Dharamsala, Janaury 9 – The longest legal battle of the pro-independence group Tibetan Youth Congress does not seem to come to a close. The Delhi High Court on Friday asked eight Tibetans to reappear before the court with affidavits and residential proofs on February 14.
Tsering Thundup and Tsering Norbu were among nine members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Hunsur Rabgyal Ling Tibetan settlement who took part in a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in the Indian Capital. They are 74 years old now but the case against them is still pending in the Delhi High Court. The 6 others in the group from Hunsur were Namgyal Dorjee(53), Tamding(55), N. Dorjee(54), Lobsang (58), Choegyal (56) and Pema Dorjee(68).
In 1992, the nine members Hunsur Rabgyaling Regional Tibetan Youth Congress embarked on a rally called “Save Tibet Yatra”. The group reached New Delhi on 9 March to coincide with the major campaign activity organized by the Central Executive of Tibetan Youth Congress for the 33rdcommemoration of the 10th March or the Tibetan National Uprising Day. The group took protested at the Chinese Embassy and also tried to enter the Embassy but was prevented by the Security personnel on duty. The nine were arrested and later taken to Tihar Jail.
After almost two decades and sixty court hearings, the group is once again in New Delhi for hearing. The case was appealed in the Delhi High Court on 25 January 2000 until which it was in heard in a lower court. The eight are being tried under the Indian Penal Code section 307, 436, 427, 148, 149, 186 and 353.
Mr. Tenzin Norsang, Joint Secretary of TYC and TYC lawyer Mr. Panday, informed the Judge of the difficulty of traveling repeatedly for this case all the way from South India. The TYC hopes the next hearing on Valentine’s Day will hopefully be final.
TYC Centrex and RTYC Delhi organized a reception in Majnu-Ka-Tila on January 7th to honor the protestors for their enduring spirit and courage. Mr. Pema Dorjee spoke on behalf of the group and asserted that their sacrifice is nothing compared to the sufferings endured by the Tibetans inside Tibet. “We face problems coming again and again for the last 20 years for these hearings in court, but we never lost our spirit for Tibet’s Independence”, he added.
This court case has seen seven terms of TYC Centrex.
