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By Jaideep Sarin
Almora (Uttarakhand), May 15 (IANS) - Tibetan activists in India are readying themselves for another showdown with China before the Beijing Olympics. They are now just 200 km from India’s border with the Tibet Autonomous Region where they plan to “sacrifice lives” in a desperate bid to get back to their “homeland”. However, the showdown may well be with Indian security forces, who are unlikely to allow the demonstrators to get anywhere near the international border.
Having traversed over 900 km, starting March 10 from the Himalayan abode-in-exile of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the “March to Tibet” is headed towards the Tibet border through arduous Himalayan terrain in Uttarakhand state.
“We are now starting the last leg of the march. From Almora to the (Tibet) border is now barely 200 km and it will now be cold as we ascend higher into the Himalayas. I know returning to a homeland that is still under foreign occupation is not easy,” firebrand Tibetan youth leader Tenzin Tsundue said.
“Chinese military will, of course, guard the border with machine-guns. Even Indian police will find an excuse to stop us. Confrontation is inevitable, but we are not stopping. We may even have to camp at the border for a long time, might have to call for international support and participation. We march into uncertainty.”
Having failed to disrupt the Olympic torch relay during its New Delhi leg April 17 due to unprecedented security, the Tibetan activists are now headed for a frontier protest at the Himalayan border to draw international attention to their cause.
“No one can stop me from going to my own homeland. I and others are determined to do it this time,” Tsundue told IANS. He has single-handedly held unique protests against visiting Chinese dignitaries in India in the past.
The march presently has over 300 participants, including monks and women. The number is likely to go up by the time they reach the Tibet border. The rallyists started on this latest leg of their journey Wednesday.
“The march to Tibet is a process for us to return to our homeland and reclaim our right to be in our native land in freedom. Whatever happens, we have deep commitment to non-violence. We will not retaliate. We may be beaten, jailed or even shot at, but we are not giving up. And for me there is no other plan in life other than this march. For all of us marchers, this is our life commitment,” declared Tsundue, a man who went to Tibet clandestinely in 1997.
The rallyists had been forced by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile’s newly constituted Tibetan Solidarity Committee (TSC) to give up the march in March-end. But they re-grouped in New Delhi after the torch protest and started their journey to the border again.
The government-in-exile, which is not recognised by nay country, and its leadership have since disassociated itself from the march.
The rallyists are now seeking support from other Tibetans, Indians and international pro-Tibet activists.
Donations of sleeping bags, shoes, mattresses, money, water, communication devices and any other equipment that can be of use in the high mountains are being sought from all over the world.
The rallyists say they have been getting support during their journey through Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
They were were stopped, beaten up and jailed by the Himachal Pradesh police as they tried to come out Kangra district in that hill state March 13. The march has not been stopped by the police after that but the rallyists are likely to be stopped quite a distance from the international border.
Most of the rallyists are Buddhist monks from three monastic universities in south India, including some old people who escaped from Tibet along with the Dalai Lama in 1959. The eldest is 78 years old. The two youngest are 17, born and brought up in India. They have never seen Tibet.
“There are several young mothers among the marchers who left behind their families and children in the care of their husbands,” Tsundue said he signed out with “Bod Gyalo” (victory to Tibet).
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Hail the Undying Spirit of Independence!
An Ode to the Marchers to Tibet !
Undoubtedly, the excitement and anxiety must have been rising high as you brave freedom fighters advance closer to that sacred land of ours, our very own ‘phayul’ but today has been soaked with warm blood spilled by the demonic communist Chinese armies. There is no better way to pay tribute to the brave patriotic Tibetans who had laid down their lives for the supreme cause of Tibetan Independence and Liberty, then to commit one’s life to carry forward the non-violent war of Tibetan Independence. The heart of all Tibetans across the world will be focused on the highest act of nationalism and the readiness to die for one’s nation and its future that each one of you in this historic March to Tibet has translated into action witnessed by whole world. No word is powerful enough to adequately describe the highest sense of self sacrifice and determination to achieve the supreme goal – to step on and own the sacred snow- land that has been ours for centuries.
In deed, the days ahead are going to be full of hopes and uncertainties. Steel your resolution even stronger to remain totally non-violent under any provocative situation and circumstances. Please remember that the six million Tibetans – their prayers accompanied by the spirit of Independence and liberty – is constantly following your every step and move and therefore, proceed on your march with ever more confidence and resolution knowing that we have nothing to lose any more but a world of good to gain for the eventual emancipation and Independence of our oppressed people and the nation that continue to be overran and trampled upon by bloodthirsty communist Chinese Armies.
From the recent events that are inexplicably strange, one can clearly see the power of truth and non-violence in reality that is truly invincible and more powerful than all devil forces put together. Truly, nothing is impossible in this world. Every is possible. The question is whether we do believe in something or not. And the greatest power flows from one’s spirit and mind.
It would be immature and unrealistic to believe that this historic Independence ‘March’ will get us at the doorsteps of Rangzen and Independence. But one should not hesitate to proclaim that this is going to be the first small step for the individual Marchers but a giant leap for the Tibetan Independence movement to winning our Independence war irrespective of whether the communist Chinese leadership would respond positively and with wisdom or with usual barrage of criticisms and allegations. In reality, the greater the criticism and show of anger and disagreement from the Chinese government side, the stronger will be the evidence of their mind filled with guilt of a thief and our nation being Independent until their invasion in 1951. The lives lost in recent uprisings in Tibet must not go in vain. 1.2 Million Tibetans perished in opposing the communist Chinese colonization of our country must not go in vain. Hundreds of thousands of patriotic martyrs who had sacrificed their present for our future and the future of our nation can never be allowed to go in vain. We the present generation have the moral and national responsibility to fulfill the unfinished mission of our forefathers.
The direction of our movement was determined by the trails of blood left by millions of patriotic freedom fighters perished in the struggle. We have no option but to follow the path of freedom and liberty and never rest, never waver, never falter, never doubt, till we realized the goal that has seized entire people of Tibet.
I bow my head to every one of you there – and every one of the patriotic Tibetan in the fray to carry forward our struggle - and is prepared to die for liberation and about to set feet on the sacred snow - land, our ancestral blessed land which had remained for centuries pure, pious, peaceful and prosperous without a trace of the demonic communist Chinese bloodied footsteps.
Let’s then rejoice we all together as we all begin to rebuild that glorious history of the yore not in small steps but substantially and revolutionarily by taking on the brute China to give us liberty or death!
With soulful prayers from the six million Tibetans for the success of your supreme mission!
We are proud of you and love you all from the core of our heart
I am praying for you .
Je prie pour vous de tout mon coeur .
Iam praying for you
Prego per voi