41 Tibetans arrested in border district, stopped from restarting March to Tibet on eve of torch relay in Lhasa
Shimla - 41 Tibetans headed to the Indo-Tibet border on Shipkila pass to restart the March to Tibet were arrested by Indian police in four separate incidents. 10 Tibetans arrested in Rampur in Shimla district in Himachal Pradesh yesterday sat for the second day of hunger strike today, refusing to eat and drink unless they are released and allowed to continue the march. 21 Tibetans arrested yesterday in Reckong Peo in Kinnaur district, after a day of hunger strike, were promised by the police authorities that they would be allowed to protest China’s occupation of Tibet. On their way from the police station to the SDM office, the marchers took to the street, shouted slogans and pleaded with the authorities to facilitate their safe passage to Tibet.
“We are Tibetans demanding our right to return to our homeland,” said Dr. B Tsering, President of the Tibetan Women’s Association, speaking from Paonta Sahib where the 300 marchers are being hosted by the local Tibetan communities. “International law concerning refugees’ right of return demands that China must not stop us from going to Tibet while India must facilitate our journey instead of obstructing it.” Yesterday morning, three Tibetans walked toward the Indo-Tibet border on Shipkila Pass, planning to hoist a Tibetan flag on Tibetan soil. About ten kilometres from Tibet, they were apprehended by the border police and detained. However, minutes before their arrest, the three were able to unfurl Tibetan flags and a banner reading “Free Tibet Now.” Seven other Tibetans planning to join the three were arrested the day before in Pooh.
“The Chinese government is using the Olympic torch as a political tool in an attempt to legitimize its rule in Tibet and the International Olympic Committee has now endorsed this cynical propaganda scheme,” said Konchok Yangphel of Tibetan Youth Congress, one of the three arrested at the border post. “Tibetans will keep up our struggle long after the Beijing Olympics have ended, and we will never give up until we stand as free people on Tibetan soil.”
Tibetans living in exile in India launched the March to Tibet as part of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement. On the same day that the march was launched, monks from monasteries in Lhasa, as well as in eastern Tibet, led non-violent demonstrations, shouting slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet. Chinese authorities brutally suppressed peaceful protests that continued for days, leading to rioting in the capital and a wave of large public demonstrations that have rippled across the country. The March to Tibet and the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement aim to revive the spirit of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959 by engaging in non-violent direct action to bring about an end to China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.
Comments