Tibetans Keeping Marching, Defing Ban
By ASHWINI BHATIA Associated Press Writer
RANITAL, India Mar 11, 2008 (AP)

Tibetan Exiles Press Ahead With March, Defying Indian Ban

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles pressed ahead Tuesday with a march from northern India to their Himalayan homeland, defying a police ban on the demonstration agThe march, which started Monday, was expected to take six months, reaching Tibet during the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games in a bid to turn the Olympic spotlight onto China's often harsh 57-year rule over the Himalayan region.

It was one of several events launched around the world Monday by Tibetans commemorating their 1959 uprising against China. About 300 Buddhist monks also protested in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, one of the boldest public challenges to China's rule in recent years.

India, apparently fearful that the march could embarrass Beijing and jeopardize warming ties between the Asian giants, banned the exiles from leaving the Kangra district that surrounds Dharmsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Local police chief Atul Fulzele said Monday the ban was made following a recommendation by the Indian government.

On Tuesday, the marchers vowed to defy the order.

Walking single file, waving Tibetan flags and holding aloft pictures of the Dalai Lama and Indian pacifist icon Mohandas K. Gandhi, some 350 exiles followed the road down from the mountains toward the plains of northern India.

"Our spirits are high," said 32-year-old Tenzin Lhadon. "If police try and detain us, we will find a way to carry on," she said.

Dozens of supporters lined the road as the marchers passed, chanting "Free Tibet."

By nightfall, the protesters reached the town of Ranital, some 20 miles from the Kangra district border.

Tenzin Tsundue, one of the march leaders, said the protesters would likely reach the border by Wednesday and would try to evade the police.

"This is the fun part now," Tsundue said. "We are ready for any kind of obstruction. We will be very peaceful but when so many people are determined to give their lives up, no police can stop us."