Dear Friends:

Pema Dechen Gorap at Tibetan Association of CO and Dawn Engle at Colorado Friends of Tibet (303) 499-4168 (w) Steven Tarquini at Students for a Free Tibet (at The Naropa Institute) (303) 444-1659 (h)

Date: March 10, 1997

Time: 6:15am sunrise all day, 5pm candlelight vigil

Location: The Court House, Pearl St. mall, Boulder

On March 10, 1997 Students for a Free Tibet, the Tibetan Association of Colorado, and Colorado Friends of Tibet will hold an interfaith demonstration to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising and to show solidarity with the Tibetan people.

Tibet was invaded by the People's Republic of China in 1949. Since the occupation, the Tibetan people have been subjected to religious and cultural oppression and severe human rights violations including: forced abortions, mandatory sterilization of women, genocide, political detention, and torture. 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of the situation. Over 6000 monasteries and 80% of Tibet's forests have been destroyed.

March 10th 1959 was the day when Tibetans rose up against the might of China and declared their desire for freedom and independence for the whole of Tibet. This movement was initiated by the Tibetan people to surround the Potala Palace and protect the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. China was able to quickly suppress the uprising but not the spirit of the Tibetan people for freedom from tyranny, torture, and injustice. In 1959, 87,000 Tibetans were killed. The uprising resulted in the exodus of the Dalai Lama, members of his government and about 130,000 Tibetans into India, Nepal, and Bhutan and the West.

Our protest will begin at 6:15am with a sunrise fire puja ceremony. Other morning events will include Jewish prayers and songs, and a Tibetan Prayer for Truth. Tibetan hunger strikers will be present throughout the day.

There will be day long sitting, lying and walking meditation and information tables. The Sufi/Islamic community will be doing Dances for Universal Peace at 1pm. At 5 pm there will be a candle light vigil beginning with a call to action by the Tibetan community. There will be speakers from the three sponsoring organizations, and a reading of a letter written for March 10, 1997 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Tibetans commemorate March 10th every year wherever they are, to remind themselves and the world that those Tibetans who died for the cause of freedom have not died in vain, and that their death is a just and worthy sacrifice for the birth of a free Tibet.