Protests mar troubled torch's arrival in India

Protests mar troubled torch’s arrival in India
Phayul[Thursday, April 17, 2008 13:33]

Security personnel struggle to arrest a Tibetan activist before Le Meridian Hotel in New Delhi where the Olympic torch was supposedly kept after arriving in from Pakistan (Photo by Tenzin Sheyden)New Delhi, April 17: The troubled Olympic torch was flown in from Islamabad at the Palam Technical Area in the wee hours of the morning on April 17. At around 1:00am, just minutes before the torch passed through on its way to Le Meridian Hotel in New Delhi, around 32 activists from the Tibetan Youth Congress’ various regional chapters blocked traffic on the designated route near the Army Research and Referral Hospital near Dhaula Kuan in South West Delhi. The protestors were quickly arrested by the police and were taken to custody.Later around 3:30am, a second batch of around 30 Tibetan activists and Indian supporters assembled outside the Le Meridian hotel near Rajpath, where the Olympic torch is supposedly kept, and began to shout anti-China slogans.

An activist draped in Tibetan National Flag is being taken away by police before Le Meridian Hotel around 3:30am after a group of activists tried to break through the security cordon shouting Tibetan freedom slogans before the Le Meridian Hotel. (SFT Photo)Notwithstanding the threats from the police, activists raised anti-China slogans calling the flame 'The torch of shame'. Protestors, shouting 'Justice for Tibet' and 'We want Freedom', even tried to break through the security cordon on the road before being taken away by the police. The pre-dawn protest foreshadowed what could be later expected when the 2.5km or so torch run, considerably cut short fearing security risks, begins at 4:00pm today.Three Tibetans and an Indian supporter were apprehended by the law enforcement with the rest managing to escape the arrest.Protests are expected to dog the New Delhi leg of torch relay as Tibetans and supporters escalate pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to withdraw China’s planned torch relay through Tibet.The torch, 72-centimetres long and weighing 985 grams, was flown into New Delhi in a specially designed flight from Islamabad, its last stop before India."As an Indian, I reject China's propaganda torch relay and stand in solidarity with Tibetans who continue to suffer under China's brutal occupation. I call on the International Olympic Committee to immediately withdraw all Tibetan areas from the torch relay route.,” Shibayan Raha, spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet, said before he was arrested by police after he displayed a Tibetan flag and called for 'No Torch in Tibet'.

Shibayan Raha, a pro-Tibet Indian activist, was arrested by police after he displayed a Tibetan flag and called for 'No Torch in Tibet' in front of the Le Meridian Hotel (SFT Photo)“We will not stand and clap as China carries the Olympic torch, now a symbol of oppression, to India Gate and Rajpath, important symbols of India's freedom dedicated to the lives of our nation's martyrs," Shibayan protested.Among the torchbearers, four have already dropped out of today's relay citing concerns about the Chinese oppressions and other personal reasons. A 1000 or more Tibetans from all over the country and their supporters also kicked off a rival torch relay in New Delhi today, starting at 11am at Sathya Sthal, hours before the Olympic torch relay was set to take place. The mass relay, calling on the Chinese Government to immediately halt its crackdown in Tibet, will end at Jantar Mantar.

Police put a Tibetan activist into a van (Photo by Tenzin Sheyden)Meanwhile, Indian authorities have mobilized over ten thousand police to secure the route of the torch through the Capital.Tibetan activists warn that the planned controversial torch relay through Tibet will only provoke more tensions and further bloody crackdown by Chinese authorities.Tibetan exiles and supporters around the world have repeatedly called on the International Olympic Committee to withdraw all Tibetan areas from the torch relay route."Reports of religious repression, torture, and mass detention throughout Tibet continue as Tibetans persistently speak out in the face of extreme domination at the hands of the Chinese authorities," said Tenzin Choeying, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet - India. "The International Olympics Committee must immediately withdraw Tibet from the Torch Relay route or risk aggravating the extremely tense situation in Tibet and be responsible for further deaths and repression when the torch goes through Tibet next month," he said.

Photo by Tenzin SheydenThe Tibetan Government-in-exile, based in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, said around 156 Tibetans have been killed so far as China resorted to violent crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators all over Tibet.The 33 members of TYC's regional chapters of Manali, Dharamsala, Shimla, Nainital, Mainpat and Darjeeling who were arrested after scaling the Chinese Embassy walls on March 22 and still under police detention in Tihar Jail have refused bail and are said to be staging a peaceful protest strike within the prison compounds. "There are around 150 pro-Tibet activists in judicial custody at the moment," Dhondup Dorjee, Vice President of the TYC told Phayul.com.In Dharamsala, hundreds of Tibetans and supporters began a massive rally protesting China’s alleged atrocities in Tibet and, urging Indian Government and its people to support Tibetan cause.

Tibetans cry for help to motherland

[April 12, 2008 source :newindpress.com]

HYDERABAD: ``Though I was born in Tibet I have not had the freedom to enter my homeland to see my ailing parents ever since my country was annexed by China five decades ago,’’ Norbu Dalma, local advisory member of Tibetan Solidarity Committee and who is pursuing higher studies in Hyderabad, says.

``A day does not pass wtihout reports of brutal torture of thousands of Tibetans in prisons and killing of dozens of people, rape of women and violation of human rights by the Chinese army,’’ Norbu says in an emotion-choked voice.

``In this hour of crisis, the United Nations Organisation (UNO) and friendly countries, India in particular, should help Tibet secure freedom from the clutches of China’s army,’’ she pleads. Like Norbu there are scores of Tibetan refugees living in Andhra Pradesh who have several terrible tales of Chinese atrocities to recount.

There are about 1.25 lakh Tibetan refugees in India, 500 of them in Andhra Pradesh. Over 1,000 Tibetans and Buddhist monks took out a procession in Hyderabad on Thursday and performed a mock funeral of Tibetans killed by the Chinese regime.

``I am prohibited from travelling to own country as Tibetan are denied visas to travel to Tibet by China’’, Denzing Tsering, a student of Loyola College in Vijayawada, says. ``The situation is very volatile in Tibet. The foreign media is denied entry into Tibet as the Chinese rulers fear that the atrocities in Tibet would get exposed at the international level.

``After Tibet, India will be the next target of China. The Communist country is slowly and steadily trying to occupy the North-Eastern States of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh,’’ Andu, a teacher working in Mysore, says with a tinge of alarm in his voice.

``The poor human rights record that China has been known for became amply clear in the brutal crackdown on the peaceful Tibetan demonstrators in Tibet since March 10. ``It has been a long and arduous 49 years of Tibetans living under the yoke of Chinese oppression in Tibet.we Tibetans, living in exile, appeal to one and all to support Tibetans in this hour of crisis,’’ he adds.

Tenzing Rangol, a student of St Joseph, has this call to give to people across the world:``In protest against the blatant misuse of human rights and heinous crimes being committed by China on Tibetan people, all the countries should boycott the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing this year.’’

Lobsung Dolma, a student at Apollo Nursing School, bemoans: ``Except speaking to them over the phone a few times I have not seen the face of my parents since 1992... Obtaining a visa to visit Tibet is a dream as it is very difficult to get,’’ she says.

``Our dear friend India should ensure that China puts an immediate stop to persecution of Tibetans in Tibet and unconditionally release all those who have been detained under false charges and call for immediate investigation by an impartial and independent organisation into the genocide taking place in Tibet’’ Tibetan parliament member Ms Tsering Youdon says.