Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: March 17, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/285244.html
Introduction: Tibet: China warns protestors:
surrender deadline ends Monday
Chinese security forces poured into Lhasa
even as the local government today launched a "people's war" to
crush the massive pro-independence protests, ahead of the deadline to agitating
Tibetans to surrender.
No fresh bloodletting was reported in Lhasa
where 10 people were killed and 12 security personnel injured after the protests,
launched as part of the stir to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan
uprising against the 57-year Chinese rule, turned violent.
But rights groups claimed that seven people
were killed today after the violent protests spilled to nearby provinces of
Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu with significant Tibetan population.
A day after setting a Monday deadline for
rioters to surrender or face punishment, Tibetan political and security chiefs
declared a "people's war" against the protesters and vowed to "expose"
the Dalai Lama group.
"We must wage a people's war to beat
splittism and expose and condemn the malicious acts of these hostile forces
and expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama group to the light of day,"
they were quoted as saying by media after an emergency meeting.
International pressure mounted on Beijing
to show restraint in handling the protests that convulsed Tibet at a time
when Beijing is going all out to showcase China through the Olympic eyes.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in
a statement, urged Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with
the protests and expressed concern over reports of a "sharply increased"
police and military presence in and around Lhasa.
European nations, Australia and China's close
neighbour Japan have also voiced concern.
But the 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu
condemned the riots, saying "sabotage acts" ran counter to Buddhism
tenets and pledged support to the Communist Party of China and the government.
