Exile family marches on/ENG

2012. március 19./Phayul.com/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA, March 19: The exile family of Tsetan Dorjee has now journeyed over 250 kms on their march back to Tibet and reached the north Indian city of Chandigarh.

Speaking to Phayul over phone, Dorjee, 35, said: “We are safe. We are fine.”

“We have met Indian police on the road and they have been nice to us,” Dorjee said. “I am very positive that they (police) will not stop us.”

Dorjee along with his mother Dhum Po Kyi and sister Lhamo Kyi began their march to Tibet from Dharamshala, the exile seat of Tibet, on March 10, coinciding with the 53rd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.

The three, who have been living in Dharamshala, since their escape from Tibet, told Phayul that the march was their expression of solidarity and unity with Tibetans inside Tibet.

“As Tibetans in Tibet keep burning themselves demanding freedom in Tibet, it is our responsibility to be united and stand together for Tibet,” Dorjee stated. “If we don’t take individual responsibility at this critical period, how can we call ourselves Tibetans?”

Dorjee is planning to trace back the most commonly used path by escaping Tibetans: Dharamshala – New Delhi – Kathmandu – Tibet.

The family is hopeful that Nepali authorities will not be a hindrance to their march, although they have made it clear that they will persist with their journey even if stopped or arrested at any point.

“We are not using any anti-Nepal slogans nor undertaking any anti-Nepal activities. I think Nepali police have no reason to overreact,” Dorjee noted.

In support of their march, Dorjee said few Tibetans have come forward to join them for several kilometers on a stretch.

“Lhamo’s school director and principal also met us and walked with us for a few kilometers,” Dorjee said. Lhamo is a student of the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Suja.

Temples on the road have been their main shelter for the nights.

Although Dorjee asserted that their courage and spirit is “as high as ever,” he is a little worried for his mother, who is 54, as they will have to tread the northern plains in the heat of Indian summer.

“We are walking 25-30 kms per day and hope to reach New Delhi in a couple of weeks,” Dorjee said.

Today, the exile family spoke to Tibetan college students in Chandigarh and will resume their march tomorrow morning.

Even as the family continues their journey, the situation in Tibet is becoming grimmer by the day.

Three self-immolations have occurred in last week alone, taking the toll to 30, as thousands of Tibetans have come out on the streets demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.
BY Tendar Tsering