Dharamsala, Dec 15 (IANS) Home to the Dalai Lama and a large Tibetan community, Dharamsala was calm Wednesday even as Tibetan protests erupted in New Delhi coinciding with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s India visit.
Superintendent of Police Daljeet Thakur said that no protests were held anywhere in Dharamsala including McLeod Ganj, the seat of the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile and known as ‘Little Lhasa’.
Tibetan Youth Congress president Tsewang Rigzin explained why Dharamsala was quiet.
‘Our main protest is focused in Delhi, where we have planned to stage demonstrations and submit memoranda to various embassies to highlight the plight of people of Tibet and the human rights violations,’ he said.
TYC is the largest Tibetan group seeking Tibetan independence.
Activists of Tibetan support groups like the Tibetan Women Association, Students for Free Tibet and National Democratic Party of India are also camping in Delhi.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama too is not in Dhramsala. He is in Sikkim, to attend religious ceremonies and deliver a discourse.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet along with many of his supporters in 1959 when Chinese troops occupied Lhasa and the rest of Tibet and took refuge in India. More than 94,000 Tibetans live in India today.
