New Delhi, December 3 – An Indian parliamentarian Friday condemned the Chinese embassy’s response to his attempts to submit a memorandum demanding the release of a Buddhist monk sentenced to death.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member M.A. Kharabela Swain alleged that the Delhi Police, at the instance of Chinese embassy officials, stopped the Indian MPs and members of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile from handing over the memorandum to them.
“They even threatened to arrest us,” he claimed.
“They asked us to go to the external affairs ministry. Why should we? After all, we are people’s representatives here. Why can’t we meet the embassy officials?” Swain asked.
He said the delegation had to wait for hours to get permission for one of them to hand over the memorandum.
“Heavens did not fall when they took it. I do not know why they created the commotion.”
“We want to keep good relations with China, but not like this,” Swain added.
A few deputies of the Tibetan parliament and four Indian MPs Thursday made an unsuccessful attempt to meet Chinese embassy officials to demand the release of Tulku Tensin Delek, a Buddhist monk awaiting execution in a Chinese prison.
A two-year suspension of Delek’s death sentence expired Thursday. Tibetan activists here said they have not been given any information about Delek.
Delek, 52, was sentenced to death in December 2002 along with another man for an April 2002 bomb attack in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu in which one person was killed and another injured.
Dhondup was hanged in January 2003 but Delek’s death sentence was suspended for two years.
Tibetans said Chinese authorities had not given Delek a fair trial.
