Dharamshala, 4th February: On Thursday, a group of Tibetan students protested the Beijing Winter Olympics in Mcleod Ganj’s main square. The protest was led by Students for Free Tibet, an exiled Tibetan organization. One demonstrator wore a mask picturing China’s President Xi Jinping, while others sat inside a mock jail with their faces and hands stained in red, symbolizing the slaughter and alleged human rights violations in Tibet and other parts of the country.

They claimed that China’s policies had exacerbated the issue in Tibet, prompting monks, nuns, and ordinary Tibetans to commit self-immolation. Human rights advocates have called it the “Genocide Games,” as the United States and other countries have boycotted(on a diplomatic level) the Olympics due to human rights violations.

“What is happening in Tibet justifies a boycott of the Beijing Olympics 2022. The recent sentencing of Tibetan intellectuals and activists and the destruction of many Budha statues in Tibet illustrate how the Chinese government was violating human rights,” the protesters stated.

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing did not result in a significant improvement in China’s human rights status. China viewed the 2008 Olympic Games as a vote of confidence in its policies. As a result, the demonstrators claimed that the allocation of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will encourage China to intensify its repression.

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