By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, May 26: Ten monks who were arrested by Indian security forces after they secretly attempted to enter Tibet and hoist Tibetan flag on the Tibetan side of the border arrived in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
The monks said they were arrested by Indian police on May 21, after walking for eight days, and were then taken to Kaza police station in Spiti Valley. They were detained there for three days before being taken to Manali to be freed there without any specific charges. From Manali they boarded an overnight bus to Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
Along the way, the monks said they waded through thick snow and walked in the freezing cold nights to avoid suspicion and arrests by Indian security forces. At one time, the monks said they even had a close encounter with landmines planted by Indian security forces around the sensitive border areas that forced them to change the route that they were taking.
As they were approaching near the sensitive border area, the monks said they finally decided to send back a last minute message to their coordinating leader Shingsa Rinpoche at the Sera Monastery in South India to update him on the progress of their “Free Tibet” march.
The monks said they had to do so knowing that they would not be able to communicate with anyone once they entered the restricted border area, or after crossing into Tibet.
When they were stopped at a border town called Sumdo in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, the monks said the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (IDBP) started beating them before arresting.
“They even snatched away our camera from our cameramen and started hitting him badly. I tried to stop them, but they started hitting me too,” Lobsang Jinpa, one of the monks in the group, said. “But we didn’t feel bad about them. Our task is to reach Tibet for our cause, and not to challenge the Indian police,” he added.
The monks said they didn’t carry anything with them other than their daily supplies and two flags – one of Tibet and the other of India to be hoisted on the two sides of the border.
“Historically there was no such thing like Sino-Indian border. The direct border between India and China had never existed. There is only Indo-Tibetan border,” another monk Lobsang Tendhar argues.
The monks said they had been unlucky with their mission, but added that their spirit would not be dampened by the initial setback.
According to Shingsa Rinpoche, the monks left the Indian capital on May 14 and headed on foot towards the border where they planned to hoist the flags at the border before entering Tibet.
He said there would be more such activities from the monks, whom he said were bonded together with their common conviction to work for Tibetan freedom struggle.
“We have made firm conviction to make ourselves remain restless for Tibet’s cause. And we have many more committed and like minded monks who are ready to play their part for Tibet when time comes, Shingsha Rinpoche says.
Rinpoche, however, declined to divulge further details when insisted during a press conference held at the Kirti Monastery here this morning.
The monks belonged to a group of around 50 other monks led by Shingsa Rinpoche that last year was stopped at Tabo in Spiti Valley as they attempted to march to Tibet days before the Beijing Olympics. The group had initiated the march on their own shortly after the one organized by five Tibetan NGOs was stopped by the Indian police at Dharchula, the last Indian village bordering Tibet in Uttranchal.
