Hong Kong library removed 29 out of 149 books about Tiananmen massacre in 12 years: Report

In a bid to weed out the memories of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, Hong Kong libraries have removed at least 29 books based on them on the protests in the past 12 years, local media reported on Saturday. According to a report by Hong Kong Free Press, the authorities removed 29 out of 149 books that have horrific memories of the 1989 massacre in which thousands of protestors were allegedly killed by the Chinese troops.

Further, the report claimed that around 120 titles are stocked and immediately available for borrowing. While the rest 94 are only obtainable on demand, are currently stored in off-site book reserves, or are housed in attributing divisions where they can be "read" but not borrowed. Notably, the suppressive action from the Communist government came as pro-China governments in the City of Victoria are augmenting their crackdown on pro-democracy and, anti-China protestors.

What happened on June 4, 1989?

According to an archive report of the Associated Press, China began a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, nearly two months after student-led demonstrations started protests against the government. The protests were carried out by various student groups over the demise of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989.  Besides that, the protest also gained momentum amid rapid economic development and social change in post-Mao China. Moreover, protestors also had common grievances such as inflation, corruption, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and limitations on political participation. The protestors were reportedly anxious about the country's future.

Chinese govt always remove content from the internet

Subsequently, the Chinese authorities sent armed troops with assault rifles accompanied by tanks who had fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. As per the figures presented by the then government, more than 500 were killed. However, irrespective of authorities claim, local media said more than thousands were killed by the armed troops. Since then, the Chinese government trying to fade out the memories through various methods including, the removal of books from libraries. Also, whenever a discussion over a sensitive topic emerged on the internet, the authorities were quick to remove the content from the internet. Earlier in June 2009, the Home Affairs Bureau made public a spreadsheet of 149 titles about the June 4 massacre that was in Hong Kong's public libraries at the time, with a total of 1,162 copies available for lending or reference. 

(With inputs from ANI/AP)

Image: AP/Pixabay