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Three Tibetans injured in police firing
NEW DELHI, JAN. 15. The Joint Action Committee of all Tibetan support groups today expressed shock at the "inhuman and unconstitutional method" adopted by the Delhi police to curb protests by Tibetans against the visit of the Chinese leader, Mr. Li Peng, reports english language daily, The Hindu.
Condemning the police action "as an assault on the basic democratic character of the nation", the Tibetan Youth Congress vice-president, Mr. Karma Yeshi, claimed that the youth shot at and injured by the police on Sunday were outside the Hotel Taj Palace security zone and unarmed, quoted the daily.
"The police resorted to violence without any provocation. They are now trying to turn the case against the three youths claiming that they were trying to snatch the gun from the policeman. This is a false allegation," said Mr. Yeshi at a press conference organised by various Tibetan support groups.
The Tibetan organisations demanded a high-level enquiry into the firing and appealed to the Indian Government to immediately release, without condition, the Tibetan youth arrested during their protests.
Stating that Tibetans have been living in a "state of curfew" since the visit of the Chinese leader, Mr. Yeshi asserted that the police had made it difficult for them to even walk around the area the leader was to visit or was staying. "The Delhi police in a state of panic were arresting people with Mongol features," he said, adding that "a Nepali driver of the British High Commission was caught because of his looks".
When asked whether he felt that the Indian police were being particularly harsh in their crackdown on the Tibetans, Yeshi merely said, "Li Peng has always been associated with bloodshed," reports AFP.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police today claimed that the CISF constable who had opened fire on the Tibetan protestors outside Hotel Taj Palace had done so in "self-defence". The Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi District), Mr. R.S. Krishnia, said the incident took place at about 6 p.m., almost 40 minutes after Chinese leader, Mr. Li Peng, had returned to the hotel upon his visit to Agra.
The injured youth are reported to be in stable condition.
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