Protests amid crackdown

Tibetan activists continued to protest the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao as he and other heads of the five emerging economies met in the city for the fourth BRICS summit on Thursday.

Tibetan activists continued to protest the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao as he and other heads of the five emerging economies met in the city for the fourth BRICS summit on Thursday.

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In an effort to maintain law and order, the president of Tibetan Youth Congress, Twesang Rigzin, was stopped from entering the city. Rigzin, who had flown in from New York late on Wednesday, was deported after an hour of questioning at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Tibetan activists who had gathered at the Lady Hardinge mortuary to collect the body of Jamphel Yeshi, the 27-year-old protester who immolated himself, were also detained by the police. The body was taken to Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, under police cover.

Despite heavy police deployment in the city, Tibetan activists managed to gather for demonstrations at three major spots in Delhi, including the Chinese embassy. A small group of Tibetans staged a protest at the embassy before they were chased down by the police.

Not too far from the embassy and hardly 500 meters away from Taj Palace, the site of the summit, the activists unfurled the Tibetan flag at Satya Niketan overbridge. Fifteen protesters, including women, were detained from the spot.

Five Tibetan protesters, who arrived at Jantar Mantar around 10.30am, were also detained by the police.

A hunger strike had been organised at Ambedkar Bhavan, near Jhandewalan, to protest the decision of Indian authorities to stop Tibetans from organising peaceful protests. Protesters have been restrained there under the Foreigners Act.

The Delhi police said they were successful in curbing protests on the streets. The house arrest order on Tibetans in the city could be lifted on Friday. “Nothing major happened. The heavy police deployment saved us from any diplomatic embarrassment that the Tibetan protests could have caused. The house arrest orders for Tibetans will be lifted after the Chinese President leaves the city,” said a police officer.