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Following last week's events at Drepung monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, where the Chinese authorities sealed off the monastery, strictly controlling who enters and exits, Tibetans in exile have taken up the protests.

In a march and rally organized by the Tibetan Youth Congress in McLeod Ganj, Tibetans, locals, and foreigners streamed to lower Dharamsala where a number of speakers from the Youth Congress and local committess talked about the current situation in Lhasa.

Speakers urged Tibetans in exile to continue to be vocal and active, reminding that Tibetans in exile have the freedom to speak and act out which those within Tibet do not have.

The walk down to Dharamsala lasted about an hour and a half. Different Tibetans, in numerous squads within the long lines of marchers, led the protest slogans in Hindi, English, and Tibetan. The marchers called for the end of religious repression in Tibet, for the UN to take action on the current repression, for China to leave Tibet...

Whether or not all agree on freedom or on autonomy, the marchers were uniform in their passion, protesting loudly, powerfully, hoarsely.

For further information on the events, on torture in China, and on the Patriotic Education campaign China is using to try to erode Tibetans' allegiance to Buddhism and the Dalai Lama, see:

http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=878

http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2005/11/29_5.html

http://www.tchrd.org/press/2005/nb20051013.html

http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=11341&article=Torture+Is+'Widespread'+in+China%2c+U.N.+Investigator+Says&t=1&c=1

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