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Crackdown fails to douse Tibetans' fighting spirit

Crackdown fails to douse Tibetans' fighting spirit

Author: Staff Reporter
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 18, 2008

Organise protest demos across city; try to barge into Rashtrapati Bhavan

Tibetans in the Capital have kept alive the spirit of protest till the end of the Olympic Torch relay on Thursday, as they successfully organised demonstrations in several parts of the city.

While hundreds hung around at Le Meridien Hotel, where the torch was kept in 'safe custody' under heavy police deployment, hundreds of Tibetans took out a parallel torch relay from Rajghat and reached Jantar Mantar, marching silently.

Later, when the torch was making its journey from Vijay Chowk towards India Gate, a group of Tibetans tried to barge into Rashtrapati Bhavan even as thousands of policemen kept hawk-eye vigil amidst the tight security in New Delhi area.

The protesters descended on the Rashtrapati Bhavan's Gate No 38 located at North Avenue and took the policemen on guard by surprise.

There were only a few policemen on the spot but emergency force was rushed in immediately. Police used mild force, including baton charging, to prevent them from entering the official residence of the President. All of them were taken into custody and carried away in police vans to a nearby police station.

According to the police, over 150 Tibetans were detained from the midnight to evening across the city for blocking the road and getting into minor clashes with the police force.

A group of Tibetans were detained near Hotel Le Meridian when they tried breaking the security cordon, but they were easily overpowered by security forces.

"The protesters emerged at various places in small numbers and tried to break the security cordon besides shouting slogans against China for the "atrocities" committed in Tibet," said a police official. Thirty-two Tibetans were detained from Dhaula Kuan at 1am on Thursday. The protestors entered into a scuffle with police who thwarted their attempt to lay siege on the route through which the Olympic torch was to pass through after its arrival in the city. The incident took place minutes before the special aircraft carrying the torch landed in the airport at 1:10 am.

About two hours later, around 30 Tibetans arrived at Le Meridian Hotel, where the torch was reportedly kept, and started shouting anti-Chinese slogans. The protests intensified as the day progressed. More Tibetans were detained as they held protests in the vicinity of Rajpath. Three youth each were detained from Ashoka Road and Raisina Road while around 12 others were picked up from near India Gate, which is the culmination point of the relay run. A large number of security personnel, including Rapid Action Force men armed with assault rifles, were deployed near the hotel. Personnel of elite National Security Guards, BSF and ITBP were also deployed near the hotel later in the afternoon. The protesters, who took part in the rally, carried Tibetan flags, placards and banners with messages such as "Azad Tibet, Surakshit Bharat" and "Free Tibet".

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes said, India should boycott Chinese goods and take concrete measures to restore peaceful situation in Tibet. Even Jay Jaitley, the former Samta Party president, said by allowing the Tibetans to organise a parallel run, India has shown that it is not dominated by "Chinese interests". A constable even tried to snatch a battery torch from the hands of Jaitley while she was protesting with the Tibetans. Several personalities like Nafisa Ali, Boria Muzumdar were also present at Jantar Mantar.

"We are in process of gathering information from all the districts to identify how many Tibetans were detained during the day," said Rajan Bhagat, Delhi Police, PRO.


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