New Delhi - The Tibetan government-in-exile on Wednesday
called for a temporary halt to protests and demonstrations against
China as a mark of respect to earthquake victims, officials said.
'In order to express our solidarity with the great natural
disaster that befell on China and to show respect to the victims, the
Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet) has requested Tibetans across the world to
shun staging demonstrations in front of Chinese embassies in the
respective host countries they live in,' spokesman Thubten Samphel
said.
Speaking over the telephone from India's northern hill-town of
Dharamsala where Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and his
government are based, Samphel said the Kashag directive mentioned
that the protests should be halted 'at least until about the end of
May.'
The Tibetan administration has also urged Tibetans to write a
'letter or send a message, to the concerned that they are doing so in
solidarity with the quake victims.'
Samphel also said that the Tibetans will be organizing prayer
sessions in India and Nepal to mourn for the dead and raising
donations for the victims.
The Kashag statement has also called upon 'Tibetans living in
other parts of the world to initiate ... collaborative activities,
and explore possibilities of establishing Sino-Tibetan friendship
associations.'
In a message last week, Dalai Lama expressed solidarity with the
quake victims. 'I would like to extend my deep sympathy and heartfelt
condolences to the affected families,' he said. 'I offer my prayers
for those who have lost their lives and those injured in the quake,'
he added.
A quake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck China's
south-western Sichuan province on May 12 and left at least 40,000
people dead and 32,000 missing.
Anti-China protests broke out in Tibet in March and soon spread
across the globe with scores of Tibetans holding demonstrations
demanding independence for Tibet and an end to China's oppression in
the Himalayan region.
The Tibetan government-in-exile said about 205 people, mostly
Tibetans, have died in the unrest since March. China said that 18
civilians and one police officer died in the March 14 rioting in
Lhasa.
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