Students call for free Tibet
By: Edgar Zuniga Jr.
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: News
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One young girl in a multi-colored traditional Tibetan dress held a sign that read, "Free Tibet."
About 100 people flooded the plaza in front of the Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City on Monday morning to hold a moment of silence in honor of Tibetans killed during China's occupation of Tibet. Buddhist monks prayed for Tibet's freedom during the protest held to mark the anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day, when thousands of Tibetans protested China's occupation.
Attendees sang "Mimung Langlu," the Tibetan uprising song, and repeatedly shouted "long sho," or "rise up" in English. Protestors peacefully listened to a student who read a statement from the Dalai Lama commemorating the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan people's uprising against Chinese control. The crowd held signs that read, "G. Bush don't forget Tibet," "Save Tibetan culture," "Stop China's crimes in Tibet."
"I urge (the Tibetan people) to continue to work peacefully and within the law to ensure that all the minority nationalities of the People's Republic of China, including the Tibetan people, enjoy their legitimate rights and benefits," the Dalai Lama's statement said.
"It's important to protest because it's been 49 years and we've still kept our culture (and) language, but it's so hard," said Lhaksam Choedon, a junior in chemistry who read the Dalai Lama's statement. "Even though we deserve independence, being an autonomous region would allow us to hold on to our language and culture forever."
Those words echo statements from the Dalai Lama, who has asked for a "middle-way approach" so that even if Tibet cannot become independent, at least the region could exert more control of its own affairs.
After a round of prayers, speeches and chants, protestors marched to the Salt Lake City and County Building while chanting "Free Tibet" and "Shame on China."
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 6
China
posted 3/12/08 @ 9:14 AM MST
Free Tibet? Ok we'll take it.
Lynn
posted 4/14/08 @ 12:04 AM MST
These days, I can see many unreal report about the tibets crisis.I really hope students in tibet can learn more of our chinese history, and see the real purpose of the crisis happenning in the city. (Continued…)
Haili Liu
posted 4/15/08 @ 2:01 PM MST
I highly recommend the editor to learn some history about tibet so that you can understand why I would call the memeber of Free Tibet liars. If you don't trust what the Majority of Chinese people says, at least you should trust Wikipedia's coverage on this issue: http://en. (Continued…)
One World No China
posted 4/17/08 @ 3:21 PM MST
China is a communist nation. Do I need to say more?
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