New Delhi - A group of 350 Tibetans are moving slowly but steadily towards India's border with China's Tibetan Autonomous Region and have about 200 kilometres to cover, an organizer of the march said Thursday. The marchers, mostly monks, have so far travelled 900 kilometres across India in their bid to reach their homeland.
They began their journey on March 10 from Dharamsala, the seat of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, to coincide with Tibetan Uprising Day and were stopped by the Indian police three days later.
A second group took up the journey and were joined by the first group when they were released after two weeks.
"Our oldest marcher Tempa is 74, our youngest, Tenzin Dawa and Lobsang Chonphes, are 17," said B Tsering, president of the Tibetan Women's Organization which is one of the five groups that organized the march.
"The march is aimed at drawing the attention of the world to China's repressive regime in Tibet," said Tsering. It has been months in the planning to coincide with the build-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.
The marchers are now trekking up the hilly terrain of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. They carry small backpacks and are accompanied by trucks carrying tents, blankets and provisions.
The leaders of the organizing groups join the marchers for a few days at a time. Now they plan to fan out to raise more funds. "It's been a long haul. We are now feeling the financial pinch, we need to sustain the march," said Tsering.
But finances do not bother the firebrand young leader Tenzin Tsundue. "From here Tibet is not very far," he said in an email message from the hill town of Almora.
"I know returning to a homeland that is still under occupation is not easy. Chinese military will of course guard the border with machine-guns, even Indian police will find an excuse to stop us. Confrontation is inevitable but we are not stopping," he wrote.
More than 100,000 Tibetan refugees live in India along with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.
The Indian government has said that it would not stop peaceful demonstrations but it cannot allow refugees in India to cross borders without required papers.
"Why do we need papers?" asked Tsering. "We are not Indian citizens. We are going back home."
The Dalai Lama had asked the organizers to call off the march due to concerns about embarrassing their host country India and fearing for the safety of the marchers.
"We did comply with his wishes initially," said Tsering. "But so much of preparation has gone into this march ... so many people have made sacrifices, given money, left their children and homes. We are accountable to these people," she said.
"His Holiness is not a dictator. He reasons with us. He is the one who started the democratic government-in exile," she added.
Tsering said the marchers went through a weeklong orientation on a non-violent Gandhian protest before the journey began. "As new people are joining the march, we hold a reorientation once a week when we rest."
The marchers cover about 20 to 25 kilomtres a day.
What happens in about 100 days, if they are not stopped before then? "We are peaceful protestors. When we are stopped, they will see," Tsering said.
Tsundue is prepared to be jailed, shot at or to camp at the border for days. "For all of us marchers, this is our life commitment," he said.
