China News Service, Lhasa, March 29th, title: Tibet commemorates the liberation of one million serfs, highlighting system confidence
China News Agency reporter Xing Yi Zhao Lang
The 28th is the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Tibet's million serfs.
Local officials made a television speech the night before according to the usual practice, and held a grand flag-raising ceremony and a forum of all ethnic groups on the same day.
A little different from previous years, the Tibet Buddhist Institute also publicly held a grand flag-raising ceremony to commemorate it.
On March 28th, people of all ethnic groups and all walks of life in Tibet gathered at the Potala Palace Square in Lhasa to raise the national flag and sing the national anthem to celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of Tibet's million serfs.
Photo by Zhao Lang, a reporter from China News Agency
Analysts here pointed out that although this year's commemoration of the liberation of one million serfs does not coincide with the 5th and 10th anniversary, it is of great significance because it coincides with the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet.
The grand commemoration highlights the recognition of all sectors of the Tibetan society on the road after democratic reform, and also demonstrates the growing grassroots public opinion that embraces the current system.
The old Tibetan folk song once said: "Even if the snow-capped mountains become butter, they are still in the possession of the lord; even if the river water becomes milk, we can't drink a sip. Although life is born by our parents, our body is owned by the official family." This is a combination of state and church. One's portrayal of feudal serfdom trampling on human rights.
Many Western travellers, officials in Tibet, and Tibetology experts also gave detailed descriptions of that dark history.
But when serfdom became history in the West in the middle of the last century, Tibet was still in a quagmire.
Some public opinion believes that the contribution and value of Tibet's democratic reforms in 1959 to the cause of local and global human rights progress has long been severely underestimated and deliberately vilified in the global discourse system dominated by the West.
But history is the best textbook and the best nutrient.
The holding of the commemorative event will help the West to face up to and re-understand the value of Tibet's "abolition of slavery".
As the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government Zizala said in a televised speech on the evening of the 27th, the democratic reform initiated in Tibet 62 years ago destroyed the feudal serfdom of the unity of politics and religion, and created an extremely glorious page in the history of human rights in the world.
In the past, democratic reforms allowed the liberation of millions of Tibetan serfs, and the social system stepped past a thousand years; now, the fight against poverty has allowed 3.5 million people to lift themselves out of poverty and live a well-off life, and their lifestyles have stepped over a millennium.
In Tibet today, railways, aviation, and highways extend in all directions; water grids, power grids, and the Internet enter villages and households; the number of years of education for the main working-age population has increased to 10.2 years; people living above 4,800 meters above sea level are relocated through ecological relocation in extremely high altitude areas , Stepping out of the "life restricted zone"; the overall average life expectancy increased from 35.5 years to 71.1 years; the ecological red line area of 539,000 square kilometers... In Tibet, people generally believe that the prosperity and development of society and the huge improvement in people’s lives are benefiting from The practice of democratic reform and the current social system.
Official information also shows that the social situation continues to be stable and improving, living standards have improved in an all-round way, and people’s satisfaction with their sense of security has remained above 99%.
Practice is the only criterion for testing truth.
The local people's sense of happiness and sense of gain has continued to increase, showing that the path of social development in Tibet since the democratic reform has withstood the test of practice.
Observers pointed out that the reality of the continuous improvement of Tibetan society will continue to enhance the sincere sense of identity, centripetal force and cohesion of the grassroots people, and continue to consolidate and expand the grassroots public opinion that embraces the current system.
(Finish)