Tibetans hope 'Long March' will defeat China

LULL BEFORE STORM : A large group of Tibetans have come to Delhi from all over India.

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New Delhi: Sources have told CNN-IBN Tibetans may not be allowed to enter Delhi in the next few days.

A large group of Tibetans, however, are already in Delhi to protest against the Beijing Olympics torch relay.

Though the Tibetans are in India, but in their soul there is only Tibet.

Thirty-five-old Lobsang along with 200 other Tibetan protestors left Dharamshala on foot on March 10 and during the course of their journey he has become an important member of the team.

He mends the worn out shoes of protestors a small job for the greater cause of freedom..

"Because we're walking so much our shoes are getting worn off. So I'm repairing everyone's shoes for Tibet. Now that the Olympics are happening in China, this is the right time for us to go to there," Lobsang says.

In the 1930s in China Mao Zedong's Long March led to a victory for the Red Army and took him to power.

Now, in 2008 in India, the Tibetan's hope that their 'Long March' to Tibet will defeat the Chinese and take them to power.

Sitting outside a Gurudwara in Delhi, 67-year-old Miwang Namgial, one of the oldest people in the group, has come all the way from Kollegal in Karnataka to be a part of the march up to Tibet. He is sure that he doesn't want the Olympic torch to reach Delhi.

China has oppressed us so much. We won't allow it to have Olympic Games unless we are allowed to go to China," Namgial says.

The group will be spending the next few days in New Delhi and some of the protestors seem to have their eyes on the Olympic torch.

"If the situation requires I may be doing something. Let us see," Tenzin Tsundue, another Tibetan protestor, says.

As New Delhi prepares to welcome the Olympic torch on April 17 and security forces are keeping a tight vigil on Tibetan groups entering the Capital.

Hence, Tibetan groups are tight lipped about their plans for April 17 but they have made it clear that for them the Olympic torch is not a torch of glory but a torch of shame.