Nearly 300 members of the Tibetan diaspora in Canada, supported by Hong Kongers and Uighurs, protested outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto on Wednesday and also observed a minute’s silence in memory of a Tibetan-born soldier allegedly killed in recent clashes between the Indians. and the Chinese armies along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
Headlining the event was a former member of the dead soldier’s unit, the Special Border Force or SFF, who ran from Ottawa to Toronto for the Tibetan cause.
The protest outside the consulate, followed by a meeting at the city’s Parkdale Collegiate Institute, was held to mark Tibetan Democracy Day, the 60th anniversary of the election of the first representative body in Tibet’s history.
One of the main organizers of the event, Youdon Tsamotshang, Chairman of the Board of Students for a Free Tibet Canada, said that Pema Kunga, the former Indian SFF soldier, joined them after running a marathon from the Canadian capital Ottawa. to Toronto, a feat that took eight days. The protesters expressed their solidarity with the Indian soldiers martyred in the fighting in recent times in the Galwan Valley, while Kunga highlighted their support for India and against China’s disinformation campaign.
Also read: China takes advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak, India is an example: US diplomat.
Tsamotshang said members of the diaspora, who gathered outside the consulate, donned ceremonial white scarves and organized a rally outside the venue and chanted slogans for Tibet. Part of the goal, he said, was “to pressure the Canadian government” to pay more attention to the state of Tibet under the occupation of the communist regime in Beijing.
Also Read: The Foreign and Defense Ministers of India, Australia and Indonesia to Meet Amid China Concerns
The protesters were joined by Bhutila Karpoche, a member of the Ontario provincial parliament and the only person of Tibetan heritage to be elected to a legislature in North America. Wednesday afternoon’s protest was part of a growing series of similar anti-China events that have been carried out in Canada by various groups, including Tibetans, Uighurs facing repression in eastern Turkestan and residents of Hong Kong, agitated by the leakage of democratic rights in the territory. among others.
.
