Vadodara, December 4 – As many as 15 Indian-born Tibetan students from Delhi University are on a all India Moto rally to mobilise support and funds demanding release of Tibetan religious leader Tulku Tenzin Delek from Chinese prison.
As the team reached the Polo Grounds in Vadodara on Saturday, they were felicitated and money was donated by Tibetan sweater sellers.
The team — comprising mostly of diploma and post graduate students — intends to cover 28 major cities across the country, covering 8878 kilometres on four motorbikes and a four-wheeler.
The team left from Delhi on December 1 and reached here, after stops at Jaipur, Ajmer and Ahmedabad. The team will be returning to Delhi after covering cities in the west, south and eastern coast of the Indian peninsula by mid January 2005.
‘‘Wherever we go, we interact with the locals, distribute our handouts and brief on popular religious leader Tulku Tenzin Delek and his confinement by the Chinese authorities. The handouts are published in Hindi and English. It carries our appeal to Indian friends and the international community to urge Chinese authorities for Delek’s release,’’ said Tenzin Kusang, a computer science student.
Tenzin added that the rally is being organised by Tibetan Student’s Alliance and co-ordinated by the Tibetan Student’s Association in all major cities and where there are no associations, local buddhist religious leaders help in co-ordinating.
‘‘During December and January Tibetans camp all over India to sell sweaters and winter clothing. The team will be supported by their contribution in each of these places,’’ said president of Tibetan Students’ Association, Vadodara chapter Tenzing Lobsang.
At the Polo Ground, the group was felicitated by a crowd of 70-80 people who had set up stalls here. The participants were seated on a dias and each of them explained the purpose of the rally in Tibetan. ‘‘The elders prefer to be convinced in their language as they are the ones signing up for the contributions,’’ quipped Tinley, a tibetan student at M S University.
After the felicitations and ceremonial tea party, all fifteen members were given a holy white scarf. The rally mambers decorated the motorbikes with the Tibetan flag and hoardings demanding Free Tibet.
The Tibetan students in Vadodara then accompanied them to city outskirts amidst cries of ‘we want freedom, we want peace’.
