Police forcibly remove TYC Organizational Secretary Penpa Tsering from the protest site - Photo from tibetanyouthcongress.org
Three Tibetan Youth Congress Central Executives, who have been staging an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi since 3 September, were forcibly removed from their site at the Jantar Mantar on the 20th day of their fast and taken to a local hospital to recover. TYC Vice President Dhondup Lhadar, Organizational Secretary Penpa Tsering, and Cultural Secretary Jigme Sholpa had each lost more than 10 kg by 22 September, in a protest organized to “express solidarity with the self-immolators inside Tibet and to appeal for immediate international intervention.”
This is the third such hunger strike the TYC has organized in the last few years. Just six months ago members protested in front of the United Nations in New York, finally concluding after promises were made by UN officials to take steps towards a resolution. This phase in Delhi sought to remind the UN of its promises, with the hunger strikers set to continue until “concrete action” was achieved.
The 20-day fast was by far the most eventful, coinciding with the visit of China’s Defence Minister on 4 September. The strikers, along with a number of other Tibetan activists, were arrested and spent the night in jail for staging protests along the Defence Minister’s planned route. The three were injured in a road accident on the way to Tihar Jail, sustaining mouth and other injuries. Yet in keeping with the spirit of their protest, they refused any injections or fluid when offered medical treatment. They were released the next day, and immediately resumed their posts at Jantar Mantar.
On the 10th day, the strikers were joined by Tibetan students from Delhi universities participating in a 500-meter “prostration campaign” right up to the doors of the UN offices. They brought with them memorandums for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Navi Pillay, and for representatives of the embassies of 55 different countries. These memorandums held UN officials responsible for the fate of the three strikers, and urged the UN to “remember its former commitments to directly engage with the Chinese government and send UN representatives to Tibet.”
Meanwhile, TYC officials have met with the Minister and Deputy Head of the Swiss Mission in Delhi, representatives from the office of the Indian Prime Minister, and both EU and UN officials. They asked for support and advocacy at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva – advocacy which they received from numerous countries in the Council’s September session.
TYC Hunger Strikers at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on 25 September - Photo from tibetanyouthcongress.org
Police ordered the strike be brought to an end on 18 September after tests showed a marked deterioration in the health of all three hunger strikers. Dhondup Lhadar, in particular, was suffering stomach problems exacerbated by a condition brought on by a previous 25-day hunger strike.
Finally, on 20 September, the strikers were forcibly removed by Delhi police and taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to recover. “All three of them held on to whatever they could while resisting their forced removal,” Tenzin Norsang, TYC joint secretary, who was present at the protest site said. “Volunteers and activists around them could do little as there was an overwhelming police presence.”
Despite the hunger strike’s termination, the TYC will continue with its planned activities in the coming days. Representatives will meet with government officials and NGOs to further encourage a solution to the ongoing situation in Tibet, and to urge international institutions to take a stronger stance on China in relation to human rights and to Tibetans’ aspirations of freedom.
Print
Email