Over 500 Tibetans living in exile in North Eastern states tonsured their heads and went on a hunger strike in Guwahati on Tuesday, to express their support for the pro-independence protests in Tibet.
The Tibetan Solidarity Committee of North East India has organised the three-day protest against the 'oppression and human rights violation in Tibet by the Chinese forces'. Approximately 550 Tibetan refuges, including many women, have come from various North Eastern states to take part in the agitation.
A large section of Tibetans voluntarily tonsured their heads at the venue to register their protest against the Chinese oppression of Tibetans. They demanded a 'more active role from India in facilitating talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government, to find a solution to the Tibet problem.'
"We are here to highlight the demands of Tibetans and their suffering at the hands of the Chinese forces. Our protest programmes include hunger strike, candlelight procession and a funeral procession in memory of those killed, due to the brutal force applied by the Chinese government to annihilate non-violent demonstrations by Tibetans, to mark the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day," said Member of Parliament of the Tibetan government in exile Dawa Tsering.
The Tibetan Solidarity Committee, North East India, demanded the immediate dispatch of an independent fact-finding representative to Tibet, end of the brutal crackdown in Tibet, release of all arrested political prisoners, immediate lifting of ban on the media and immediate medical attention to injured protestors in Tibet.
Tsering added, "Those who believe in peace and have respect for human rights should voluntarily refrain from carrying the Olympic torch to register their protest against what the Chinese government is doing to protesting Tibetan masses. We, however, are not opposed to holding of the Olympics in Beijing."
Tashi Norbu, a spokesman of the Tibetan Solidarity Committee, said, "We look up to India, which is our 'Guru', to facilitate direct talks between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama."
The Tibetan protestors displayed photographic evidence of atrocities and brutalities inflicted on Tibetan demonstrators in Lhasa. The Solidarity Committee claims that the photographs of atrocities were e-mailed to it by their compatriots from Tibet so that the sufferings of Tibetans at the hands of China could be highlighted outside.