Members of Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) who were taken under preventive detention in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on June 26 for protesting against China’s construction of railroad to Tibet will continue to remain in detention till July 7. It is not clear if they would be released on the specified date but a decision will be taken on the matter when the detainees appear before the court on July 7.
TYC’s Information Secretary Mr. Dhondup Dorjee said all those detained had refused to get out on bail and will most probably continue their activities within the confines of prison. “ They might do something while in detention and I think it will be carried out most likely on H.H. the Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6 but you never know what will happen eventually”, Mr. Dorjee told Phayul. He had visited them this morning at Tihar and found all of them healthy. “While meeting them in Tihar, I received innumerable requests from the detainees not to opt for bail proceedings as they were determined to carry out their activities in prison”, he added.
Surprisingly, the eldest of them, a 79 year old grandfather and few others above age 70 were not only in great form but also displayed intense fervor to express their condemnation against the controversial Qinghai-Tibet railway that connects Tibet to Chinese capital Beijing. But Mr. Dorjee could not meet the nine female detainees since the staff of the women’s cell were on holiday leave.
Mr. Dorjee said the prison condition was better this time than last year when some TYC protestors including the president of the organisation were made to clean prison toilets and bathrooms. “Our members are treated as “political prisoners” and not like criminals; it now seems that the prison authorities realise the difference between a hardcore criminal and an activist and that’s good”, he said.
The decision to keep the Tibetans under preventive detention till July 7 is significant in two ways. First, the Dalai Lama’s birthday falls on July 6: a possible cause of worry for the police as the day is a major occasion for all Tibetans to carry out important activities. Second, the Nathula Pass will reopen on July 6 for border trade between India and China. Some sections of the Indian media had erroneously interpreted the June 6 TYC protests against the Qinghai-Tibet railway as a demonstration against the reopening of the border pass.