Beijing - Tibetan legislators proposed Friday to set aside March 28 as Serfs Emancipation Day, to commemorate the emancipation of millions of serfs in the region 50 years ago, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The motion will be reviewed by about 400 lawmakers of the regional People's Congress, it said.

If approved, the measure would help Tibetans and the whole Chinese nation to remember history, according to Legqog, director of the standing committee of the regional legislature.

Serfs and slaves were freed 50 years ago after the central government foiled an armed rebellion staged by the Dalai Lama and his supporters with assistance from some Western powers, Xinhua said.

The People's Liberation Army quelled the rebellion, and later a democratic reform was introduced to end feudal serfdom and abolish the hierarchical social system characterized by theocracy, with the Dalai Lama as the core of the leadership, it said.

"Over the past five decades, Tibet's political, economic and cultural sectors have witnessed great changes," said Leggog, 65, who grew up in a family of serfs. "Former serfs have become masters of the new socialist Tibet." (dpa)