Tibet top legislator backs establishment of "Serfs Emancipation Day"

Source: Xinhua | 01-16-2009 08:15

LHASA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A top Tibetan legislator said Thursday that setting a date to commemorate the emancipation of millions of serfs 50 years ago, if approved, would help all the Chinese nation, including Tibetans, remember the history.

Legqog, director of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People's Congress, told reporters that the date, if endorsed at the end of the second annual session of the regional legislature, would have "far-reaching practical and historical meaning."

The session runs from Jan. 14 to Jan. 19.

The serfs and slaves were freed 50 years ago after the central government foiled an armed rebellion staged by the Dalai Lama and his supporters with assistance from some Western powers.

The People's Liberation Army quelled the rebellion, and later a democratic reform was introduced to end feudal serfdom and abolish the hierarchic social system characterized by theocracy.

Legqog said "Serfs Emancipation Day" would strengthen Tibetans' patriotism and expose the Dalai clique.

"Over the past five decades, Tibet's political, economic and cultural sectors have witnessed great changes ... former serfs have become masters of the new socialist Tibet," Legqog said.

He said the Dalai Lama and his followers had constantly organized sabotage activities and had tried "by all means to prevent Tibet's development."

Editor:Zhang Ning