Three Tibetans detained near the BRICS venue after flag protest
Police detained the group at an underpass near Pragati Maidan on Friday morning. A larger march went ahead peacefully at Majnu ka Tila.
Delhi Police detained three Tibetans at an underpass near Pragati Maidan on Friday morning after they were found unfurling Tibetan flags in protest at the Chinese delegation's presence for the BRICS summit, police sources told ThePrint.
Security around Bharat Mandapam, the summit venue, was stepped up after the incident. Delhi Police and paramilitary forces were already deployed in the area.
What happened at the underpass
Sources said those detained had gathered to protest against the Chinese delegation's visit to the capital for the summit. "Around three people were detained early morning," a senior police officer told ThePrint.
A member of Students for a Free Tibet gave a different figure, telling ThePrint that four to five people had been detained.
"A group of people had unfurled banners and flags of Tibet, protesting the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping," the SFT member said. "The police reached the spot and detained people." He added: "We are in touch with our lawyers for further process." He added that those detained were around 22 to 23 years old.
The group's stated case
Students for a Free Tibet set out its position in a statement. The group said its demonstration "directly challenges Beijing's narrative of multilateral cooperation", and called on BRICS leaders to raise China's control of Tibet, human rights and border conduct. "For over six decades, Tibetans have resisted Beijing's iron-clad control," the statement said.
The statement also set out specific demands. It called on China to halt what it described as forced cultural assimilation, to close colonial residential schools and to repeal "ethnic unity" laws it said were aimed at erasing Tibetan identity.
On infrastructure, the group said China should stop unconsulted mega-projects, naming the Medog Dam, and commit to transparency, independent environmental assessments and binding hydrological data-sharing with downstream nations.
These are the organisation's characterisations. The Chinese government rejects such descriptions of its policy in Tibet, and neither the Chinese embassy nor the Indian government commented on the detentions in this account.
A larger march, held peacefully
Separately, around 250 to 300 members of the Tibetan Youth Congress and other Tibetan nationals held a peaceful march in Majnu ka Tila, in north Delhi, carrying banners and posters opposing the visit.
The tone of that gathering, as its organisers described it, was notably different from the confrontation near the summit venue.
"Tibetan Youth Congress sends a clear message ahead of the Chinese President's visit for a free country," Tenzin Lobsang, the organisation's general secretary, told ThePrint. "We celebrate India's global leadership and being the host country." "We are more than proud and happy witnessing the growth of India."
Two protests, two outcomes
The difference between the two events is largely a question of location. A march through a residential neighbourhood several kilometres from the summit sits within the ordinary policing of public assembly. An action at an underpass near Pragati Maidan, inside the security envelope built for the visit of eleven heads of state and government, does not.
ThePrint reports that Delhi Police and paramilitary forces were already deployed around Bharat Mandapam before the incident, and that security there was intensified afterwards.
Status of those detained
The SFT member said the group was in contact with lawyers over the process. Police sources described the three as having been detained rather than arrested, and had not announced charges at the time of reporting.
Police sources described the three as detained rather than arrested, and no charge had been announced when ThePrint reported the story.
ThePrint reported the story on Friday, the day before Xi was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the summit's margins.
