Tibetan Uprising Erupts in Lhasa: Struggle for Autonomy Intensifies

Three hundred thousand Tibetans surrounded the Norbulingka Palace in Lhasa on March 10, 1959, forming a human shield to prevent the Chinese military from abducting the Dalai Lama. Rumors had spread that Chinese authorities planned to lure the 23-year-old spiritual leader to a military camp for a theatrical performance, where he would be detained or killed. The crowd's defiance triggered an armed uprising that the People's Liberation Army crushed within days, killing thousands and forcing the Dalai Lama into an exile that continues to this day. China had maintained effective control over Tibet since 1950, when the PLA invaded and the Tibetan government signed the Seventeen Point Agreement under duress in 1951. The agreement nominally preserved Tibetan autonomy and the Dalai Lama's authority, but Chinese military presence grew steadily throughout the decade. In the eastern Tibetan regions of Kham and Amdo, which had been incorporated into Chinese provinces, forced collectivization and attacks on monasteries had already sparked guerrilla resistance beginning in 1956. The Lhasa uprising began when the Dalai Lama was invited to attend a performance at the PLA headquarters. The invitation specified that he should come without his bodyguard and without informing the public — conditions that Tibetans interpreted as a trap. Word spread through the city, and by the morning of March 10, a massive crowd had assembled around the Norbulingka, refusing to let the Dalai Lama leave. For a week, the city existed in a state of armed tension. Tibetan volunteers set up barricades and distributed weapons. On March 17, two mortar shells landed near the Norbulingka. That night, disguised as a soldier, the Dalai Lama slipped through the crowd and began a harrowing two-week journey on horseback across the Himalayas to India. He crossed the Indian border on March 31 and was granted asylum by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The PLA shelled the Norbulingka on March 20, killing hundreds of Tibetans sheltering in the palace grounds. Fighting in Lhasa lasted three days. Chinese official figures listed 87,000 Tibetans killed in the uprising and subsequent military operations; Tibetan exile sources claim significantly higher numbers. March 10 is observed annually by Tibetan exile communities as Tibetan Uprising Day, marking the beginning of a resistance that has continued for over six decades.