NEW DELHI: China’s assault on the language and culture of the Uyghurs of Xinjiang is of recent origin, its assault on the Tibetans goes back to the decades since it invaded and occupied the region. In this exclusive interview with StratNews Global’s Parul Chandra, Tibetan researcher and human rights campaigner Tenzin Dawa said the Ethnic Unity Law gives the government “the right to impose the Chinese way of life on Tibetans and will only worsen the discrimination faced by Tibetans.”
Arbitrary arrests are the order of the day for those seen as posing a ‘threat’ to the Chinese state or to its security, said Dawa. In schools, Tibetan children are being compelled to learn Mandarin which Dawa said is being “aggressively promoted by the Chinese government while seeking to marginalise the Tibetan language”.
Then there is the attempt to dilute Tibetan Buddhism through what is known as its ‘Sinicisation’. “It’s an effort by the Chinese government to mould Tibetan Buddhism as per the Communist party’s dikats,” said Dawa. It’s being done by seeking to “indoctrinate” Tibetan monks and nuns–something Dawa said has become more intensive under the rule of Chinese President Xi Jinping, among other things. Watch this interview for insight into how China sees and controls Tibet.
