More than 400 demonstrators in downtown Minneapolis, chanting "Free Tibet" and "Long live the Dalai Lama!" joined thousands across the world on Thursday to mark Tibetan National Uprising Day.
The Twin Cities group gathered over the noon hour at the Hennepin County Government Center.
Uprising Day commemorates the date in 1959 when thousands of defiant Tibetans, fearing that occupying Chinese forces were planning to kidnap the Dalai Lama, surrounded the Potala Palace in the capital city of Lhasa to protect their spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama later fled to India and set up a government-in-exile.
Since then, Tibetans worldwide gather in a show of solidarity with those still in Tibet. Similar demonstrations were also planned Thursday in other cities around the world, according to organizers.
![Ngawang Tara of Richfield, a member of the Tibetan Women's Association, chants while marching with others for Tibet in downtown Minneapolis. ] (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune) leila.navidi@startribune.com BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Local Tibetans and supporters gather at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, March 10, 2016 to recognize Tibetan National Uprising Day. This day, March 10, marks the 57th anniversary of the Tibetan people's uprising in 1959 against the pr](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/NFCQ2PWFFE6N57TDONJ3N3QJSI.jpg?&w=1080)
