New Delhi, June 30: The 50 Tibetans arrested on June 26 for protesting China’s railway line to Tibet entered their fifth day in detention today in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Although there is no sign of them getting released from the jail, they are being treated well by their cellmates and prison staff who refer to them as “freedom fighters”. Special treatment that befits a political prisoner are provided to the Tibetan activists who are members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC).
TYC’s Information Secretary Mr. Dhondup Dorjee said he and Mr. Sonam, a member of TYC’s Dekyiling chapter had met the detainees during their routine visit to Tihar. Mr. Dorjee recounted how they were still so charged up about the protest. Mr. Nawang from Dalhousie was positively overwhelmed by the whole experience and was prepared for any consequences and had no regrets about what he did. The Tibetans were making most of their time in the prison by engaging in Tibet-related discussions and debates led by TYC General Secretary Mr. Tsultrim Dorjee. Stories of valour and sacrifice are shared by the elderly with the younger members. Mr. Dorjee said the youngsters were moved by the experiences of the older detainees who had suffered under the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The otherwise gloomy and claustrophobic interiors of the prison have begun to wear a more spiritual and peaceful look what with the Tibetans organising daily mass prayers.
The nine Tibetan women – 5 nuns from Domaling Nunnery and four from TYC’s Simla chapter) – among those detained are reportedly in good form. For two of them, Tsering Yangzom and nun Dickey, the detention meant reunion of sorts as they met some women prisoners whom they had befriended when they were imprisoned in Tihar in 2005 for protesting the Chinese premier’s state visit to India. Many female prisoners from India’s Nagaland, Philippines and Indonesia helped the Tibetans with daily necessities and clothing while in prison. They are also treated well by the prison guards.
Mr. Dorjee approached Prof. Bharat Karnad, Research Professor in National Security Studies at Centre for Policy Research and Member of the First National Security Advisory Board, for his observation on China’s railway to Tibet. Dorjee quoted Prof. B. Karnad as saying that the railway was “a strategic liability which the Indian government seems not to be paying attention to. This is going to cost India dear both in terms of the threat to India’s security and in terms of finally and irrevocably loosing the Tibetan buffer”.
The TYC information Secretary also met the SHO of Chanakyapuri Police Station where the Tibetans were first detained before being shifted to Tihar and Special Executive Magistrate at Parliament Street Police Station to find out about further development on the case. He informed to the SHO that those detained were unwilling to come out on bail at any cost.
