By Phurbu Thinley
New Delhi, Aug 9: Nine Tibetan youths, including a monk have been arrested by Indian police for staging protest demonstrations in front of the Chinese embassy located at Chanakya Puri in South Delhi.
The protest took place after the TYC led Indefinite Hunger Strike was formally called off earlier this morning.
The protesters are currently held in a local jail of the area.
All the nine Tibetan activists are from Dharamsala and they arrived in the Indian capital to support a major campaign movement led by Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), which began on Wednesday.
More than a month-long hunger strike by fourteen Tibetans ended today following an appeal by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Indian law makers. However, thousands of Tibetans are still stranded in the Indian capital after taking part in a huge rally against China on Wednesday.
An estimated 20,000 Tibetans, mostly from India and Nepal have flocked into the Indian capital to form a single largest protest march ever held by Tibetan exiles against the ongoing oppressions in Tibet by Communist China.
Sonam Dorjee an executive member of the Regional TYC, Dharamsala said, “The nine Tibetans have staged protest demonstrations before the Chinese embassy here in New Delhi of their own initiative”. “We have no knowledge of it when it took place” he added.
“We have come to know that they are all from Dharamsala and have come to Delhi to take part in TYC led action campaigns,” Sonam told Phayul on phone from Delhi.
“They told us that they decided to protest before the embassy after they came to know that the hunger strike has been officially called off,” Sonam said.
“We have been told that they would be taken to a government hospital for regulatory medical check up since there were some minor beatings by the police,” he said.
“The TYC and its regional chapters have already made clear that henceforth we would not be holding responsibility relating to any incidence of protest activities in Delhi,” Sonam said.
“We planned a major action campaign on August 8 2007, and at the same time the indefinite hunger strike has now been discontinued. So, TYC’s organised activities are over from this morning when the hunger strike was formally called off”, he said.
“The latest protest before Chinese Embassy is neither arranged by TYC nor RTYC, Dharamsala, however since they are from Dharamsala, we are finding ways to get them released as soon as possible,” Mr Sonam said.
Earlier Wednesday, as one year countdown to the 2008 Games in Beijing began, Tibetans all over the world joined by Tibet Support Groups unleashed a series of campaigns to highlight the plight of Tibetan people and bring Team Tibet to the 2008 Games in Beijing.
