DESCRIPTION:
Dedicated to the bravery of student protest in rebkong and the victims of earthquake in Kyegundo Gyegu Tibet. An estimated 6,000 Tibetans, mostly students, in the Tibetan province of Amdo (Chinese: Qinghai Province) protested the Qinghai Provincial Government's decision to replace Tibetan with Chinese as the medium of instruction in Tibetan schools. Tibetan students in the neighbouring Tibetan province of Kham (Chinese: Gansu Province and Sichuan Province) and in Beijing have held solidarity protests.

"Language is the foundation of Tibetan culture and this recent attack on our language reveals the Chinese governments' sinister attempt to assimilate Tibetans into Chinese society," said Tenzin Choedon, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India. "Students across Tibet have spoken out clearly against this discriminatory policy and students worldwide are taking action to amplify their voices and support their demand for freedom of language."

The protests by Tibetans followed similar protests by Cantonese speakers earlier this year. In July 2010, nearly 8,000 Chinese people marched in Guangzhou, China to protest Beijing's plans to replace Cantonese with Mandarin in state television broadcasts. Authorities relented, agreeing to maintain Cantonese language broadcasts, and no widespread crackdown on the protesters occurred.

"It is the inalienable right of every Tibetan to learn in their own language. We call on governments around the world to press the Chinese government to respect Tibetan language rights," said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. The Tibetan students' actions over the last two weeks are the largest protests in Tibet since 2008.

Composed March 2008, record and release Oct 2010