Dharamsala, November 4 – Hundreds of protesting Tibetans sat on a hunger strike for the third consecutive day Thursday in this Himachal Pradesh town to stop the execution in China of a Tibetan allegedly involved in bombings.
Some 300 Tibetans, including scores of students, concluded the protest by lighting candles at dusk Thursday.
For the first two days, Buddhist monks and nuns sat on a hunger strike. Thursday saw the largest gathering of protesters mainly NGO activists and members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC).
“Release Tenzin Delek Rinpoche now,” “Release all political prisoners in Tibet”, the protesters shouted, holding placards in the crowded Tibetan bazaar.
“China is under immense pressure as they have already postponed Delek’s execution three times. They are clearly reluctant do to so now as this has become an international issue,” said TYC president Kalshang Phuntsok.
“We will settle for nothing less than the immediate and unconditional release of Delek,” Phuntsok told IANS.
“Starting tomorrow (Friday), we will launch a campaign in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and New Delhi to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to release Delek,” he said.
Dharamsala has been the base of the Tibetan government in exile since the Dalai Lama and his followers fled Tibet in 1959.
