Daya Stand

Being there in Delhi among so many of the young people I have grown to love renewed my energy and restored my intention to stay here among them a while longer. This is a very moving time here in Dhasa and it doesn't feel like whatever I've come here to do is finished yet.

Instead of trying to protest against the Olympic torch in Delhi, the Tibetans decided to create their own torch and relay. It was a beautiful huge peaceful experience with many government officials and Bollywood celebrities speaking at the opening ceremony and supporting us. We marched from Raj Ghat on the Yamuna River (where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated) to the designated protest area near Jantar Mantar (one of Jai Singh II's observatories just south of Connaught Place).

Jantar Mantar is apparently where the Indians always let the Tibetans protest. You may know that back in 1998 there was a 45-day Tibetan hunger strike that took place at this location. When the Indian police tried to end the strike there, a Tibetan man named Thupten Ngodup immolated himself.

I've no idea what distance the march was. It took about two hours but we were usually creeping along in the very hot sun on the very hot pavement. My new bald head got quite pink. When the marchers started to run I fell behind. These knees can walk a long way on a flat surface but they don't tolerate pounding. I was almost immediately picked up by the Tibetan ambulance that was traveling along behind us making sure everybody was okay in that blistering heat. They also picked up a young Burmese couple with a baby so we all crammed into the cab together for the last 15 minutes of the march. They were very sweet and the young husband told me with what seemed like pride that he is a refugee too.

Although there were about 500 Tibetans arrested at various places around Delhi there was no trouble with the Tibetan torch relay. Most of the arrests happened around the hotel where the Olympic torch was being kept or near the Chinese embassy. I believe most of those protesters were peaceful as well; the Indian government, however, kowtowed deep and low to the Chinese in refusing to let ANYBODY near the Chinese flame.

I am quite concerned about the feelings of desperation in my Tibetan friends. They are in cell phone contact with family inside Tibet and receive information regularly that doesn't otherwise get out of Tibet. According to the reports they receive, the slaughter and arrests continue there. The Chinese are paying no heed to anybody's requests for oversight or mercy. They are frequently answering now that this is an internal matter and is nobody's business.

The Tibetan Uprising marchers (who began here in Dharamsala on March 10 and with whom I walked that first day) on the trek home to Tibet arrived in Delhi on April 9 and stayed there over a week protesting and planning around the clock. They are all brown as berries and seem healthy and more determined than ever. Their numbers have now grown to 250 and they expect many others to join them in the weeks to come. They started out again on Saturday April 19 and will travel through Uttar Ranchal, passing through Nainital on their way to the border. I think they will probably go right past the Kainchi ashram of my satguru Neem Karoli Baba. The march should be very beautiful in that area, not much traffic and still quite far from the Tibetan border. I want to go over to Nainital and march with them for a day or two if this body will let me. You know I don't believe there is any hope for their cause but I've decided not to think about it one way or the other. When I feel the inclination to act in some way for them, I'm just following that and not spending any time trying to figure this thing out anymore. From time to time I'm quite overwhelmed with feelings of love and protectiveness toward them all and when I'm cornered by one of them (like Dakpa over the weekend) I tell them my very desolate opinion. The rest of the time I just enjoy being with them and soaking up their blessed peaceful goodness.

His Holiness has asked them twice to stop the march. He tells them if they try to cross the border the Chinese will shoot at them. They are mostly very young and choose to "respectfully" disobey him. I'm quite concerned for them. Although they are committed to non-violence they are also committed to this march and to their Tibetan brothers and sisters in Tibet who are still in much danger. The torch is going to come through Tibet twice in the weeks to come and there will be trouble again then I'm sure.

Tsundue (my freedom fighter friend who scaled the Oberoi and the Bangalore university tower to protest and is the most outspoken and well known of them all) is in a very intense frame of mind. Although most of the marchers were let out of jail after a few days, he and the two coordinators of the march were kept in jail for the entire two weeks.

Meanwhile in Tibet the Chinese government is forcing "patriotic education" everywhere. That means demanding that all the Tibetans villify the Dala Lama, accept the puppet Panchen Lama chosen by the Chinese when they kidnapped the boy recognized by His Holiness and proclaim themselves loyal to the motherland. Many folks, particularly monks and nuns, are refusing. . . and paying the price.

I learned something new in Delhi. When the Olympics are finished the Chinese intend to resettle an additional two million Chinese in Lhasa. Tibetans are already in the minority all over Tibet and this ploy will further marginalize them and, contrary to Chinese propaganda, only benefit the Chinese. Looks like more "cultural genocide" brewing to me.

Photos by: Dakpa