Dharamshala December 6 – 26 Tibetan protestors, 19 men and 7 women, were arrested by Delhi police today at the Chinese Embassy. 40 Tibetans from the two regional chapters of Delhi’s Tibetan Youth Congress led by the TYC president Kelsang Phuntsok Godrukpa stormed the Chinese Embassy premise in the capital. Kelsang managed to lead 3 activists into the embassy premises by crashing the gate.
The Tibetans were protesting against the Chinese government’s crackdown on Drepung monastery and forcing monks to sign documents denouncing the Dalai Lama and acclaiming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. Sources say the Tibetans in Tibet were also forced to accept the Chinese-picked Panchen Lama.
The Tibetan Youth Congress demands an immediate withdrawal of the ‘patriotic reeducation campaign’, release of the arrested monks, and reinstatement of the five monks who were expelled from the monastery.
Talking to phayul, the Information Secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress Dondup Dorjee said that his organization strongly condemns the violation of the Tibetan people’s religious freedom. “President Bush, who recently met the Chinese president Hu Jintao, has been taken for a ride when the latter assured protection of human rights in Tibet and just a few days later they arrested about 80 monks from the Drepung monastery for not denouncing their religious and temporal leader”.
At the time of this report going online, the 26 arrested in Delhi were held at Chanakyapuri police station and expected to be taken to Tihar Jail. Meanwhile, hundreds of Tibetans wait outside the police station waiting anxiously.
