World | India
Tibetans oppose China hosting Olympics
Thousands of Tibetans marched through New Delhi yesterday, shouting slogans and waving flags in protest against China's actions in Tibet at the start of the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:08 August 8, 2007
New Delhi: Thousands of Tibetans marched through New Delhi yesterday, shouting slogans and waving flags in protest against China's actions in Tibet at the start of the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics.
In one of the biggest rallies by Tibetans in India, about 10,000 Tibetans, including maroon-robed Buddhist monks and women in traditional costumes, bellowed their demands, asking China to prove it was upholding the rights of people living in Tibet.
"The essence of the Olympics is equality, but we do not have equality in Tibet," said Kalsang Godrukpa, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, the main organiser of the rally.
"China doesn't deserve the Olympics until Tibet is free," he told reporters, as protesters marched by wearing yellow baseball caps and waving Tibetan flags and giant posters of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950 and Beijing has since ruled the Himalayan region. About 120,000 Tibetans are exiled in India, including the Dalai Lama who fled after a failed uprising in 1959.
Amnesty International and other rights groups say China is severely restricting the freedom of Tibetan people and suppressing their culture. China says it is helping a historically poor region develop.
Protesters hope they can get enough attention to embarrass Chinese leaders into meeting their demands.
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