Tibetan exiles go on hunger strike
DEHRA, India - More than 100 Tibetan exiles began a hunger strike Thursday after police in northern India dragged them away from a six-month march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games.
The demonstrators had vowed to march from India to Tibet to coincide with the start of the Aug. 8-24 Games. Indian officials — fearing the march would embarrass China — banned the exiles from leaving the Kangra district that surrounds the city of Dharmsala — the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.
The exiles resisted arrest by sitting or lying down, but they were hauled into police buses here in the town of Dehra, about 12 miles from the district boundary. Some wept or shouted "Free Tibet!" and other slogans, but there was no violence, witnesses said.
Senior police official Atul Fulzele said the protesters were charged with threatening the region's "peace and tranquility." Hours after being charged, the protesters began a hunger strike.
The Tibetan exiles appeared before a magistrate late Thursday and were asked to sign a statement promising to refrain from political activity "now and in the future," Tenzin Palkyi, a march coordinator, told The Associated Press.
In the past, protesters charged with similar offenses have been released after formally pledging not to carry on demonstrating.
But the marchers refused and were told that they would be detained for 14 days, Palkyi said. They were being held in a hotel because the jail cannot accommodate them all.
No government official was immediately available to verify Palkyi's comments.
Nine people from the U.S., Scotland, Germany, Poland and Australia, who were marching with the Tibetans but were not arrested, began a hunger strike of their own, said Clay Di'Chro, a U.S. citizen.
Despite the arrests, organizers vowed to continue the march.
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