Tibetans in Delhi organise prayer session to mark 48th Democracy Day

New Delhi, Sept 2 : The Tibetans-in-exile today organised a prayer session in New Delhi to mark the 48th anniversary of their government-in-exile at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

Tibetans do not celebrate the occasion with fanfare, but they perform prayers to mark the Democracy Day.

Tibetan activists, attending the special session, said that they were taking a small break from the months-long protest but the struggle would continue with the same vigour.

Kiren Rijiju, an MP from Arunachal Pradesh, who also attended the ceremony, called for the government's intervention in the issue.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, set up his government-in-exile at Dharamsala in 1960, after he fled to India along with thousands of followers a year before following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

The Tibetans have been crusading for freedom of their homeland from the Chinese rule since March this year.

China has been in control of Tibet since People's Liberation Army troops marched into the region in 1950 and Beijing considers Tibet to be an integral part of its territory.

Critics accuse China of repressing Tibetans' religious aspirations, especially their veneration for the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

China has accused followers of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, of stirring riots and protests in Tibetan regions in March in a bid to upstage Olympic preparations. However the Dalai Lama has denied the claim and said he upheld China's right to host the Games.

ANI