Lausanne: Around 300 Tibetan protestors marched on to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne on Thursday, to protest against the Beijing Winter Olympics. The protest took place as participants from Italy, Netherland, France, Germany, etc. took part in the demonstration against the human rights abuses by Chinese officials.
The maximum number of protestors were from Belgium. The President of the Belgium Tibetan Community, Palden Tibet Tsering stated that they were protesting against the Human rights violations by China against Tibetans. The marchers wrapped in the red, yellow, and blue flag of Tibet and dressed in traditional robes chanted against China. They wanted to show the IOC that the Olympics in China is against the spirit of humanity and sportsmanship.
Activists said that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opens amid atrocities and other grave human rights violations by the Chinese government. Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have been committing mass abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans, ethnic groups, and religious believers from all independent faith groups. They termed Beijing Games as ‘Genocide Games’ and chanted slogans like ‘Beijing Olympics, Genocide Games’, ‘Tibet is burning’, and “Long live Dalai Lama’. The protester also marched afterwards from the IOC office to Olympic Museum.
US administration in December had announced its decision not to send an official delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics citing human rights violations in China. This was followed by the UK, Australia, and Canada. Their athletes will still participate in the Games nonetheless. The Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20. India has also chosen to diplomatically boycott the event as China had chosen a People Liberation Army’s commander injured in Galwan clash for 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay.
Meanwhile, China has refuted all the allegations. Chinese President Xi Jinping will declare the game open at the ceremony at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium, which was built for, and launched for the Summer Olympics in 2008 as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Thomas Bach President of the International Olympics Commitee, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan are among the foreign dignitaries to attend the event.
Post Your Comments