New Delhi - Tibetan exiles on Monday appealed to Indians chosen to be Olympic torchbearers to withdraw from the relay in a show of support for their cause. More than 500 Tibetan protestors gathered in the heart of the Indian capital to make the appeal and present 100 boxes representing 1.35 million signatures to a petition demanding China hold talks with the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.
"We will not be allowed to present the petition in person so we will mail them to the Chinese government," B Tsering, president of the Tibetan Women's Association, said.
The petition, created by international advocacy network Avaaz.org, appeals to the Chinese government to immediately allow an independent fact-finding mission to investigate the situation in Tibet, stop killings and release those arrested and guarantee freedom of movement and access to daily necessities to Tibetans living in Tibet.
There were old and young, students, monks and representatives of Tibet's government-in-exile at the demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which ended with the protestors walking up and down a 100-yard stretch barricaded by the police shouting slogans condemning China and demanding the support of the United Nations and the Indian government.
The demonstration was part of a global action day for the Tibetan cause called to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic torch in Beijing.
More than 150 Tibetan organizations worldwide have called on the International Olympic Committee to take Tibet off the Olympic torch route and have requested the torch relay sponsors - Coca Cola, Lenovo and Samsung - to withdraw their sponsorship.
The Olympic torch is scheduled to pass through the Indian capital on April 17 and the Tibetan organizations are planning major demonstrations on that day.
"We have requested all Indian Olympic torchbearers to speak out for the Tibetan people when the torch comes to India," said Tsering. She said the torchbearers could withdraw from the relay, hold the Tibetan flag while they ran with the torch or issue a statement in support of the Tibetan people before they ran.
"This would send a strong message to Tibetans, the Chinese government and the world that Indians support the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people's nonviolent struggle for freedom and justice," she said.
More than 100,000 Tibetans live in India in exile along with their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is not recognized by any government, are based in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala.
