By Tenzin Tsering
Phayul
November 5, 2010

Dharamsala, Nov. 4 -- A "nationwide" protest of
all Tibetan schools in India was undertaken by
Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) today to express
solidarity and support with the Tibetan students’
protest in Amdo province (ch: Qinghai) against
the imposition of Chinese language as the medium
of instruction in schools in Tibet.

"All our Regional Tibetan Youth Congress chapters
have been contacted to carry out parallel
protests in their respective areas so that
Tibetan students all over India on this day will
hold simultaneous protests," said a press
statement issued by the largest pro-independence
group of the exile Tibetan diaspora.

In Dharamsala, around 700 students from Upper
Tibetan Childrens’ Village (TCV), Lower TCV,
Nobulingka Institute for Tibetan culture, Sarah
College for Higher Tibetan Studies and Institute
of Buddhist Dialectics participated in a protest
rally from Tsuglagkhang temple to Kacheri (Indian
Judicial Complex) at Lower Dharamsala.

"Freedom to language", "Make Tibetan the medium
of instruction in all over Tibet" were some of the slogans raised at the march.

Student representatives from the schools took to
the platform and expressed their opposition to
the China’s education policy laid out at the
Provincial communist party meeting in Tsongon
(Qinghai) on September 12 which declared the
replacement of Tibetan language with Mandarin.

"If China did not retract in their attempt to
destroy Tibetan language, it is equivalent to
denying Tibetans the right to exist as a people,"
said a student representative while addressing the gathering.

"Replacing Tibetan language with Chinese language
(Mandarin) is an attempt at denying Tibetans
their culture, identity and the right to exist.
The Chinese government is practicing some of the
theories advocated by staunch Communists like
Lenin and Stalin who said ‘If you need to wipe
out an entire race, then wipe out its language’,”
said TYC’s Finnace Secretary Kunchok Yangphel.

On 19th October, thousands of students from six
different schools from Rebkong in Amdo took to
the streets protesting the Chinese government’s
education policy of fading out Tibetan language
in school curriculum. Many more schools from
other areas of Mangra, Krigha, Golok, Chentse and
Chabcha joined the protests in the following two
weeks. “Equality of People, Freedom of Language”
were the unanimous demand of the protest marches.
The protests later spread to the neigboriing Gansu province, and even Beijing.

20 students were reportedly detained following protest in Chabcha county.

Similar solidarity protests are held by Tibetans in exile across the world.