Dharamsala, Novermber 2 – The Delhi police on Monday arrested 6 Tibetans who were protesting a visit of a top Chinese leader near Teen Murti Bhavan in the Indian capital. The 6 protesters were carrying the Tibetan national flag and shouting slogans demanding freedom of language religious freedom and human rights in Tibet.
Zhou Yongkang, who ranks 9th in the hierarchy of Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is in New Delhi for a three-day visit.
The 6 Tibetans who the Tibetan Youth Congress said symbolized the 6 million Tibetans were identified as Tenzin; 38, Lobsang; 28, Sonam; 27, Dhondup; 30 Tashi; 37, and Kalsang; 24, the only woman in the group, were detained at the Chanakya puri police station for questioning. A Chinese minder was present at the police station after the arrest, according to the TYC.
The largest pro-independence group of the diaspora Tibetan community said the protest by the 6 Tibetans was well timed with the day China brought into force a new regulatory measure for stricter management of Tibet’s religious institutions. The TYC strongly repudiated the so called “Management measure for Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples”.
China last month announced that a new regulatory measure would be put into place for stricter management of Tibetan monasteries in its stated effort to reduce the influence of the exiled Dalai Lama and other “internal and external separatist forces”.
On September 30, the State Administration for Religious Affairs issued a ‘Management measure for Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples’ called the Order No. 8 to be applied from November 1, saying it was devised in response to a growing foreign influence and ‘separatist activities.
The TYC said the two Asian giants can not foster a productive bilateral relationship against the backdrop of an occupied Tibet by China.
