DHARAMSHALA, September 3: In reports coming just in, the three Tibetan hunger strikers who began their indefinite fast earlier today in the Indian capital New Delhi, have been detained by Indian authorities.
The three were forcibly removed from Jantar Mantar, the site of the hunger strike protest, minutes back, citing security reasons due to the Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie’s ongoing visit to India.
Speaking to Phayul over phone from New Delhi, Joint Secretary of Tibetan Youth Congress, the organisers of the indefinite hunger strike, Tenzin Norsang said that the three were forcibly taken away amidst heightened tensions by the Indian police.
“The three hunger strikers, along with two of our volunteers, have been detained by the Indian police,” Norsang said. “They are being kept at the Connaught Place police station.”
“Despite our repeated appeals, the police maintained that the hunger strike was a security risk to the ongoing visit by the Chinese Defence Minister,” he added.
Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie arrived in India on Sunday on a four-day visit from Sri Lanka with a 23-member delegation.
Although the police have assured that the three hunger strikers will be released tomorrow morning, it is not yet certain whether they will be allowed to continue their campaign at the protest site.
Norsang said that the three hunger strikers and TYC are adamant of continuing the hunger strike organised in “solidarity with the self-immolators inside Tibet and to appeal for immediate international intervention” in the unfolding crisis inside Tibet.
Dhondup Lhadar, Vice-President, Penpa Tsering, Organisational Secretary, and Jigme Sholpa, Cultural Secretary of TYC began their indefinite fast at around 12 noon today in the Indian capital amidst tight security following Guanglie’s visit.
On March 26 this year, Jamphel Yeshi, a 27-year-old Tibetan set himself on fire at a mass protest at the same venue, organised by TYC, demanding international intervention in the ongoing crisis in Tibet and protesting Chinese President Hu Jintao’s then visit to India.
Suffering 98 per cent burn, Jamphel Yeshi passed away in the morning of March 28.
TYC is the largest pro-independence group in exile with more than 80 regional chapters all over the world.
