TIbetan Revolt
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ABOVE: “Tibetans gather outside of Potala Palace during an armed uprising against Chinese rule”
SOURCE: "The Telegraph" |
On March 10th, 1959, “General Zhang Chenwu of Communist China extended a seemingly innocent invitation to the Tibetan leader to attend a theatrical show by a Chinese dance troupe. When the invitation was repeated with new conditions that no Tibetan soldiers were to accompany the Dalai Lama and that his bodyguards be unarmed, an acute anxiety befell the Lhasa population,” (“Birth to Exile”).
“The invitation provoked 300,000 loyal Tibetans to surround the Norbulingka palace, forming a human sea of protection. . . They feared he would be abducted to Beijing to attend the upcoming Chinese National Assembly,” (Chhoekyapa).
“The invitation provoked 300,000 loyal Tibetans to surround the Norbulingka palace, forming a human sea of protection. . . They feared he would be abducted to Beijing to attend the upcoming Chinese National Assembly,” (Chhoekyapa).
A few days after the Dalai Lama fled his palace, “ [Tibetan] insurgents in Lhasa started attacking Communist administrative and military targets, resulting in a larger and more violent rebellion,”(“The Tibetan Rebellion of 1959 and China’s Changing Relations with India and the Soviet Union"). “Fighting broke out in Lhasa . . . and raged for two days of hand-to-hand combat with odds stacked hopelessly against the Tibetan resistance,” (Chhoekyapa).
Because of their lack of resources, Tibetans used any materials they could get their hands on. According to a man who was charged with organizing Tibetan defences in Lhasa, the Tibetans built, “Barricades made out of sheeps wool, we put water so that the bullets cannot come in . . . it really helped us, very much,” (“The Tibetan Uprising”).
Early in the morning on March 19, 1959, “[The Chinese] turned their artillery on the city, the Potala, the temple, and the neighboring monasteries. Nobody knows how many of the people of Lhasa were killed, but thousands of bodies could be seen inside and outside of the Norbulingka,” (“My Land and My People”). The Dalai Lama explains, “[The Chinese] ruined the [palace,] believing that I was still inside it, so clearly they no longer cared whether they killed me or not,” (“My Land and My People”). “The streets were littered with corpses, some of which had been there for several days and had been mauled by stray dogs,” (Shayka).
“In the aftermath 200 members of the Dalai Lama's bodyguard were disarmed and publicly machine-gunned. . . Thousands of . . . monks were either killed on the spot, transported to the city to work as slave labour, or deported,” (“Why Tibet? History Leading up to March 10th 1959").
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ABOVE: "A Chinese military officer addresses Tibetans in front of the Potala, the Dalai’s residence, after an unsuccessful armed uprising against Chinese rule." SOURCE: "The Telegraph" |