Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 12:12am
Tibetan leaders mount hunger strike
Exiled Tibetan leaders launched a day-long hunger strike in New Delhi, India, Wednesday to protest the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. Forty-two of the 43 members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile took part, sitting on a wooden platform while dozens of maroon-robed Buddhist monks and other Tibetan demonstrators squatted on the sidewalk.
The monks held up posters displaying Chinese tanks and armored vehicles in different Tibetan towns. "China, stop accusing the Dalai Lama of inciting violence," read one placard, ANI reported Wednesday.
"What we are requesting the International community is that all governments, parliaments, the United Nations and other agencies connected with democratic movement and rights and human rights they should go into Tibet, they should intervene in the ongoing situation in Tibet," said Karma Chophel, Speaker of the exiled Tibetan Parliament.
China warned of a "life and death" struggle with the Dalai Lama Wednesday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused the Tibetan spiritual leader of masterminding the protests, which culminated in a riot Friday in Lhasa.
Meanwhile China said the Olympic torch would go through the Himalayan region as planned on its way to August's Beijing Games. The crackdown on the protests in Tibet and neighboring Chinese provinces, which may have killed dozens of people, sparked calls for a boycott of Beijing's showcase Games.
The monks held up posters displaying Chinese tanks and armored vehicles in different Tibetan towns. "China, stop accusing the Dalai Lama of inciting violence," read one placard, ANI reported Wednesday.
"What we are requesting the International community is that all governments, parliaments, the United Nations and other agencies connected with democratic movement and rights and human rights they should go into Tibet, they should intervene in the ongoing situation in Tibet," said Karma Chophel, Speaker of the exiled Tibetan Parliament.
China warned of a "life and death" struggle with the Dalai Lama Wednesday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused the Tibetan spiritual leader of masterminding the protests, which culminated in a riot Friday in Lhasa.
Meanwhile China said the Olympic torch would go through the Himalayan region as planned on its way to August's Beijing Games. The crackdown on the protests in Tibet and neighboring Chinese provinces, which may have killed dozens of people, sparked calls for a boycott of Beijing's showcase Games.