Nangpa-la Shootings Spur Protest March
October 24, 2006 On Oct 24, Tibetan Women's Association staged a protest march in Dharamsala to condemn the shootings at Nangpa-la where a Chinese border patrol opened fire on a group of defenseless Tibetans on their way to exile, less than one month ago. A candlelight vigil in the evening commemorated the victims of the blow. TWA spearheaded the demonstrations with five other Tibetan NGOs: TYC, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement, Friends of Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and the National Democratic Party of Tibet.
Seventy-five Tibetans in the midst of peregrinating Nangpa-la Pass became shooting targets for a Chinese border patrol on Sept 30, 2006. The exiles-to-be had begun their journey in Lhasa and were headed for the refugee reception center in Kathmandu. Two individuals, including a 17-year-old nun, are confirmed dead as a result of the shootings. A little more than half the refugees, 41, escaped and made it to Kathmandu in separate groups; the Chinese detained the rest after scouring the scene. The detainees' whereabouts are unknown, and a campaign has been launched to pressure the Chinese to release them.
The survivors of the Nangpa-la shootings arrived at McLeod reception center early in the morning of Oct 24, one day after the anniversary of the Tibetan Children's Village. The six NGOs held a press conference at Tsuglagkhang temple during which escapees gave testimonies of the incident. Representatives of the organizing NGOs addressed the media thereafter, and B. Tsering La, President of TWA, refuted China's absurd, official claim that the border patrol fired in self-defense. B. Tsering called attention to video footage of the incident captured by Romanian mountaineers, irrefutable evidence that shows the group of Tibetans walking in a straight line and then scattering after shots from Chinese soldiers rained down on them.
After the press conference, protestors queued up for a peaceful protest march from Tsuglagkhang temple to Kachari. The streets teemed with Tibetans and foreigners chanting slogans and displaying banners for a free Tibet as they wended their way to the main square in Lower Dharamsala. Passion and devotion for the Tibet cause exuded from the demonstrators, and three youth found expression by slashing their arms and smearing the blood on their face. Still others hoisted 'Free Tibet' banners, waved Tibetan national flags and raised their fists into the air, demanding China to respect human rights in Tibet. At Kachari square more speakers addressed the crowds.
At dusk a candlelight vigil took place at Tsuglagkhang after demonstrators circumambulated McLeod market three times. Everyone sang the national anthem and other songs to remember those murdered and detained by Chinese officers at Nangpa-la. During the vigil, everyone present watched a screening of the shootings captured on videotape by Romanian mountaineers.
The Nangpa-la survivors are now adjusting to their new lives in exile — one without their homeland or families, but with democratic rights and the audience of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The children have been placed in TCV school Suja, Transit school Lower Dharamsala and TCV school in Mussorie. Monks and nuns from that Nangpa-La group joined monasteries and nunneries, while adults integrated into local economies of exiled Tibetan communities.