TORONTO — A Tibetan student from the University of Toronto Scarborough is facing online harassment after being elected student union president, reports The Varsity.
The university's student newspaper reports that Chemi Lhamo received over 10,000 comments on a Lunar New Year Instagram post, most of them from angry Chinese netizens who criticized her for openly supporting a free Tibet.
Just 3 days after Lhamo was elected, a petition was created on Change.org called "We don't want such a person to be student union president."
The petition was created by an individual who identifies themselves as "Kennedy L". They claim Chemi is "irrational" for being "deep into a group called Free Tibet" and that "she has too much political involvement with that outside group." Over 10,000 people have signed the petition.
A counter petition has been submitted on the same website called, "Let Chemi remain as Student Union Presidential Candidate". In that one, the author writes that Lhamo is fit for her presidency and that "she does not deserve all those hateful comments about her nature or character on social media."
Lhamo claims she grew up as a stateless Tibetan refugee in India. She told The Varsity she has plans to create a mentorship program for Tibetan youth in Canada.
Lhamo had this to say about her online bullies, "This is just an example of China's long arms, how they still think and inherently believe that they can intimidate me into not running for Presidency."
According to FreeTibet.org, China claims to have "liberated and democratically reformed Tibet" in the 1950s. Many saw this so-called 'liberation' as an invasion and the forced establishment of the Communist Regime.
The university's student newspaper reports that Chemi Lhamo received over 10,000 comments on a Lunar New Year Instagram post, most of them from angry Chinese netizens who criticized her for openly supporting a free Tibet.
Just 3 days after Lhamo was elected, a petition was created on Change.org called "We don't want such a person to be student union president."
The petition was created by an individual who identifies themselves as "Kennedy L". They claim Chemi is "irrational" for being "deep into a group called Free Tibet" and that "she has too much political involvement with that outside group." Over 10,000 people have signed the petition.
A counter petition has been submitted on the same website called, "Let Chemi remain as Student Union Presidential Candidate". In that one, the author writes that Lhamo is fit for her presidency and that "she does not deserve all those hateful comments about her nature or character on social media."
Lhamo claims she grew up as a stateless Tibetan refugee in India. She told The Varsity she has plans to create a mentorship program for Tibetan youth in Canada.
Lhamo had this to say about her online bullies, "This is just an example of China's long arms, how they still think and inherently believe that they can intimidate me into not running for Presidency."
According to FreeTibet.org, China claims to have "liberated and democratically reformed Tibet" in the 1950s. Many saw this so-called 'liberation' as an invasion and the forced establishment of the Communist Regime.
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