Tibetans residing in Northeast India have expressed concern over China’s newly enforced Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, saying it could have far-reaching implications for regional security, cross-border stability and India’s strategic interests.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the group said the law, which came into force on July 1, promotes forced assimilation of Tibetans with the Han majority under the guise of national unity. The statement came in the wake of the July 2 self-immolation of 52-year-old Tibetan activist LobgaRangzen outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, protesting China’s occupation of Tibet and what the group described as the criminalisation of Tibetan resistance.
The Tibetans said Rangzen’s protest is among more than 160 self-immolation cases linked to the Tibetan freedom movement. They also alleged that Chinese authorities have used legal provisions to classify such protests as “intentional homicide”, leading to collective punishment of Tibetans.
Highlighting the broader economic and geopolitical implications, the group urged the Indian government, civil society and citizens to recognise what it described as China’s growing strategic challenge through territorial claims, control over the headwaters of major rivers originating in Tibet and regional intimidation tactics. It further said these developments could have long-term implications for water security, border stability and regional cooperation.
The statement rejected the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law and renewed its call for the restoration of Tibet’s freedom, while expressing confidence that India, as Tibet’s closest neighbour and a long-standing host to the Tibetan exile community, would play a meaningful role in addressing the Sino-Tibetan conflict.
