Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 7: Indian activist Sandesh Meshram, a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and a member of the Core Group for the Tibetan Cause–India, reached the Dhargyeling Tibetan Settlement in Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh, on 5 January as part of his ongoing “6th Janjagaran Cycle Yatra: Pedalling for Freedom, Speaking for Tibet.” The long-distance awareness campaign aims to educate the Indian public about Tibet and related border issues.
He was accorded a warm reception by members of the local Tibetan community. On 6 January, Shri Meshram addressed a public gathering at the settlement, where he outlined the objectives of his sixth Janjagaran Cycle Yatra and urged Tibetans to remain actively engaged in advocating for their political, cultural, and human rights cause.
During his address, Meshram emphasized the importance of sustained public awareness on Tibet, particularly in India’s border regions, where China’s claims over Tibetan territory have direct security and geopolitical implications for India. He reiterated that Tibet is not merely a historical or humanitarian issue but remains deeply linked to India’s national interests and regional stability.
Meshram is scheduled to resume his journey on 8 January, heading towards the Miao Choephelling Tibetan Settlement. Residents of the Dhargyeling Tibetan Settlement during the address extended their best wishes for his safety and the successful completion of the Yatra.
The current cycle of the Yatra began on 9 December 2025 from Bumla, a forward area near the Indo-Tibet border in Arunachal Pradesh, and is scheduled to conclude on 9 February 2026 in Shillong, Meghalaya. The 65-day journey covers an estimated 2,604 kilometres, passing through Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya.
Earlier in the journey, he reached Rupa in Arunachal Pradesh on the eighth day of the campaign, where he continued his outreach efforts. One of the key objectives of the Yatra, he said, is to counter misinformation surrounding Tibet and India’s northeastern frontier. He specifically highlighted a recent incident in which an Arunachal Pradesh woman travelling from Hangzhou Airport to Nyingchi was detained for nearly 18 hours, after airport officials allegedly told her that her Indian passport was invalid and claimed that Arunachal Pradesh was Chinese territory.
He cited the incident as a clear example of China’s expanding narrative claims over Indian territory and stressed the need for greater public vigilance and awareness. He said such incidents underscore why the Tibet issue cannot be viewed in isolation, as China’s occupation of Tibet has enabled its assertive posture along the Indo-Tibet border.
A veteran Tibet supporter, Meshram, has previously organised similar cycling campaigns in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2021, using grassroots outreach to build solidarity for Tibet across India. Over the years, he has cycled approximately 18,000 kilometres, consistently carrying messages of Tibetan freedom, human rights, and the historical relationship between Tibet and India.
We are very lucky to have great Tibet friends like Sandesh Meshram in this day and age. In the good old days of early 60s and late 70s, Tibet had many prominent Tibet supporters from different walks of life! Jaya Prakash Narayan who termed the 1954 commercial agreement between China and India as being BORN IN SIN was one of them with Acharya Kirpalani. The Indian Government of the day, sold Tibet down the river with this shameful capitulation to Chinese communist rhetoric, deception and coercion! Pandit Nehru realised his Himalayan blunder and admitted it by saying, “Now we see this so called anti-imperialist country itself becoming an imperialist of the worst kind”! Communist China is an unrelenting imperialist and colonialist entity, worse than European and American colonialists and imperialists. It has been pursuing a ruthless imperialist ambition like Putin to invade and swallow neighbouring countries one after the other! People like Mr Sandesh Meshram know what happened to Tibet and therefore, he is driven to correct the evil that was committed by communist China and Pandit Nehru’s failure to see the Chinese duplicity that hoodwinked him to agree to their baseless claims over Tibet! Today, India is paying a very heavy price for its unforgivable blunder. However, there is no point in blaming Pandit Nehru since he was an idealistic gentleman and took the evil Chinese communists at their word which turned out to be nothing but duplicity! The Government of India has a choice whether to remain constantly ENCIRCLED by Communist China in the North, Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east who are hand in glove with each other or find a way to remove this encirclement for the betterment of India’s national security. HIf it wants to improve the present highly volatile security environment of hostile neighbours colluding with each other to contain India, IT MUST SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENCE OF TIBET! TIBET WAS THE HISTORICAL BUFFER THAT KEPT INDIA SAFE FOR CENTURIES AND THE BRITISH RULERS OF INDIA NEVER RECOGNISED CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY OVER TIBET! INDIA MUST REDRESS THE UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKES OF THE PAST IN ORDER TO ENSURE ITS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND NATIONAL SECURITY!!!