Express New Service - India November 27, 1996

TIBETANS in Mumbai will stage a demonstration in the city tomorrow to protest against the forthcoming visit of Jiang Zemin to India, which gets underway next week.

The demonstration will kick off at Azad Maidan and end at Kalaghoda between 11 am and 2 pm.

Speaking at a press conference in the city today, Tibetan Youth Congress president Tseten Norbu said the purpose of the demonstration is to highlight the plight of the Tibetans and to plead the public's support for the Dalai Lama's government-in- exile. And also to pressurize the Indian government from signing any declaration with the Chinese government. Demonstrations will be simultaneously staged at New Delhi, Agra and Bangalore, added Norbu.

Norbu speaking to Express Newsline said, "the Chinese cultural revolution has destroyed Tibetan culture, reducing the people of the land as mere strangers. Tibet is also increasingly being used for transferring population from overpopulated areas of China. There is no freedom of expression. While the Chinese population has swelled to over 7.5 million, there are less then six million in the mountain kingdom. There are no jobs for local Tibetans", Norbu pointed out.

"Lhasa and the whole of Tibet are under seize. There are surveillance cameras all over the place. Not even the sacred monastery of Potala is spared. Besides, there is 300,000 strong military and large number of policemen under the guise of Public Security Bureau," Norbu disclosed.

There has also been large-scale infanticide in Tibet, it is alleged.

Tibetan women have been forced to undergo abortion to keep a check on the local population which is considered a regular phenomenon. At least 50,000 foetuses have been killed in the two years, it was stated.

There are at least 1000 prostitutes in the city, mostly employed in the bars and night clubs. Tibetan beer is as cheap as two yuan, or about Rs.6, said Norbu. He further pointed out the case of Tibetan Fulbright Scholar Ngawang Choephel, also a musician, who was picked up by the Chinese government. China accused Ngawang of being funded by the Americans and under the cover of collecting Tibetan folk songs is using him to gather sensitive intelligence information, Norbu alleged.

"The Indian government is pussyfooting and ignoring the Tibetan issue. If Tibet is free, India will be the first to gain as its military expenditure will be slashed significantly", Norbu told the press today.