Dharamsala, July 8 (Inditop.com) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Wednesday expressed concern over the ethnic clashes in China’s Xinjiang province that have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured.
“I am deeply saddened and concerned with the worsening situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), especially with the tragic loss of lives,” the Nobel peace laureate said in a statement.
“I earnestly urge Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the situation in a spirit of understanding and far-sightedness.
“I offer my prayers for those who lost their lives, their families and others affected by this sad turn of events,” the Dalai Lama noted.
The riots started in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Sunday when a group of protesters demanded an investigation into the death of two ethnic Uighurs who died during a fight with Han Chinese workers at a toy factory in late June.
Chinese authorities say 156 people died in the subsequent rioting and around 1,500 people were arrested.
However, Uighur groups put the death toll as high as 840. They also say that the majority of the dead were Uighurs.
Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his stay in Italy and left for home early Wednesday without attending the G8-G5 summit following the violence in Xinjiang region
