Tibetan Uprising

For Immediate Release
March 13, 2008

INDIAN GOVERNMENT ORDERS ALL TIBETAN MARCHERS ARRESTED
Tibetans stage Gandhian style sit-in before being forcibly taken away by police

Dharamshala - On orders from the Central Government, at around 6:30am, Indian police blocked the March to Tibet and forcibly removed all Marchers from the road at Dehra bridge, 63 kilometers from McLeod Ganj where the March started. The police first detained Tenzin Tsundue, a high profile Tibetan activist, carrying him away as he shouted “Bhoe Gyalo, Victory to Tibet.” The 99 Tibetan marchers then sat down on the road, linking arms and chanting Tibetan Buddhist prayers. Indian police broke up the crowd, carrying each marcher away and loading them into 5 police buses. The marchers are now being held under house arrest in Jawalaji. Tsundue is being kept separate from the rest of the group.

“Our cause is just and our actions are non-violent,” said Tenzin Choeying, Director of Students for a Free Tibet India, by mobile phone just moments before he was arrested. “While these extreme measures taken by the Indian authorities are unfortunate, this is but a momentary set-back in our plan and we are determined to continue our March home to Tibet.”

The Tibetans set off from their campsite before dawn this morning at 5:30am. They marched for approximately 2 kilometers before being blocked by over 100 police in 5 buses. Today marks day four of the historic return March to Tibet. On March 10th, the Indian government issued restraining orders against all of the Core Marchers. The Tibetans were then ordered yesterday to show their Registration Cards (identity cards for Tibetans living in India), but they refused and continued marching.

“Tibetans, both inside Tibet and in exile, are more determined that ever to regain our homeland,” said Ngawang Woeber, President of Gu Chu Sum Ex-Political Prisoner’s Movement of Tibet. “Our issue is not with the Indian authorities, but with the Chinese government. We trust the marchers will be immediately released so that we can continue our March for freedom and be reunited with our Tibetan brothers and sisters inside of Tibet.”

Tibetan monks inside Tibet have also carried out major protest marches in recent days. Monks from Tibet’s three main monasteries near Lhasa staged numerous protests beginning on March 10th, the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. The protests are the largest seen in Tibet since 1989.

The Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement is a global movement of Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet taking control of our political destiny. The March to Tibet, the heart of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement, aims to revive the spirit of the historic national uprising of 1959, and by engaging in direct action, bring about an end to China’s 60 years of illegal and brutal occupation of Tibet.

For more information please contact:

Campaign Coordinators:
Lobsang Yeshi: 9418 390 416
Tsering Chodup: 9418 221 605
Sherab Woeser: 9418 394 426 Dhasa / 9868 332 883 Delhi

Contact:
Tsewang Rigzin: 9805 247 259 (President, Tibetan Youth Congress)
B. Tsering: 9418 792 810 (President, Tibetan Women’s Association)
Ngawang Woebar: 9418 102 483 (President, GuChuSum Ex-Political Prisoners’ Mvmt)
Chime Youngdrung: 9418 069 179 (President, National Democratic Party of Tibet)
Tenzin Choeying: 9816 368 335 (National Director, Students for a Free Tibet India)

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