New Delhi - India expressed concern at reports of violence in Lhasa Sunday as Tibetan refugees continued to hold demonstrations in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala. Dharamsala is the base of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and is the seat of the Central Tibet Administration, the Tibetan government in exile.
The current wave of protests in the Tibetan autonomous region of China, and in India and other parts of the world, began last week to mark the 49th anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese occupation.
Tibetan leaders in India said the protests were timed to draw international attention to China's repression of Tibetan people and culture during the buildup to the Olympic Games in Beijing scheduled for August.
Thousands of Tibetan refugees marched through the streets of Dharamsala Sunday carrying Tibetan flags and placards with messages condemning the "brutal Chinese action" on demonstrators in Lhasa, witnesses said.
"We strongly condemn the action and urge the international community to refrain from using repressive measures against peaceful demonstrators," said Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress.
India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued late Saturday: "We are distressed by reports of the unsettled situation and violence in Lhasa, and by the deaths of innocent people."
Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna urged all parties involved to "work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China, through dialogue and non-violent means."
India faces a difficult situation as home to the supreme Tibetan leader and over 100,000 Tibetan refugees, and clamped down on a protest march from Dharamsala to Lhasa earlier this week.
"Tibetan refugees are our guests in India. All those in India, whether Indian citizens or foreigners, are subject to the law of the land regarding the crossing of our borders, marches or demonstrations," Sarna said.
"Like our other guests, Tibetan refugees, while they are in India, are expected to refrain from political activities and those activities that affect our relations with other friendly countries."
Rigzin, whose group is one of the organizers of the march, said while the government had detained the first lot of 100 marchers, another group of 44 had set off and were still marching.
