Tibetan capital Lhasa witnessed a massive protest against the Chinese government’s severe Covid-restrictions.
Hundreds of people in Lhasa protested over the Chinese government’s strict Covid measures, and lockdown as per the footage shown, reported The HK Post. The protestors took to the street at noon. The protest was said to have continued throughout the evening, according to UK-based media. For more than two months, authorities have shut down Lhasa and inflicted harsh and severe Covid restrictions, leading to protests. The protest is believed to be the second-largest eruption ever since the 2008 uprising, when hundreds of Tibetans marched on the streets against the Chinese government. Then a major clash between the police and protesters took place, where Tibetans were brutally punished, detained, beaten and sentenced.
The protest comprised migrant workers who came to Lhasa for employment and to earn their daily wages, where it has become very hard to earn money during these lockdowns, and worse, they couldn’t even go back to their homes. As a result, they took to the streets in desperation and frustration, as depicted in the video, according to The HK Post.One such video shows migrant workers walking on the street shouting and demanding to be allowed to go back home.
Another video shows a large-scale protest march on the street, blocked on one end by the healthcare officials, and asking them “to please be understanding and go back,” whereas another video shows a man commenting in Mandarin.
He further said, “They have been locked up for too long. And a lot of people in this community are people who have just come to work and earn money. If they could get that in mainland China, they wouldn’t have come here.” However, these videos were quickly deleted from Chinese social media, as usual, although some were re-posted on Twitter. One resident in Lhasa said that it had been almost 80 days since the Covid lockdown and she has been staying indoors except to roam for a few hours a day. It took an unimaginable emotional and psychological toll on the people.
Moreover, prices in Lhasa now are so high that landlords are chasing people for rent. The workers also aren’t allowed to go back to their hometown, reported The HK Post.
The zero Covid-policy has inflicted deep anxiety, and frustration not just among the migrant workers but also for the Tibetans living outside Lhasa.