10 March 2008
India bars protestors from leaving Dharamsala
Indian police barred several hundred Tibetan exiles from beginning a planned six-month march from India to Tibet, to protest against the Beijing Olympics. Local police chief Atul Fulzele said a ban for the marchers from leaving the area around Dharmsala had been issued on orders from the Indian government. Fulzele said the march contravened an agreement between New Delhi and the Tibetan government in exile. However, none of the groups taking part in the protest were affiliated with the government, and neither the Dalai Lama nor Tibet's government in exile have issued an official statement on the march. The groups leading the march are: the Tibetan Youth Congress, the Tibetan Women’s Association; the Gu-Chu-Sum Movement; the National Democratic Party of Tibet; and Students for a Free Tibet, India.