Tibetan refugees seek divine intervention

Expressing concern over the turmoil in their homeland, the Tibetan refugees settled in Chandragiri area of Orissa's Gajapati district are praying for restoration of peace in Tibet.

Even as the robe-clad monks and elderly chapus seek divine intervention in the monastery, several others in the refugee camp are taking out candle light procession every evening urging the Chinese government to stop crackdown in Lhasa and other areas of Himalayan state.

"We condemn arrest of hundreds of innocent Tibetans by the Chinese government in our homeland. We urge Beijing to stop the crackdown," Tsering Thuntsok, former local unit president of Tibetan Youth Congress, said in Berhampur.

Meanwhile, in protest against alleged human rights violation in Tibet, the refugees are planning to hold a silent rally followed by hunger strike at Bhubaneswar on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

Several organisations including members of TYC, local assembly, Tibetan Women's Association and representatives of the Dalai Lama are expected to take part in the rally, Jamphel, former local assembly president, said.

They would submit a memorandum to the Orissa Governor urging him to request the Chinese government to stop the alleged human rights violation in Tibet and unconditionally release the arrested innocent Tibetans.

However, the local leaders did not disclose their further course of action in view of efforts being made by the Dalai Lama on the imbroglio.

"His Holiness is in the process of seeking help from the world leaders to restore peace in Tibet," Thuntsok said.

Thrown from their homeland, about 600 Tibetan refugee families had settled in five camps in Chandragiri area, which is topographically and climatically similar to the Himalayan state. The five camps are located at Chandragiri, Takullipada, Lasbarsing, Jeeranga and Mahendragada.

Seeking to preserve their cultural identity in the face of fast changing lifestyle, their hope for return to their homeland still haunts many of them.

The Tibetans in exile remain fiercely protective of their culture hardly influenced by proselytisation and sending their children only to the Tibetan schools set up in the country.