Karnataka has the largest Tibetan settlement in the world — of over 36,000 Tibetans living in five settlements, two in Bylakuppe, Hunsur, Mundgod and near Kollegal, under the Tibetan government in exile led by the Dalai Lama.

According to highly placed sources in the police department though the Tibetan settlers in the State are a peaceful lot, there could “instances of embarrassment” to the Government of India, which is carefully monitoring the turn of events in Tibet.

The incident of Tenzing Tsundue hoisting the Tibetan flag atop the administrative building tower at the Indian Institute of Science during the then Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao’s visit in Bangalore in 2005 is still fresh in the memory of the City police. Tenzing is the general secretary of the ‘Friends of Tibet (India)’.

Continuing protest
Since March 10 this year, there have been series of protests in the Tibetan settlement districts. The biggest of them all, was held in the City on Monday when thousands of Tibetans turned out to express their solidarity with their “fellow men” who are fighting the Chinese rule in Tibet and have “laid down their lives for a common cause,” said Thupten, president of Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Bangalore.

 Most of the 500 Tibetan students in Bangalore turned up for the protest. “We don’t want independence but autonomy. If things don’t improve in Lhasa in the next few days, then we may go to Delhi and Mumbai and protest. The Beijing Olympics torch is arriving in Mumbai on April 17. We will protest against Beijing Olympics,” said Thupten.

“The genocide is the reflection of the deep-rooted resentment of the Chinese against the Tibetans. It’s high time they resolved the issue.

Tibet issue is alive; there’s a global campaign  against the Chinese crackdown,” said Special Officer of the Central Tibetan Administration, South Zone, Bangalore, Choebel Thupten.

Cops look out for trouble
Apart from the protests by the Tibetan settlers, the State police is keeping a vigil on the dissidence in them. Recently, there was a problem between two groups of Tibtetans — the followers of the Dalai Lama and the worshippers of deity Dorje Shugden, in Bylakuppe and Mundogod. In 1996 the Dalai Lama had advised the Tibetan people against the practice of propitiating the spirit of Dorje Shugden.