Monday, March 10, 2008

Free Tibet

A person can be jailed in China for possessing an image of the Tibetan flag or a picture of His Holiness the Dali Lama, as seen here. In 1999, I was lucky enough to see the Dali Lama speak in Central Park, NYC.

Article from Thaindian News
Dharmasala, March 10 (IANS) Over 100 Tibetan refugees, including Buddhist monks and activists, began a march from here to Tibet Monday, the 49th anniversary of Tibet’s uprising against the Chinese rule of the peninsular region. The marchers, who are protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, included representatives of five Tibetan NGOs based in India and about 70 monks, attired in their traditional robes.

As the protestors set off, thousands of Tibetan refugees gathered in this hill town in Himachal Pradesh to see them off. Sergia Delia, a member of the Italian Parliament, flagged off the protest march.

The marchers are likely to reach Delhi in the next 20-25 days, said a spokesman of one of the participating NGOs.

“The marchers could then take any route across the 4,000-km-long Indo-Tibet border to enter Tibet,” the spokesman said.

India is home to some 100,000 Tibetans, many of whom fled their homeland along with their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama, head of six million Tibetans, has a government-in-exile based in Dharamsala.

0 spokes: