DHARAMSHALA, June 12: After covering over 2000kms and reaching within a couple of day’s trek to the Tibetan border, Tsetan Dorjee, who was on his march to Tibet for the second time, has reportedly gone missing.
It has been learned that Dorjee went missing from Gangtok, the capital of the northeast Indian state of Sikkim, which is located just 54kms (34 miles) from the famous Nathu Pass, the historical trade route between India and Tibet.
Speaking to Phayul, Mogru Tenpa, a member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile said the last he heard from Dorjee was a phone call on Monday, June 10 at 11 in the morning from Gangtok.
In the telephonic conversation, Dorjee had told Tenpa that he was risking arrest if he tried to travel near the border region on foot.
“So, he was hoping to get a ride to drop him near the border but he added that he was finding it difficult to get a ride because everyone was scared that they might get into problem,” Tenpa said.
He further noted that Dorjee’s phone has been switched off since yesterday and there is no information about his current whereabouts.
Tseten Dorjee, 36 began his second march to Tibet from the exile headquarters of Dharamshala on March 10, coinciding with the 54th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.
Dorjee, who has been living in Israel for the last few years along with his wife and two children, came back to India to begin his journey back home.
On March 10, 2012, Dorjee along with his mother, Dhumpo Kyi and sister, Lhamo Kyi had embarked on their first peace march to Tibet.
After marching for over two months and covering more than 1,300 kms, the exile family was stopped by Nepali border police and forcibly returned to India in May.
However, slipping past Nepali border posts, Dorjee left behind his mother and sister on the Indian side and carried on with his March to Tibet in Nepal. He was arrested eight days later on the outskirts of Kathmandu and sentenced to five years in prison.
Dorjee came out of prison after spending nearly a year in a Nepali jail to begin his second peace march to Tibet earlier this year.
In May, Dorjee’s mother Dhumpo Kyi sat on silent-partial hunger strike for a month from May 10 with only one meal a day in support of her son’s return journey
