Tibetan Uprising

March 30, 2008

Contact:
B. Tsering, President, Tibetan Women’s Association +91 9418 792 810
Tenzin Choeying, National Director, Students for a Free Tibet India, +91 9816 368 335
Tsering Choedup, South-East Asia Coordinator, International Tibet Support Network +91 9819418221605
Youdon Aukutsang, Tibetan Member of Parliament & Tibetan Solidarity Committee Delhi Chapter, +91 9999915061

WORLDWIDE PROTESTS PLANNED TO COINCIDE WITH OLYMPIC TORCH ARRIVAL IN BEIJING
Million person online petition calls for China to talk to Dalai Lama

New Delhi – Tibetans and Indian supporters in New Delhi will participate in a Global Day of Action for Tibet on March 31st, when the Olympic Torch is set to arrive in Beijing. Along with protests, vigils, and prayer ceremonies intended to highlight the suffering of the Tibetan people under China’s current crackdown, the world’s fastest-growing online petition– calling for China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama–will be presented to Chinese government representatives and decision-makers in more than 80 cities in 27 countries. Tibetans in exile and Tibet supporters are calling for all Tibetan areas to be withdrawn from the Torch Relay.

Tibetans and supporters will present over 100 boxes, each representing 10,000 signatories, of a petition calling for China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama. The petition, which was created by the international advocacy network Avaaz.org, has to date gathered over 1.35 million signatures from every country. In only 7 days, the petition had over a million signatures, making it the world’s fastest-growing online petition. Tibetans and their Indian supporters will be joined by Mr. Rajiv Vohra, a Gandhian and Director of Non-Violence Peace Force Asia, Dr. Anand Kumar, Professor of Sociology from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, as well as parliamentarians from the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and leaders of the most prominent Tibetan non-governmental organizations.

Date: March 31, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm
Place: Jantar Mantar

More than one hundred and fifty Tibet support organizations have called on the International Olympic Committee President to cancel the planned visits of the Olympic torch to all Tibetan areas in May and June. The organizations, part of the International Tibet Support Network (ITSN) have also sent letters to Torch Relay sponsors – Coca Cola, Lenovo, and Samsung – calling on them to withdraw their sponsorship unless Tibet is dropped from the route, and will now be appealing to National Olympic Committees to support their demands.

The Tibetan Women’s Association, the GuChuSum Ex-Political Prisoner’s Movement of Tibet, the National Democratic Party of Tibet, and Students for a Free Tibet India, are all part of the International Tibet Support Network, a global coalition of Tibet related non-governmental organizations, which works to maximise the effectiveness of the worldwide Tibet movement.