IndoCarib
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NEW DELHI With President Hu Jintao of China arriving for a diplomatic summit, Indian authorities on Wednesday sought to prevent Tibetans from staging anti-China protests, as paramilitary officers closed down the citys Tibetan neighborhoods and Tibetan activists said more than 150 people had been jailed.
The crackdown comes as the Indian authorities have increased security for the BRICS summit, the annual meeting of the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. It also came as a Tibetan man died on Wednesday morning after setting himself afire earlier this week in New Delhi. The man, Jamphel Yeshi, was protesting Mr. Hus visit and joined a list of more than two dozen Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in the past year in acts of protest.
For decades, India, the worlds most populous democracy, has provided a home for Tibetan refugees, including the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. But as host of the summit, Indian officials want to avoid any episodes that might embarrass the visiting leaders, including protests against Mr. Hu. This week, the police in New Delhi have invoked a special legal provision so that they can tightly restrict public gatherings in the area surrounding the summit.
Tibetan activists said more than 200 Tibetans had been jailed under preventive custody. Reached on his cellphone, Dorjee Tseten, the national director of Students for a Free Tibet, said he was being held in a local jail, along with about 100 other Tibetans. He said another 156 Tibetans, including 23 women, were being detained at the citys main jail. One police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that 151 people had been arrested on Tuesday with still others en route to the jailhouse on Wednesday afternoon.
Indian police are doing what we want, Mr. Tseten said on Wednesday afternoon, before his cellphone went dead. Either let us condemn Hu Jintaos visit or detain us.
Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan writer and prominent advocate of Tibetan independence, was arrested Tuesday night while participating at a forum held at the India Habitat Centre, one of the citys premier cultural venues. Mr. Tsundue was one of four speakers participating in a discussion organized by the Tibetan Womens Association. In his remarks, Mr. Tsundue praised India and warned of an impending Chinese collapse.
India gives us our strength, our confidence India is our guru, he said, according to a statement released by the Tibetan Womens Association.
During a tea break, about 10 police officers appeared and detained Mr. Tsundue. Tsundue was dragged to his feet and forced out the back door, according to the statement.
Rajan Bhagat, a spokesman for the New Delhi police, said Mr. Tsundue was being held in preventative custody. In 2005, Mr. Tsundue had climbed a building in Bangalore and unfurled a Free Tibet banner during a visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China.
He has a history of creating nuisances, Mr. Bhagat said. Thats why preventative security measures were taken.
Meanwhile, at the Tibetan neighborhood known as Majnu ka Tila many Tibetans found themselves living under de facto house arrest. Shops were closed as paramilitary officers wielding metal nightsticks and machine guns patrolled the sidewalks. Police officers sat in the shade or strolled through the alleyways.
What can we do? asked Sonam Thoghal, 43, the owner of a small clothing shop. We are just refugees. We are very upset about it. But we have to go by the law. The police are walking through all the lanes here. If they see four or five people gathering together, they say they will take them to the police station if they do not split up.
Mr. Yeshi, the Tibetan protester who died Wednesday morning, had lived in this neighborhood. He was among the hundreds of Tibetans who rode buses to the center of the city to participate in a march to protest Mr. Hus visit to India.
When the procession reached Jantar Mantar, a famous protest site, Mr. Yeshi had unexpectedly set himself on fire an act captured by photographs, whose grisly images quickly circled around the world.
Kelsang Dolma, one of the protesters, had sat beside Mr. Yeshi on the bus, as she carried her infant son. He said, You are very strong because you are carrying a little boy, she recalled.
On Wednesday afternoon, people outside a Buddhist monastery in the Tibetan neighborhood lit candles in memory of the Tibetans now regarded as martyrs who have died lighting themselves on fire. Pictures of many of them hang outside the monastery and on Wednesday, a new photo was added. It showed a smiling image of Mr. Yeshi surrounded by other photos of him engulfed in flames.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/w...-tibetan-districts-on-eve-of-summit.html?_r=1
The crackdown comes as the Indian authorities have increased security for the BRICS summit, the annual meeting of the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. It also came as a Tibetan man died on Wednesday morning after setting himself afire earlier this week in New Delhi. The man, Jamphel Yeshi, was protesting Mr. Hus visit and joined a list of more than two dozen Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in the past year in acts of protest.
For decades, India, the worlds most populous democracy, has provided a home for Tibetan refugees, including the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. But as host of the summit, Indian officials want to avoid any episodes that might embarrass the visiting leaders, including protests against Mr. Hu. This week, the police in New Delhi have invoked a special legal provision so that they can tightly restrict public gatherings in the area surrounding the summit.
Tibetan activists said more than 200 Tibetans had been jailed under preventive custody. Reached on his cellphone, Dorjee Tseten, the national director of Students for a Free Tibet, said he was being held in a local jail, along with about 100 other Tibetans. He said another 156 Tibetans, including 23 women, were being detained at the citys main jail. One police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that 151 people had been arrested on Tuesday with still others en route to the jailhouse on Wednesday afternoon.
Indian police are doing what we want, Mr. Tseten said on Wednesday afternoon, before his cellphone went dead. Either let us condemn Hu Jintaos visit or detain us.
Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan writer and prominent advocate of Tibetan independence, was arrested Tuesday night while participating at a forum held at the India Habitat Centre, one of the citys premier cultural venues. Mr. Tsundue was one of four speakers participating in a discussion organized by the Tibetan Womens Association. In his remarks, Mr. Tsundue praised India and warned of an impending Chinese collapse.
India gives us our strength, our confidence India is our guru, he said, according to a statement released by the Tibetan Womens Association.
During a tea break, about 10 police officers appeared and detained Mr. Tsundue. Tsundue was dragged to his feet and forced out the back door, according to the statement.
Rajan Bhagat, a spokesman for the New Delhi police, said Mr. Tsundue was being held in preventative custody. In 2005, Mr. Tsundue had climbed a building in Bangalore and unfurled a Free Tibet banner during a visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China.
He has a history of creating nuisances, Mr. Bhagat said. Thats why preventative security measures were taken.
Meanwhile, at the Tibetan neighborhood known as Majnu ka Tila many Tibetans found themselves living under de facto house arrest. Shops were closed as paramilitary officers wielding metal nightsticks and machine guns patrolled the sidewalks. Police officers sat in the shade or strolled through the alleyways.
What can we do? asked Sonam Thoghal, 43, the owner of a small clothing shop. We are just refugees. We are very upset about it. But we have to go by the law. The police are walking through all the lanes here. If they see four or five people gathering together, they say they will take them to the police station if they do not split up.
Mr. Yeshi, the Tibetan protester who died Wednesday morning, had lived in this neighborhood. He was among the hundreds of Tibetans who rode buses to the center of the city to participate in a march to protest Mr. Hus visit to India.
When the procession reached Jantar Mantar, a famous protest site, Mr. Yeshi had unexpectedly set himself on fire an act captured by photographs, whose grisly images quickly circled around the world.
Kelsang Dolma, one of the protesters, had sat beside Mr. Yeshi on the bus, as she carried her infant son. He said, You are very strong because you are carrying a little boy, she recalled.
On Wednesday afternoon, people outside a Buddhist monastery in the Tibetan neighborhood lit candles in memory of the Tibetans now regarded as martyrs who have died lighting themselves on fire. Pictures of many of them hang outside the monastery and on Wednesday, a new photo was added. It showed a smiling image of Mr. Yeshi surrounded by other photos of him engulfed in flames.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/w...-tibetan-districts-on-eve-of-summit.html?_r=1
When I was a student Chinese consulate in Chicago ask us to welcome then president in the airport, it was bitterly cold and we weren't offered any money. 
