Free-Tibet activist Tsundue arrested before Modi - Xi summit in Tamil Nadu
According to Villupuram district police department, TN police was alerted by the Union Home Ministry that Tsundue, a “Free Tibet” movement supporter, may protest at the venue during the summit.
Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram police on Saturday night arrested a noted Tibetan writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue in Kottakuppam, less than hundred kilometers away from the Tamil Nadu town of Mamallapuram, which is hosting the three-day summit between Chinese President Xi-Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi beginning October 11.
According to Villupuram district police department, TN police was alerted by the Union Home Ministry that Tsundue, a “Free Tibet” movement supporter, may protest at the venue during the summit.
“Tenzin had been arrested twice previously by Mumbai and Bengaluru police during visits by then Chinese premiers in 2002 and 2005 respectively. Tsundue had unfurled a banner reading “Free Tibet” at Hotel Oberoi, Mumbai in 2002 where Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was addressing a gathering. He was arrested in Bangalore in 2005 for protesting against the then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao,” said top police official from Villupuram.
On Saturday night, Tenzin was arrested from a hotel in Villupuram district near Puducherry .
“Tsundue was trying to get a room in a hotel which in turn alerted the police leading to his arrest,” the police officers noted.
Sources said that Tsundue was again planning to unfurl banners in support of the “Free Tibet” during Xi-Jinping’s visit. He has been sent to Chennai Puzhal Central Jail in the wee hours of Sunday said police officers.
The Sino-Indo summit will be hosted in the scenic Mamallapuram about 60 km south to Chennai from October 11 to 13.
Tsundue had posted on Xi’s visit on his Facebook on Saturday. “Xi has invited Pak PM to Beijing for a chai on the 8th, and India’s military exercise in Arunachal will go on while Xi is on India visit. Xi hyphenates Nepal on the India tour. Too many swords drawn. What’s going on? And no official announcements still,” his post read.
A travel ban was imposed on Tsundue which kept him restricted to Dharamshala during former Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India in November 2006. Though he is a refugee, Tenzin Tsundue is based in Dharamshala, from where he writes and works for the cause of Tibet’s independence.
