Fleeing students bring tales of Tibet repression

By Bappa Majumdar

DHARAMSALA (Reuters) - Tibetans are regularly beaten up, their homes raided at night and hundreds have gone missing as a brutal Chinese crackdown continues inside Tibet, a group of Tibetan students who escaped into India this week said.

Most Tibetan towns are "swarming" with soldiers who have been arresting people even for mentioning the name of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 and now lives in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.

"Soldiers picked up my uncle from his house, dragged him by his hair and kicked him in the face and stomach," Tsomo, a 30-year-old woman using only one name, told Reuters on Saturday.

"Later we learnt that he died in a lock-up."

Tsomo was among 20 Tibetans who escaped from Tibet after trekking across freezing Himalayan mountains for weeks, dodging soldiers and checkpoints to reach Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

India hosts about 150,000 Tibetan exiles, most of whom have arrived after similar journeys over the past few decades.

The students' group met the Dalai Lama, who explained to them the importance of preserving Tibetan culture and heritage, Tenzin Taklha, the Dalai Lama's aide told Reuters.

Tibetans met this week in Dharamsala to chart a future course for their movement after eight rounds of official talks on autonomy with Beijing failed to make any headway.