On March 10, 2008, 15 monks of Sera monastery led a peaceful protest through Lhasa, distributing pamphlets and raising the banned Tibetan national flag. The march was an observance of the 49th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile from Tibet. Sera is a Gelug monastery, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the head of the Gelug school as well as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The 15 monks were arrested and allegedly beaten by Chinese police. Their whereabouts were unknown.
On March 11, hundreds of monks of Sera monastery poured into the streets demanding the release of the 15 monks. According to CNN, 2,000 Chinese policemen assembled and fired tear gas to disperse the monks. These and other incidents involving other monasteries touched off several days of violence in Lhasa that spread throughout Tibet.