EASTHAMPTON — For the Tibetan community, March 10 is a “day of resistance and hope,” notes Tsering Dhundup, president of the Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts, as Tibetans around the world and their supporters commemorate the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
On Wednesday, the local community gathered at the steps of Amherst Town Hall, where they began their six-plus-hour “Walk for Tibet” event in recognition of the the uprising’s 62nd anniversary.
For the first time, this year’s march, which had previously gone from Amherst to downtown Northampton, concluded in Easthampton in front of City Hall. Easthampton also joined Amherst and Northampton in declaring March 10 as Tibet Day and hoisting the Tibetan flag.
Tibetan Uprising Day is observed annually in the Pioneer Valley and by Tibetans around the world. It marks the day when tens of thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, fearing that the Chinese government planned to abduct their spiritual leader. The Tibetans protected the Dalai Lama until he was able to escape to India, where Tibet currently operates a government-in-exile.
“There is no other point in Tibet’s history that an event continues to touch our lives so intimately, and one that continues to inspire generations of the courage, resilience and hope of the Tibetan people,” said Dhundup, speaking in front of Easthampton City Hall.
“Our fellow brothers and sisters inside Tibet are still demanding justice and freedom simply to be Tibetan,” he said, “to speak their own language, to practice their Buddhist religion, and to live freely in their own country.”
The Tibetan government-in-exile estimates that 87,000 Tibetans were killed during the uprising, and that more than 1.2 million have been killed under Chinese rule since 1951. Many others were jailed or fled to other countries as refugees, and 157 have self-immolated in protest since 2009.
Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle also spoke at the ceremony, reading from the city’s proclamation of March 10 as Tibet Day, in addition to state Rep. Dan Carey. Several members of the City Council and school administrators also attended. In Northampton, Mayor David Narkewicz also read a proclamation, and state Rep. Linsday Sabadosa and a representative for U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern spoke at City Hall.
Those who participated in the March reiterated the significance of the day as the event concluded in Easthampton.
Amherst resident Tenzin Choedup, whose parents fled from Tibet to India decades ago, sees participating in the march as “my right, and also duty.”
The day not only commemorates the uprising, he said, but “keeps the struggle for our freedom alive.”
Thupten Sherpa, an 11th grader at Easthampton High School, said that there are many ways people can support Tibet. In addition to participating in the march, Sherpa recently started a chapter of Students for a Free Tibet at Easthampton High School.
“Tibet has been invaded for a very long time now,” Sherpa said, “and I think it’s important for everyone to come together, no matter how big or small … Let’s raise our voices and hope for a free Tibet.”
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.