uyghur in vancouver.canada

Siddiqui: Dragon Slayer still fearless

‘Mother of all Uighurs’ wants international inquiry into Beijing’s crackdown on Muslims in her province

Source: The Star : Sun Dec 06 2009

She is the equivalent of the Dalai Lama – a leader in exile, battling Beijing over the persecution of her people in China.
Her story is even more compelling.

Rebiya Kadeer, exiled leader of Uighurs in west of China, took her call for peaceful change to Tokyo. (Oct. 20, 2009)

Whereas the Tibetan leader was anointed a child god and, at age 24, whisked out of China in 1959 on a donkey over the Himalayas to exile in India where he remains, she was a dirt-poor housewife who walked out on her abusive husband, became a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and a human rights activist, married a fellow-dissident and was persecuted and jailed.

It was only in 2005 that the mother of 11 – indeed “the Mother of all Uighurs” – was released under American pressure, and now wages her non-violent campaign from exile in Washington, D.C.

She was nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize and would, in fact, have been a better choice than Barack Obama.

Rebiya Kadeer was in Toronto recently for a Uighurs women’s conference, where I spoke to her.

She was hoping that Stephen Harper, whom she met in Ottawa in 2007, would raise the plight of her people during his visit to China.

He said Thursday in Beijing that he raised Canada’s “general concerns” and also “specific cases” but offered no details.

We don’t know yet if he spoke up for the Uighurs, specifically the Canadian Uighur, Huseyin Celil, of Toronto, jailed in China since 2006.

Whereas the Dalai Lama, 74, is cerebral and calm, conveying his message in spiritual terms, Kadeer, 63, is feisty and outspoken, aptly dubbed the Dragon Slayer.

The president of the World Uighurs Congress has especially gotten under the Chinese skin of late. She has been calling for an international public inquiry into Beijing’s brutal crackdown following clashes in July in her native Xinjiang province, between the indigenous Uighurs and the Chinese Han.

When she went to the Melbourne Film Festival in August for the premiere of a documentary on her, China demanded that it be canned. When it wasn’t, Beijing cancelled a ministerial visit.

In the book, Dragon Fighter: One Woman’s Epic Struggle for Peace With China (Kales Press, 2009) – foreword by the Dalai Lama – Kadeer relates her remarkable story.

Of growing up in a culture where the men drank brandy and the women mare’s milk, and memorized parts of the holy Qur’an.

Of families, indeed entire villages, forcibly relocated.

Of house searches and relentless surveillance. Of friends, even relatives, turning state informants.

Of celebrating festivals and saying prayers behind closed doors.

Of schoolchildren being ordered during the Cultural Revolution to bring 10 pairs of sparrow’s feet a day after Chairman Mao declared the birds enemies of the state, for pecking at farmers’ crops.

Of being married off at 15 to a 27-year-old man and beaten often.

Of divorcing him and earning her own living – sewing children’s shoes and undershirts for women, running a laundry, selling sheep skins, starting a store and, eventually, becoming a merchandizing tycoon, ranked the seventh wealthiest person in China, and named to the Xinjiang Peoples’ Congress and the National Chinese People’s Congress. “I thought I could deal with them, influence them.”

But her rebellious nature – refusing to display a picture of Mao or to abandon the Uighurs’ cause – led to her fall from official grace.

She was repeatedly hauled by the Red Guards for public humiliating sessions, with crowds spitting on her and screaming, “Rebiya is a capitalist; she should be annihilated.”

In 1997, she was on her way to meeting a visiting U.S. congressional delegation, when she was arrested.

In a secret trial, she was sentenced to eight years in jail, the first two in solitary confinement.

“Oh, that was terrible, terrible,” she tells me, her voice dropping, her jaunty demeanour vanishing.

“They didn’t torture me physically, but they put me in a dark room with no light for two years. They wouldn’t let me speak to anyone, wouldn’t give me anything to read or a pen.

“I don’t really want to talk about it or even recall it.”

Of her five children still in China, two are in prison – “because of my campaign here.”

The Uighurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims, estimated by Kadeer at about 20 million, not just 9.6 million as cited by China. Nearly 2 million are in exile, mostly in the five nearby Central Asian nations and Turkey. About 10,000 are in the West, including about 1,000 each in Canada and the U.S.

Uighurs have long complained of political, economic, religious and cultural persecution, and the exploitation of the natural resources of their homeland that they call East Turkestan.

There, as in Tibet, Beijing subsidized the settlement of Han Chinese. Han now constitute a majority in Urumqi, the provincial capital of 2.3 million, which is where the summer riots began.

Uighur students were protesting the reported beating of fellow Uighurs in a factory. The Han retaliated. Ethnic riots, the worst in decades in China, followed, as did a series of bizarre syringe attacks, with hundreds reporting being hit by hypodermic needles on buses and in other public places.

The Chinese crackdown left 197 dead, 1,600 injured and 1,700 arrested, according to official figures, which few believe. Last month, nine people, eight of them Uighurs, were executed. On Wednesday, five more were sentenced to death.

There have been worldwide protests, including one by the Uighurs Canadian Society in front of the Chinese consulate in Toronto.

Kadeer said she does not know how many have died.

“All we know is that there were 10,000 people demonstrating one day and most just disappeared.

“Parents were arrested and babies abandoned who later died. I have estimates that more than 30,000 were arrested. We don’t know how many are being tortured. It is impossible to confirm.”

The entire population has remained cut off for five months, as land and mobile phones as well as the Internet lines have been cut.

China must “stop oppressing our people,” she says, banging the table.

“The Uighur case is the same as Tibet’s. But it hasn’t been as well known. China has been persecuting us in secret for decades. But since the July 15 incident, the world is learning about us” – in no small measure because of Rebiya Kadeer.

Haroon Siddiqui, editorial page editor emeritus, writes Thursdays and Sundays. hsiddiqui@thestar.ca

Uyghur Protests in Canada Freedom for Uyghurs
Source : freiheitfueruiguren

Canadaning Toronto shehiride Uyghurlar yene keng kolemlik namayish qildi

Source: Uyghur Canadian Soiety

Canada Uyghur Jemiyitining orunlashturulishi bilen, Canadaning Ontario olkiside yashaydighan Uyghurlar, 7- ayning 18 kuni yene keng kolemlik namayish qildi. Namayishqa Uyghur devasini qollighuchilar ve Torontoda yashaydighan barliq Uyghurlar bolup jemi 300 etrapida kishi qatnashti. Namayishchilar topi Sherqi Turkistanda tohtimay qirghinchiliqqa uchravatqan Uyghur xelqige hisdashliq telep qilip ve xitay hakimiyiti shundaqla xitay xelqining nomussis fashistik qilmishlirini eyiplep shoar towlap kocha aylandi ve teshviq vereqqilliri tarqatti. Bu qetimqi namayish Amerika Counsuli aldida yerim saet tohtap otti ve Amerika hokumetidin xitaygha qattiq postsiye bildurushni, democratic system ni hormet qilish yuzisidin choqum bu qanliq qirghinchiliqqa koz yumup turivalmasliqni telep qildi. Shundaqla Birleshken doletler teshkilatidin omek evetip bu qetimqi qirghinchiliqni tekshurup chiqishni Ameirika ve Canada hokumetining Uyghurlarning heqqani telepliri uchun aktip rol oynishini telep qildi. Uyghur Canada Jemiyitidin Rukiye Turdush Amerika counsuli aldida Canadadiki uyghurlarning telivini oqup otti. Bu qetimqi namayish Torontodiki engliz tilidiki TV ve radiolarda neq meydan xeviri supitide berildi.

Uyghur Protests in Canada Toronto :Part 2: Freedom for Uyghurs

Ottawa hokumet binasi aldida Xitaylarnming Uyghurlarni, Xitay hokumeti bilen birliship xalighanche qirghin qilishigha qarshi namayish:

Source: Uyghur Canadian Society

Local Uighurs protest China
Source:MetroNews

Ethnic tension in China rippled into Toronto yesterday when local Uighur protesters burned a Chinese flag and threw water bottles at a Chinese man who taunted the crowd on his way to his car.About 150 people gathered outside the Chinese consulate on St. George Street yesterday morning wearing T-shirts that said “Get out of our land!” and carrying graphic posters of Uighurs who were killed in China.
Local Uighurs say the Chinese government has since clamped down on their family and friends in the region, setting curfews and imprisoning people.

Despite organizers’ attempts to keep the protest peaceful, a Chinese flag was set on fire by a protester and tossed over a barricade police had set up.

A scuffle broke out when officers moved in to stop the protester.

“(I did it because) they keep killing our people,” said Anvar, who would only give his first name.

Things got rowdy again shortly after, when a Chinese man leaving the consulate heckled the crowd, inciting screams and raised fists. Protesters said they heard him say “Kill the Uighurs!” But the man, who wouldn’t give his name, said he shouted “It’s lunchtime.”

Xitay Counsulati Aldida Torontoda Xitaylarnming Uyghurlarni, Xitay hokumeti bilen birliship xalighanche qirghin qilishigha qarshi namayish:

Source : Uyghur Canadian Society

Uyghur Protests in Canada Toronto :Part 2: Freedom for Uyghurs

Anti China protest in Toronto

Protest in Ottawa(uyghur - china) - uygurlar ottawa namayish kildi - video-2

Uyghur Protests in Canada Freedom for Uyghurs

Uyghur protest against the ethnic genocide (Uyghur Protest At Calgary & Edmonton)(Video)

Kurshat Tursun Youtube Channel

Uyghur Protest At Calgary (Slideshow)

Uyghur Protest At Calgary & Edmonton(Video)

7- ayning 8- kuni Canadadiki Toronto , Vancouver ve Calgarydin ibaret uch sheherde birla waqtta ,xitay hokumetining uyghurlarni hitayl milliti bilen birliship qanliq qirghin qilivatqanlighigha qarshi namayish otkuzulde. resimdiki korunushler Toronto shehride otkuzulgen namayish korunushliri.bu qetimqi namayishqa 500 din artuq kishi qatnashqan bolup, Canadada yashaydighan turk qerndashlirimiz , ezerbeyjan , ozbek ve qazaq qerindashlardinmu heli kop kishiler bu namayishqa qatnashti.Canadadiki eng chong teliviziye istansilliri ve gazetlar neh meydandin hever berip namayish uyushturghuchi Rukiye Turdushtin Uyghurlaning Canada hokumetidin nimlerni telep qilidighanlighini, hitay hokumetidin nimilerni telep qilidighanlighini, kelguside yene hitay milliti bilen tenchliqta bille yashashning mumkin bolidighan bolmaydighanlighini soallarni soridi ve ochuq ashkara javaplargha erishti.ghezeplengen Uyghur yashliri Xitay bayrighini koydurgenligi ve namayishchilar topigha qarshi  shoar tovlighan bir Xitaygha botulka atqanlighi uchun Canada saqchilliri teripidin tutqun qilinip namayishchilar topidin ayrivetildi. namayish ettigen saet 10 da bashlinip chushtin keyin saet 3:30 da ayaqlashti namayishchilar topi  merkizi kochilarni aylinip2000din artuq teshviq vereqisi tarqatti.

Hundreds of Uyghur Canadians demonstrate front of the Chinese consulate

july 8, more than 500 hundred Uyghur Canadians and other Canadians demonstrate front of the Chinese consulate, demand justice for Uyghurs in East Turkistan, stop killing Uyghurs in East Turkistan. Spokesperson and organizer of the demonstration Rukiye Turdush criticized Chinese government and Han Chinese people's inhuman behavior, racism and violence against the Uyghurs and demand Canadian government to show more firm stance concerns over the Uyghur cause. Other Turkish People from Uzbek community, Azerbaijan community, Turkmen Community and Turkish community in Canada join the demo as well and express their deep support to the Uyghur cause. Demonstration start in the morning 10 o'clock and continued until 3:30 pm. demonstrators  walk along in downtown area distributed more than 2000 flyers and pictures, ask Canadians to speak up for bloody killing of Uyghurs.  Angered demonstrators burned Chinese flag and shouted slogans such as China out! China terrorist! Chinese people out of east Turkistan! We want our land! Stop massacre!
 

Video Link
Local Uyghurs concerns over violence in China CTV :
Updated Tue. Jul. 07 2009 12:01 AM ET

Cambridge woman is trying to come to terms with some terrifying images from the streets of Western China. Most of her relatives live in the Xinjuang region. That’s where as many as 150 people have died in riots. Shaida says she hasn’t been able to connect with her relatives and is worried for their safety.

Canadians protest China’s attacks on ethnic Uyghurs.
Source: Uyghur Canadian Society website

JULY 3, 2009 (TORONTO) – The Uyghur Canadian Society rallied Canadians in front of the Chinese consulate in Toronto today, calling on the government of China to stop the ethnic cleansing of Uyghurs.

The protest was in reaction to the latest attack on June 29,2009 , which killed 26 and injured 118 innocent Uyghurs, according to Chinese media reports. Some other reports said that the attack killed two Uyghurs. The excuse for the attack was an unsubstantiated rumor posted on the Internet of the rape of two ethnic Chinese girls. Protesters maintain that this is an example of how racial profiling leads to oppression of innocent Uyghurs.

“Uyghurs have suffered for years under racial profiling and unjust government policies that have painted the entire Uyghur population as criminals and terrorists. The official media has published propaganda of Uyghurs as backward and violent, and members of the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism,” said Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer. “As a people, Uyghurs only seek prosperity and the ability to raise their families in a secure environment. The Shaoguan incident shows that official policies, together with mob rule and fear, have prevented Uyghurs from simply being able to live their lives in peace.”

Racism and violence against Uyghurs is common in places where ethnic Uyghurs have been forced by the government to relocate. Each year, the Chinese government transfers millions of Uyghurs to inland China for forced, cheap labor, replacing them with millions of Han Chinese to the Uyghur region for permanent residence on Uyghur land.

The Uyghur Canadian Society today delivered the following demands at the Chinese consulate:

* China should immediately stop forced relocation of Uyghurs for cheap and forced labor to prevent ethnic violence between Han Chinese and Uyghurs.
* China should immediately use effective legal measurement, stop racism and violence against the Uyghurs
* China should immediately stop Han migration to Xinjiang( East Turkistan) for employment opportunity wile Uyghurs living under the widespread unemployment and poverty.
* China should provide employment opportunity for Uyghurs in their own homeland.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The Uyghur Canadian Society is to encourage and increase the opportunities for promoting friendship and understanding among the Uyghur people and other ethnicity or other cultural groups in Canada provide them accurate knowledge about political history of Uyghur people in East Turkistan, their culture, art and music and human rights conditions, current situation of Uyghur people in East Turkistan that oppressed by the Chinese government.

Uyghur Performance at Canada Day in Toronto 1

Uyghur Performance at Canada Day in Toronto 2

Torontoda Xitaylarnming Uyghurlarni, Xitay hokumeti bilen birliship xalighanche qirghin qilishigha qarshi namayish:

Source: Uyghur Canadian Society

7- ayning 3- kuni Kanadadiki Uyghurlar Torontodiki Xitay Konsulxanisi aldigha toplushup, Xitaylarning Guangdong olkiside mejburi qulluq emgekke yotkep elip kelingen yash Uyghur oghul qizlirini tomur kaltekler bilen vehshilerche urup olturgenlik insan chidighusiz vehshiyane qilmishigha naraziliq bildurup namayish otkuzdi.
Namayishqa Toronto teveside yashaydighan uyghurlardin jemi turk qerindashlardin bolup jemi 70-80 etrapida kishi qatnashti ve ghezep bilen shoar tovlap, teshviq vereqilliqi tarqitip xitay hokumetining ziminizdin chiqip ketishini Uyghurlarning ular bilen baraver yashighudek yeri qalmighanlighini telep qildi.

Namayishqa yene Kanadada turushluq xitay teliviziye istansilliri qatnashti ve namayish topini ziyaret qildi. Xitaydiki heq hoquqlar tori teshkilatining reisi Michael Criag soz qilip, xitaylarning erqi kemsitish qilmishini mediniyetsizlik ve insane qelipidin chiqqanliq , insaniyet tarihini keynige maghghuzghanliq dep eyiplidi. Uyghur Kanada Jemiyitining reisi Rukye Turdush soz qilip xitay dolitining ve xitay millitining Uyghurlargha qarita erqi kemsitish ve milli qirghinchiliqni paralil halda masliship birlikte elip berivatqanlighini eyiplidi.

Kanada albérta shitatida sherqi türkistan tonushturuldi
Kamil Tursun

Source: RFA

2008-11-28

Peyshenbe küni kanadaning edmonton shehiridiki ayal padishah élzabét ottura mektipide “sherqi türkistan we uyghurlar” namliq paaliyet ötküzüldi.

RFA Photo / Kamil Tursun

27 - Noyabir, kanadaning edmonton shehiridiki ayal padishah élzabét ottura mektipide ötküzülgen “sherqi türkistan we uyghurlar” namliq paaliyettin körünüsh.

Bu paaliyette sherqi türkistanning siyasiy tarixi, uyghurlar wetinide yéqinqi zamanda qurulghan ikki jumhuriyet, nöwette uyghurlar duch kéliwatqan kishilik hoquq depsendichilikliri shundaqla uyghurlarning medeniy hayati qatarliqlar tonushturulghan.

Bu edmontonda tunji qétim élip bérilghan sherqi türkistan we uyghurlarni tonushturush paaliyiti bolup hésablinidu.

Yuqiridiki awaz ulinishidin, bu heqtiki tepsili melumatimizni anglaysiler.

Uyghur Canada Jemiyitidin Rukiye Turdush,Tuyghun Abduweli, Gulshen Abdukadir , Feride Mahmut qatarliq kishiler  11- october kuni Kanadadiki Turk birleshmisi uyushturghan alahide ziyapetke qatniship Turkiyening Kanadada turushluq Bash Elchisi Rafet Akgunay bilen korushti.

Source: Uyghur Canadian Society

Vancouver Canada da qaytidin Tibet we Uyghur namayishi bolup otti. - Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Source: DUQ

Bugun 3-ayning 31-kuni Dushenbe, Vancouver Canada’da yene qaytidin Uyghur we Tibet birlikide namayish bolup otti. Bugunki namayish Canada Tibet Comititi teripidin orunlashturulghan bolup, dunyaning her qaysi ellirige oxshashla, Vancouver Canada’dimu Tibet’tiki xitay qirghinchiliqini eyiplep hem Olimpik’ni xitayda otkuzishni toxtitish mexsitide elip berildi.

Namayish xitayning Vancouver’diki konsuli aldida chushtin kiyin saet 4:30 bilen Tibettiki xitay eskerliri teripidin qirilip ketken Tibet shehitliri uchun Budda Dini qaidisi boyiche eslesh ayetliri oqush bilen bashlinip, her qaysi televizor hem gezit muxpirlirining suallirigha jawap berish hem bayanat oqush bilen dawam qildi.

Tibet herkitini qollaydighan Canada’liq, Yapunluq, Fransuz hem English milletliri we shundaqla her xil muxpirlarning diqqitini tartqan, ay-yultuzluq kok bayraq koturgen Uyghurlarmu oxshashla wetinimiz Sherqiy Turkistan’diki axirqi heptidin beri xitay hokumiti teripidin Xotende qolgha elinghan Uyghur namayishchilirining gunasiz ikenlikini sozlep, namayishqa kelgen Canada’liq we Tibet xelqige, her qaysi media orunlirining muxpirlirigha Sherqiy Turkistandiki Uyghurlarning Tibet xelqi bilen teqdirdash millet ikenlikini, Sherqiy Turkistan hem Tibetning musteqilliq herkitining dunyadiki heqliq dawa ikenlikini tunishturup otti.

Vancouver Canada diki bugunki namayishqa texminen 150 etrapida adem kelgen bolup, kop sanliq Canada’liq Tibet dostliri edi. Uyghur bayraqlirini korgen Canada’liqlar qiziqish bilen her xil suallarni sorighandin bashqa, Canada’diki Uyghurlarning hem Canada’diki Tibetlerge oxshash az sanliq xelq ikenlikini, namayishqa oxshash siyasiy paaliyetlirining Canada’diki Uyghurlarning qanunluq herkiti ikenlikini hem Canada’diki Uyghurlarning siyasiy paaliyetlirige teximu koplep Uyghurlarning qatnishishining muhimliqini bildirip otishti.

bugunki namayish saet 4:30 PM biloen bashlinip, saet 7:30 bilen netijilik axirlashti.

OMERJAN Bore
Vancouver Canada

Toronto Youth Scale Chinese Consulate to Fly the Tibetan Flag on March 10 Uprising Day
[Tuesday, March 11, 2008 ]

Article Link
By Gelek Badheytsang

Video Here

Around a thousand Tibetans and Tibetan supporters braved the winter chill of Ontario, Canada and descended on the streets of downtown Toronto to voice their opposition and remember the fallen ones on the forty-ninth anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day. Barely a day removed from the record-setting snowstorm that blanketed much of Ontario under 50 cm or more snow for the weekend, the sky was thankfully clear of any ominous clouds, and the sun warmed the afternoon considerably over the course of the rally.

Young and old, children and grandparents, high school students of all grades enjoying their first day of March break, chanted emotional slogans and walked a considerably long circuit around the downtown core; stopping first at the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) office building of Toronto and then gathering at the Chinese Consulate building. The long line of protesters extended for more than two blocks, as motorists and pedestrians alike gawked at the colourful procession of Tibetans on their National Uprising day. Some of the marchers were visibly tired after the long walk and constant chanting, but their voices never faltered and their spirits never wavered throughout the course of the day.

Tsering Lama, the National Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet Canada, and TWA Vice President Kesang Chodon approached the office of Chris Rudge, Chief Executive Officer of COC, to hand in a letter of reprimand on behalf of the Joint Action Committee of Toronto, a group formed of SFT Canada, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Regional Tibetan Women’s Association, Dokham Chushi Gangdruk and Canada Tibet Committee. The committee was formed in preparation for the historic Beijing Olympic games which will be held in the August of this year.

The letter states the deleterious human rights records of China which is in direct contradiction with the values and ethics that the Olympics committee supposedly holds up in its ethos. It voiced the concern of the further disintegration of basic human rights in Tibet and the importance of reminding China and the International Olympic Committee to uphold the values that are universally declared as unconditional rights for everyone around the world. Although Mr. Rudge wasn’t personally available to receive the letter, his assistant received it on his behalf. While the letter was being delivered, the marchers gathered in front of the building outside and chanted slogans and jeers to all of those affiliated with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

After the meeting at the COC building, the marchers headed down to the Chinese Consulate building. As the mass of people swelled in front of the street that was cordoned off for the rally, various demonstrators waved the colourful Tibetan flags and placards in direct view of the many consulate employees and officials who were working inside. The importance of marching on a week day was not lost on the protesters, as they picked up their chants and furiously called out the Chinese government to “Free Tibet!”, “Release the Panchen Lama”, “Release Rongye Adak”, among many others.

This year’s March 10 protest was markedly different from the rallies of past. The number of participants were much higher than before, and it was even more impressive considering that it was on the start of a weekday. The passion and the sense of urgency by which the protesters carried the day signified the rise of momentum in the lead-up to the historic summer games in Beijing. Local representatives from both the Provincial and the Federal governments pledged their support for Tibet’s sovereign recognition and lambasted the Chinese Communist Party for their constant abuses against human rights in Tibet, and elsewhere in China. Peggy Nash, MP, voiced her support on the loudspeaker over the telephone from Ottawa; while Cheri Dinovo, MPP, showed up twice on the day to rally the crowd and chastise the much-scorned building behind her. Michael Craig, head of China Rights Network, also showed up to remind the people gathered about the atrocities that were constantly being carried out in Tibet under the guise of peace and security.

Various members of the Joint Action Committee also joined the charge in boosting the energy and the moral outrage of marchers. Tsering Lama, National Director, SFT Canada, called out the Tibetans in the rally to further lend to the cause for the freedom of Tibet, and reminded everyone gathered about the upcoming Olympics Torch rally in San Francisco. She urged her fellow Tibetans to denounce this illegal charade of harmony and modernization, a farce on the “top of our Mt. Everest” while millions of Tibetans in Tibet languish under the peril of the Chinese Communist Party. She also implored everyone to donate whatever they can to the 2-week, 24-hour Tibetan festival in Canada that will occur simultaneously with the Olympics games.

Towards the middle of the protest in front of the Chinese Consulate Building, a couple of youth snuck behind the walls and managed to get to the rooftop of the building. The boys, one of them of minor age, then proceeded to bring the flag of China down from the pole, and hang the Tibetan flag in its place. This spontaneous action further fueled the energy of the protesters below, as they cheered and applauded the youth for symbolically undermining China’s authority over its own building, and in effect, over Tibet. The boys didn’t manage to completely raise the Tibetan flag, but their inspiring and courageous act of dissent enraptured the emotions of the protesters, many of whom held their breath when the two youth were eventually detained by the Consulate officials. No visible damage of property was inflicted on the building, save for a roughed up Chinese flag, and the youth were compliant with the Chinese consulate officials who stopped the action and detained the two.

The protesters were very worried about the welfare of the two youth and demanded that they be released from the Chinese Consulate building. Some of the marchers who were close to the youth were visibly agitated and were told to calm down by the organizers lest they jeopardize the situation of the two detained. Eventually, the police in the area informed the organizers that the boys wouldn’t be released unless the protesters disbanded and vacated the street and surrounding area. At the urge of the various organizers, the marchers began to stow away the flags and placards and call it a day. At the conclusion of the rally, when most of the protesters had left, the police informed the waiting organizers that the two youth will have to be investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) because “the two had violated the laws on international soil, and hence, the Toronto police had no authority on the matter, and it will be left up to the RCMP to investigate and carry out further actions.” At the time of this reporting, the boys are still under investigation by the RCMP, and are being charged, the details of which are not available at the moment.

The various turn of events at the rally and the impressive turnout of Tibetans and Tibetan supporters made this year’s March 10 uprising one of the most memorable in Toronto. All of the gathered participants were emboldened by the need to contribute for the sake of a free Tibet, and the various organizers of the event beamed at the success and timing of the event. We are all permanently pressed to the phone in finding out the latest details from the two detained youth, and will keep you updated on the changes as they occur. For now, the rally, covered heavily by local and national media, will feature prominently in the discussions of every Tibetan household, and will no doubt, create a new sense of momentum and hope for those that still dream of a free Tibet and a return to their homeland.

*UPDATE: The two youth have been released by the RCMP and charged with mischief. They will be summoned to the courts next week, but nothing serious is further expected for the two.

(Video) Two Canadian Tibetan protesters get arrested in Toronto Canada (Toronto’diki Namayish (两名藏人示威者在多伦多被捕): Mar 10 08

Tibet Video