INDIAN POLICE ARREST 265 TIBETANS MARCHING TO TIBET
March had just resumed after 13-day standoff as China prepares to take Olympic torch to Tibet

Nainital - 259 Tibetan marchers and six members of the organizing committee were arrested by police after resuming the March to Tibet following a 13 day stand-off with police. They had covered 16 kilometers when they were arrested at Berinag, approximately 180 kilometers from the Indo-Tibetan border area. Fifty marchers, including leading Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue and Shingza Rinpoche of Sera Monastery, stayed behind at the the campsite at Banspatan in Uttarakhand State, determined to continue to Tibet in the event that their fellow marchers were stopped. The five presidents of the NGOs organizing the March and one coordinator are still being held in Roshanabad Jail near Hardwar.

"As China prepares to parade its Olympic torch through Tibet next week in a blatant attempt to legitimize its rule in Tibet, the increasing repression is compounding the Tibetan people's suffering under China's illegal occupation," said Lhakpa Tsering, a marcher as well as an executive member of the Tibetan Youth Congress. "My only wish is to reach Tibet and join my brothers and sisters. Even if I can't lessen their suffering, I can at least make sure the world knows about their suffering."

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