China walking in footsteps of Taliban, destroying Tibetan culture: Expert

Beijing [China], February 24 (ANI): Brahma Chellaney, a strategic expert, says that China is walking in the footsteps of the Taliban saying that the destruction of two massive Buddha statues built in the sixth century by China is similar to the destruction of numerous religious artefacts in Afghanistan by Taliban.
China is putting efforts to do every bit to restrain Tibetans from exercising their rights. Chinese authorities have switched Tibetan language schools to Chinese. They are aiming to cut Tibetans off their ancient traditions, reported Tibet Press.
Recently, they demolished a 99-foot statue of Lord Buddha in the Tibetan region of Sichuan. Chellaney compared the unfortunate incident to the Taliban destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001.
Demolition of the two historic and giant 15th-century statues in Afghanistan had sent shock waves across the world, he said adding that China is walking in the footsteps of the Taliban.
Even after gross human rights violations, the International Olympic Committee has assented to let China host the Olympics following which the event has attracted widespread criticism and profound concerns by the global powers, reported Tibet Press.
Many activists fighting for human rights have blamed the IOC for supporting China, which is "committing atrocities against ethnic minorities".
"Despite well-documented evidence of systematic rights violations by China, the IOC chose to place profit over people," the Tibetan exile group stated. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has even equated Beijing's rule with "cultural genocide".
The human rights violations in the Xinjiang region have gained much global attention. Since 2014, nearly 1 million Uyghurs and other Turkic communities, which mainly practise Islam, have been placed in "re-education" centres. Many are deployed as forced labour in Xinjiang and other places. The last decade under Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been especially troublesome. (ANI)