March 10 marks the 51st anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising, when thousands of Tibetans in Lhasa, rose up against China’s invasion and occupation of their homeland. On this day, Tibetans and Tibet supporters worldwide gather to commemorate Tibetans’ courageous resistance to Chinese oppression and to demand freedom and justice for the Tibetan people.

Read the Dalai Lama’s March 10 Statement

On March 10, thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Norbulingka Palace, the Dalai Lama’s summer residence, to protect their leader and to demand that Chinese troops leave Tibet. Despite Tibetan government officials’ orders to disperse, the people refused to leave. As the protests intensified, Chinese troops responded with deadly force and a full-scale uprising ensued in the streets of Lhasa. On March 12, 1959, thousands of Tibetan women marched through the streets of Lhasa to the Potala Palace carrying banners demanding Tibetan independence. When the first round of Chinese mortars fell near the Norbulingka on March 17, the Dalai Lama began his harrowing escape to India and the beginning of his life in exile.

March 10, 2008, saw the beginning of dramatic protests across all Tibetan areas as Tibetans took to the streets in largely peaceful protests against the repressive policies undermining their religion, identity and culture. The response was brutal and in the two years following, the Chinese Government has strengthened the policies that underpinned this wave of protests, re-militarized the Tibetan Plateau and resorted to ever more severe measures to quell dissent.

Still today - with a new “Strike Hard” campaign underway across Tibet - the level of day-to-day repression in Tibet is obvious despite China’s tight control of any media visits (See: AP’s ‘Heavy Security Is The New Normal In “China’s Tibet”).

Things You Can Do On March 10

Join a rally or vigil in Canberra, Brisbane or Melbourne
ACT & NSW - Rally in front of Parliament House and march to Chinese Embassy, 12.00 - 3.00pm Click for more details
QLD - Candlelight vigil outside Chinese Consulate (Opposite King George Square, Adelaide St, Brisbane City), 5.00pm - 6.00pm Click for more details
VIC - Candlelight vigil and rally outside the State Library of Victoria (Swanston St, Melbourne), 7.00pm Click for more details

Sign the online petition in support of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Revered Tibetan leader, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested in 2002 and given a suspended death sentence for a crime he did not commit. In a remarkable act of support in 2009, 40,000 Tibetans from Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s community signed petitions - many signatures being in the form of thumbprints - demanding justice for their leader.

The International Tibet Support Network is aiming to show the level of international concern for the case of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche - replicating the Tibetan petition by collecting virtual ‘thumbprints’ online and on the streets around the world. Sign the petition

The Story Behind The Photo
This powerful image was taken during the Lhasa demonstrations of 1987. The robed monk at the centre of the photo is Jampa Tenzin. He is captured raising his fist in defiance of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. At first glance, Jampa has a proud, almost exhilarated look on his face - perhaps relishing his chance to protest.

The look, however, could also be one of excruciating pain. At the time this photo was taken, Jampa was suffering from severe burns received while attempting to rescue monks from the burning police station in which they were being held. Jampa’s disregard for his own safety, and his courage in continuing to protest despite major injury, has made him an enduring emblem of the Tibet movement. After the protest, Jampa was detained and tortured in prison. In March 1988, a few months after his release, Jampa Tenzin was found dead with a rope tied around his neck.

As can be seen from this article from Associated Press, despite China’s tightly controlled media visits the level of day-to-day repression in Tibet is still obvious. It is also clear that the Chinese Government is continuing with its propaganda line about stability and economic development while failing to address the underlying problems in Tibet.

LHASA - The troops with automatic rifles patrolling the Tibetan quarter of the capital of Chinese-controlled Tibet are as ever-present as Buddhist pilgrims.

Two years after Lhasa erupted in a riot that set off anti-government protests across Tibetan areas of China, heavy security is the new normal. Helmeted paramilitary police stand guard behind spiked barriers at some street corners. Men on rooftops train binoculars on the square and streets in the Barkhor, the heart of the old city that surrounds a holy temple.

Their presence is so common that people in Lhasa were startled last week when the uniformed patrols seemingly disappeared. In their place, fit young men with military crewcuts - some wearing yellow and black track suits - marched in groups. The reason: a rare visit to the tense Tibetan capital by foreign reporters arranged by the government. Read full article

The Dalai Lama met privately Thursday at the White House with President Obama, telling reporters afterward that the visit left him “very happy.” The White House released a statement following the meeting indicating that Mr. Obama “stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity”. Read more

A sit in protest by around 400 Tibetans on the first day of the Tibetan New Year led to a standoff between the Tibetan protesters and Chinese security forces in Ngaba County. The monks and laypeople said prayers and threw Tsampa in the air to mourn the killings of several Tibetans in the 2008 protests all over Tibet. Read more