Tibet Freedom March in London

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Demotix
By Peter Marshall
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London- Around 500 people, including many Tibetans, marched through London commemorating the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising and calling for freedom from Chinese rule. The protest started opposite the Chinese Embassy, where a letter was delivered and continued through the busy shopping streets of the West End to deliver a second letter to Downing St before ending with a rally outside the Foreign Office. London, UK. 06/03/2010.

The event was organised by a coalition of Tibetan groups in the UK and comes two years after protests in Tibet led to the death of over 200 young Tibetans, with many more being imprisoned. Over 1000 are still unaccounted for and two, Lobsang Gyaltsen and Mr Loyak, were executed in October 2009. Similar events were taking place in countries around the world.

At the start of the march there was a brief address and the Tibetan National Anthem was sung, followed by a minutes silence in memory of the dead and prayers. A small delegation then went across the road to the Chinese Embassy to deliver a letter to the new Chinese Ambassador.

As in previous years, there was no one at the Chinese Embassy to take the message, which was handed to the police officer at the main door to pass on. The march attracted considerable attention on Regent St and particularly at Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus, with shoppers stopping to watch and many waving in support, with drivers of cars and lorries sounding their horns.

Near the front of the march was a large banner with the Tibetan's message " China stole my land, my voice, my freedom." Among the slogans chanted by marchers were "Tibetans have no voice in Tibet", " China: stop silencing Tibetans"; " Britain: stand up for Tibetans in Tibet" and "Stop the torture in Tibet".

(Photos: Peter Marshall)