Marching Tibetan exiles arrested
13/03/2008 11:01  - (SA)  

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Dehra, India - Indian police on Thursday arrested a group of 100 Tibetan exiles trying to walk to their homeland as part of a major protest ahead of the Beijing Olympics, although the demonstrators vowed their march would go on.

The marchers were rounded up as they approached the border of Himachal Pradesh state's Kangra region in defiance of a restraining order banning them from heading further north into the Himalayas and towards Chinese-governed Tibet.

"We have arrested 100 people," police official Atul Fulzele told AFP, adding that five women were among those arrested.

The march began on Monday in Dharamshala in the northern Indian district of Kangra, home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, and had reached Dehra, around 56km away, when the arrests took place.

March will continue

Tibetan activists, who have vowed to step up their protests in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, said they were saddened by the Indian government's position but insisted the arrests were only a temporary setback.

"We appeal to the government of India not to appease China by restraining us," said Sonam Dorje, spokesperson of Tibetan Youth Congress, one of five pro-independence groups sponsoring the trek to Tibet.

"This march will continue regardless of the government action."

The head of the activist group, Tsewang Rinzin, said Indian police would also soon have to deal with a hunger strike.

"The marchers who are in police custody are refusing to eat and if this detention is prolonged then we would be compelled to go on a hunger strike," he warned.

"We are very disappointed. We have been living in India for 50 years and we uphold the non-violent values of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. And this march was a peaceful journey according to his principles, back to the land which legitimately belongs to all Tibetans."

In all, at least 100 000 Tibetan refugees live in India.

The protest march - which organisers say may take up to six months - also coincides with the 49th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape from the Tibetan capital Lhasa after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

- AFP

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