ABOVE: "The Potala Palace in Lhasa"
SOURCE: Xiquinho
SOURCE: Xiquinho
RESISTANCE EFFORTS OF TIBETAN PEOPLE
Following the signing of the Seventeen Point Agreement, “People’s resentment...was fuelled further by the arrival of tens of thousands of Chinese troops…”("Facts about the 17-Point Agreement between Tibet and China”). After the Chinese Invasion, Tibetans “. . . snapped the Chinese power and telegraph lines, threw rocks at the residences of the Chinese officials, spat on and beat up stray Chinese military or intelligence personnel,” ("Facts about the 17-Point Agreement between Tibet and China”).
The creation of one of the most well known resistance groups of Tibet, the “Chushi Gangdruk Defend Tibet Volunteer Force . . . was the first time that all the regions . . . came together . . . and fought under one banner since the splitting up of Tibet during the reign of the last . . . King,”(“A Basic History of the Founding of the Chushi Gangdruk . . .”). |
ABOVE: Tibetan Resistance fighters of Chushi Gangdruk holding their group's flag.
SOURCE: "CRW Flags" |
People from all over Tibet joined the fight, even many monks and nuns were involved. According to one resistance fighter, Kalsang Thakhay,
"[We] were wearing robes and carrying guns”(Thakhay).
Because of these resistance groups, “Hundreds of Tibetan religious and cultural institutions were razed to the ground” by the Chinese forces. ("Facts about the 17-Point Agreement between Tibet and China”). Occasionally, resistance fighters were captured by Chinese forces. According to Gadak, a Tibetan resistance fighter who was captured,
“Everyone stood cramped against each other. Some sick people who became weak were trampled to death” (Gadak).
The conditions within the jails were asinine. According to one report,“The entire room's floor was filled with urine and feces. Even if you didn't [excrete bodily fluids], others' [waste matter] stuck to you” (Gadak).