Cycling students hit Chennai/ENG

2012. február 1./Phayul.com/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA, February 1: The three Tibetan school students who are pedaling across India demanding a peaceful resolution to the Tibet crisis, reached the Indian city Chennai in Tamil Nadu state earlier this week.

After meeting local media at the press club, the three students; Tselo Gyal, Lugoen Thar and Gyaltsen cycled throughout the city, covering all major public areas while distributing free Tibet pamphlets.

Tibetan students studying in the city also joined the three students for the cycle rally across the city.

The President of Tibetan Students' Association, Madras, Rinchen Namgyal told Phayul that the three school students will have an interactive session with the Tibetan college students in the city before they leave Chennai for their next stop Mundgod, one of the largest Tibetan settlements.

In a statement at the beginning of the rally, the three students said they were undertaking the ‘Cycling for Tibet’ campaign to highlight the “plight of Tibetans suffering under China’s repressive rule” and to appeal for support in the resolution of the ongoing crisis in Tibet.

“The suffering and the injustice meted out to Tibetans in Tibet must end soon if truth, freedom, and peace are to sustain this world,” the release said.

The ‘Cycling for Tibet’ campaign, which will culminate in the Indian capital New Delhi, was flagged off from the largest Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe in Karnataka on 20th of this month.

In the past 11 months, 16 Tibetans have set their bodies on fire in Tibet demanding the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from exile and protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet.

Mass protests in many parts of Tibet have resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen of Tibetans as a result of police firing over unarmed demonstrators.
By Tendar Tsering