The long dark tea time of the soul

The government of India has issued an order putting travel restriction on high profile and daring Tibetan activist, Mr. Tenzin Tsundue. He has been confined to his exile hometown, Dharamshala and warned against
leaving the place till November 25th. Failing which, he will be deported to Lhasa in Tibet under Chinese occupation. Friends of Tibet have condemned the order by the Govt. of India.
Chinese premier hu jintao is visiting India between November 20th to 23rd. The gag on Mr. Tenzin is to please the chinese premier, and prevent any embarassment to the visiting leader. Mr. Tenzin has been involved in some high profile protests during previous visits of chinese leaders in 2002 and 2005. The preemptive move by Indiaactually shows the slavish attitude of our govt. vis-a-vis the world powers.

Mr. Tenzin has a right to protest against illegal chinese occupation in Tibet. We owe it to 100000 Tibetans living as refugees in India to not only show solidarity with their cause, but also participate actively in their protests. In that context, the restriction placed on Mr. Tenzin is not only illegal and outrageous, it is a pointer to how much our state is ready to bend back to appease the chinese president.

Leader of Free Tibet movement, His Holiness Dalai Lama is in India since last fifty years. Every year thousands of Tibetans undertake the dangerous journey across the himalayas to escape persecution in their native Tibet under the chinese rule. Last month, unarmed Tibetans were fired at by chinese soldiers while leaving China for India. A 17 year old TIbetan nun was murdered in cold blood. This act was witnessed by a group of climbers, and the video of the shootout was broadcast the world over. How come these incidents are not an embarassment to the chinese government, and peaceful demands of respecting human rights in Tibet becomes a security threat to mr. hu.
India was one of the few countries that did not react to that incident. No Indian media reported the shooting last month, and none has till now covered the illegal detention on Mr. Tenzin.