Indian Tibetans March to Shame Olympics Host China

August 8, 2007

Author: Jonathan Allen

Source: Yahoo! News

Wire Service: Reuters

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070809/wl_nm/india_tibet_protest_dc

Thousands of Tibetans marched through New Delhi and New York on Wednesday, 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 organizer 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.

In New York City around 1,000 protesters marched across Manhattan to rally outside the Chinese Consulate, waving Tibetan flags and carrying signs that read "Boycott Beijing 2008 Olympics," and "No Freedom, No 2008 Games."