibetans reportedly converging from the nearby areas. This was the third case in a week when Chinese police opened fire on Tibetans, killing at least a dozen protesters. Earlier protests occurred in the neighbouring regions of Drango and Serthar. According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), around 1000 Tibetans at Dzumenda township in Dzamtang region of Ngaba Tibet, held a candlelight march on January 23. "The leaders of the march addressed the crowd saying this New Year should be dedicated to those martyrs who gave their lives to protest against the Chinese government. And in solidarity with those martyrs, on New Year days people should mourn the death of the martyrs and that there should be no celebration. A speech listing the names and deeds of all the self-immolation protesters was also delivered," said the TCHRD in a release today. Tibetans burn Chinese flag In other reports, Tibetans in Amdo Golok Pema district took down the Chinese national flag from a local Chinese office building and burned it. After pulling down the Chinese flag, the Tibetans hoisted the Tibetan flag along with a photo of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. A large number of Chinese security personnel arrived at the scene and started beating the gathered Tibetans. Many were reportedly arrested.  Another source from the region told Tibetans in exile that a monk was arrested by Chinese police while he was trying to set himself on the fire in the same region. Tibetans block road, stop military convoy  Upon seeing a convoy of Chinese military trucks speeding towards Drango, Tibetans in Tawu poured on to the roads and stopped the armed Chinese soldiers from their onwards journey.  Chinese security personnel shot down at least six Tibetans on Monday in Drango for carrying out a peaceful protest calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet. The military convoy of around 40 trucks were reinforcements for Chinese troops in Drango. Tibetans in Tawu also laid down road blocks along the road. A confrontation between the police and local Tibetans followed, after which a tight security cauldron has been thrown around Tawu.