New Delhi  - Tibetan exiles in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala staged protests Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of what they termed Chinese "repression" in Tibet.

"More than 500 protestors gathered at the town's main bus square and released balloons with messages of hope and solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet who continue to suffer under Chinese occupation," said Tenzin Choeying, a member of a Tibetan youth organization.

The protestors staged a street play followed by a march.

The protest organizers plan to hold a candlelight vigil in the evening, followed by a screening of film footage smuggled out of Tibet that showed violence being done against Tibetans, Choeying said.

The Chinese government is observing Saturday as its first Serfs Emancipation holiday to mark 50 years of Communist rule in the Himalayan region and what President Hu Jintao called "profound and progressive social transformation" in Tibet.

"We want to show that the Serf Emanicipation Day is completely opposite," Choeying said. "There is unimaginable suffering in Tibet, and people cannot protest. They are forced to join celebrations. We have to protest on their behalf and counter the Chinese propaganda."

In Tibet itself, more than 13,000 people attended government-organized observances in the square in Lhasa before Potala Palace, which had been the home of the Dalai Lama, the highest leader of Tibetan Buddhism, before he fled to exile in 1959.

The Chinese government sees the date in 1959 as the day it ended feudalism in Tibet, but the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, said the communists brought repression and the deaths of more than 1.2 million Tibetans since their army marched into the Himalayan region in 1950.

It said in a statement that China's decision to observe Serfs Emancipation Day was "offensive and provocative" and was aggravating problems in Tibet.

"The best judge of whether they have been 'liberated' is the Tibetan people," the statement said. "They vote with their feet and lives by crossing the Himalayas to seek freedom and happiness outside of their 'liberated' Tibet."

"If the 'serfs' are happy with their 'emancipation,' why are they risking their lives and limbs to protest Chinese rule in Tibet," the statement asked, recalling the widespread protests in 2008 and ensuing Chinese crackdown.

The Tibetan government-in-exile has organized a five-day event in the Indian capital to highlight the achievements of the Tibetan community in India over the past 50 years.

"The Thank you India event has been organized to mainly express the refugees' appreciation to the government and the people of India," an official in the Dalai Lama's office said.

The event, which began Thursday, includes exhibitions of photographs, Tibetan arts and crafts, demonstrations by craftsmen, and discussions on political, religious and environmental issues facing Tibetans.

Several documentary films on life in exile and in Tibet are also being screened.

At least 110,000 Tibetans live in Dharamsala and 35 settlements in India. (dpa)