Thousands of Tibetan demonstrators carried 152 shrouded effigies, representing the compatriots they believed were killed in a crackdown on anti-China protests in the Himalayan region, in a rally yesterday in New Delhi.
Carrying placards saying “Stop Cultural Genocide in Tibet” and “China has turned Tibet into a Killing Field,” the protesters urged China to release imprisoned Tibetans and remove its heavy military presence from the region.
Roughly 200 demonstrators marched to New Delhi from Dharamsala, the seat of Tibet’s government-in-exile and home to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. The rest of the demonstrators arrived from neighboring states.
The crowd carried 152 stuffed effigies draped in white shrouds, representing the 152 victims they believe were killed in the protests and the ensuing crackdown in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, last month. Chinese authorities say 22 people died in the riots that broke out on March 14.
Meanwhile, grim-faced Chinese guards protecting the Olympic torch have attracted further criticism ahead of the global relay’s arrival in India, where bitter memories of war with its neighbor remain fresh.
One Indian general who fought Chinese troops in the 1962 war attacked New Delhi for allowing Beijing to guard the torch.
“The relay may have been marred by Tibetan protests in France and England, but I completely I disagree that the Chinese should be doing anything with its security on Indian territory,” Lieutenant-General Afsir Karim said.
“There is something terribly wrong in how India is handling this situation and it’s outrageous that a foreign force will be the custodian of the torch when we have more than ample experience in crowd management,” Karim said.
An advance team of Chinese commandos flying to India would provide “proximate security” for the flame when it reaches New Delhi from Islamabad next Thursday, security officials were quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
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