Supporters from the Tibetan Youth Congress react during a protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Monday against China's new ethnic unity law. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: Over 250 Tibetan refugees, activists and members of the Friends of Tibet took out a rally and demonstrated near the Chinese Consulate in Mumbai as part of an international action to protest against China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law (EUPPL). The Tibetans living in Mumbai were joined by other protestors from Bhandara (Maharashtra) and Mundgod (Karnataka) and a relay hunger strike was also taken up the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, said Coordinator, Tenzin Tsundue. The day started with a silent rally from Rajgriha, the home of the late Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to his memorial, Chaityabhoomi, both in Dadar. Another rally-cum-demonstration was carried out near Nariman Point where the Chinese Consulate is located and at the Azad Maidan, said Tsundue. “We carried out a peaceful protest at Nariman Point and wanted to go and submit a memorandum to the Chinese Consul-General. However, the police prevented us, detained a few Tibetans and sent them back to Azad Maidan,” Tsundue told ‘The Perfect Voice’, from the venue. He said that Tibetans and others like Uyghurs are strongly opposed to the new law which came into effect last week, despite criticism from the United Nations Organisation (UNO), Taiwan, TYC and human rights groups worldwide. Their prime concerns are that the (EUPPL) could place further restrictions on the minorities’ rights, deepen assimilation policies targeting the ethnic groups and dilute the protection to their respective languages, cultures and traditions. China’s Denial One provision is said to allow individuals to be held accountable for alleged violations of the Chinese laws even outside the country, raising apprehensions it could target the government’s critics or campaigners abroad. However, China has rubbished all allegations of rights abuses against the ethnic minority group, and reiterated that its policies aim to promote social stability, security and economic development for all. Unconvinced, Tibetans and Uyghurs have urged the international community to build pressure on China to strike down the EUPPL as “it aims to erase the minority communities”. The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan has argued that Taiwanese are already facing high risks travelling to China and now the country has “yet another law to fabricate charges”, and it could deploy it “to further suppress and prosecute human rights activists”. TYC slams China The TYC said that the international action today was dedicated to the memory of the supreme sacrifice of Lobga Rangzen who self-immolated himself outside the UN Headquarters in New York on July 2 to draw the world’s attention to the cause of Tibet. Rejecting the new law, the TYC said: “This legislation is not a law of unity but a political instrument to force assimilation of nations living under Chinese occupation, like Tibet, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Manchuria. Behind the language of ‘ethnic unity’ lies an agenda of Unilateral control by institutionalising policies aimed at assimilating Tibetans through political domination.” It accused China of attempts “to erase national identities by suppressing distinct languages, undermining religious institutions, rewriting history, destroying cultural heritage, separating children from their communities through state run colonial boarding schools, and replacing distinct identities with loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party”.
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