Tibetans living in exile in India have been demonstrating against the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress recently enacted by the People’s Republic of China. The law asserts the legitimacy of state efforts to extirpate Tibetan language and culture and other languages and culture that the CCP as led by Xi Jinping disfavors.
In New Delhi, Tibetans denounced China “with shaved heads and prayers” (The Associated Press, August 20, 2026).
The law, which came into force on 1 July, bans acts deemed likely to encourage divisions between ethnic groups. It also requires schools, families, public bodies and other institutions to promote national unity, and provides for action against people or organisations outside China if they are judged to have harmed ethnic unity.
The protesters also held prayers in memory of Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen. Tibetan organisations say [and news services say] he died on 2 July after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, where he had been protesting against China’s policies in Tibet.
In recent weeks Tibetans have also been conducting protests in Calcutta, Dharamshala, Shimla, Mangaluru, Chennai, Bylakuppe, Darjeeling, Chandigarh, Mumbai, and elsewhere.
“We demand China to decolonise Tibet,” said one of the protesters, Tenzin Tsundue. “We seek independence of Tibet. China’s draconian new law, Ethnic Unity and Progress, mandates all institutes in China to replace all native languages with Chinese, thereby effectively banning teaching Tibetan in Tibet. Their strategic design is to erase native languages.”
Meanwhile, according to the Tibetan Review, satellite imagery has confirmed the PRC’s “continuing assault on Larung Gar Buddhist learning centre in Tibet.” Last year, “thousands of Tibetan monks and nuns” were expelled from the center. “Unlike in past years, this year’s demolitions were stated to include residences of monks and nuns who did not receive any prior public notice.”
The Sentinel Assam reports that “large numbers of troops deployed inside the religious encampment,” presumably to suppress any attempt to resist the demolition and expulsions.
Also see:
CNN-News18: Video: “Tibetans Protest In Dharamsala Against China On 49th Day Of Self-immolation By Lobsang Palden”
NDTV: Video: “Tibetans Shave Heads In Protest Against China’s New Ethnic Unity Law”
