The Tibetan independence movement is a movement for the independence of Tibet and the political separation of Tibet from the People's Republic of China. It is principally led by the Tibetan Diaspora in countries like India and the United States, and by celebrities and Tibetan Buddhists in the United States and Europe. The movement is not supported by the 14th Dalai Lama, who although having advocated it from 1961 to the late 1970s, proposed a sort of high-level autonomy in a speech in Strasbourg in 1988, and has since then restricted his position to either autonomy for the Tibetan people in the Tibetan Autonomous Region within China, or for the autonomy to extend also to areas of neighbouring Chinese provinces inhabited by Tibetans.
Among other reasons for independence, campaigners assert that Tibet has been historically independent. However, some dispute this claim by using different definitions of "Tibet" and "independence." The campaigners also argue that Tibetans are currently mistreated and denied certain human rights, although the Chinese government disputes this and claims progress in human rights. Various organizations with overlapping campaigns for independence and human rights have sought to pressure various governments to support Tibetan independence or to take punitive action against China for opposing it.
According to Free Tibet Organisation, Tibetans' civil and political rights are under constant attack by the Chinese authorities who will stop at nothing to suppress dissent. Every aspect of Tibetan life is under siege from a Chinese leadership determined to gradually eradicate a whole culture. The Tibetan flag and national anthem are banned. Possession of a picture of the Dalai Lama can result in torture and imprisonment. Even children face abuses of their freedom and human rights in Tibet with no right to protest or openly speak about their situation. Even peaceful demonstrations are met with heavy handed, military crackdowns. In 2008, thousands of Tibetans staged the largest protests in Tibet for over 50 years. Demonstrations swept across the entire Tibetan plateau.
Chinese authorities arrested an estimated 6,000 protestors, of which the fate of about 1,000 still remains unknown. The upsurge in protests and self-immolations in 2011 and 2012 has led the Chinese authorities to step up security even further and tighten its stranglehold on Tibet. Political prisoners are tortured, arrested and sentenced to prison for peaceful acts, such as waving the Tibetan flag, distributing leaflets and sending information about events in Tibet abroad. China attempts to control all information in and out of Tibet. TV, radio, printed media and the internet are subjected to strict monitoring and censorship. Lack of religious freedom and no political rights.
Source: Wikipedia & http://www.freetibet.org/
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