Helping hand, some muscle

China has once again proved that with its military power it can even turn the central heart of the capital of a free and democratic country like India into a military zone, throw the city8217;s roads into gridlock. Even if for a few hours.

I started my day with a protest plan but was unsure of executing it in this maze of security. The aim was to make ourselves heard. With fellow activists, we revisited our plans first thing in the morning and by 11 am, our plans had already changed several times as we got to know more details about the security. Many of our activists got arrested even before they could do anything. By 4 pm, it was impossible for our people to reach the protest site in groups. I was constantly coordinating but the more phone calls I made, I realized that our protests were dissipating in the face of an impenetrable fortress around Rajpath.

We were well aware that the media was waiting for a Paris and London-type torch-snuffing protest, there was even whispered talk of a possible self-immolation, there was a photograph of policemen with a bucket and a blanket to douse the imagined flames.

But the torch has left for Bangkok and we have registered our protest even though it has left one young Tibetan with a broken arm and a monk with a swollen groin thanks to the police lathi charge near Rashtrapati Bhavan. Of course, this isn8217;t the news, the news is that the torch came, the torch ran and the torch left. Also, the police action happened behind bushes and toilets where activists were hiding. About 300 Tibetans have been arrested and they are being detained in six different police stations across Delhi, they should be released in batches as the torch gets farther and farther away from Delhi.

When the massive state mechanism of control comes into play, it systematically rolls over individual freedom. Three years ago, the local police created a similar 8220;sterile zone8221; in Bangalore when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao came visiting. The Bangalore police not only withdrew our protest permission, they detained all Tibetans in the city. In a desperate measure to vent our voice of freedom, I had to climb up to the high tower of the Indian Institute of Science and shout 8220;Free Tibet8221;.

Later, people asked whether I was afraid? Of course, I was afraid, spending the whole night in the tower and watching the ground from a height where humans looked like ants. But I was determined to make my voice for freedom heard through the sophisticated hum of India-China diplomacy. What I did was outrageous.

It is this outrageousness that the Chinese state is afraid of; the spirit of the people who are not afraid of consequences that follow their action. When Tibetans in Tibet poured out on to the streets of Lhasa and across the world8217;s rooftop this March shouting 8220;Free Tibet,8221; they knew they would be killed or jailed for life. China is afraid of this power.

Tomorrow morning, we resume our march to Tibet. We are 300-odd Tibetans returning to our native land. I know when our country is still under Chinese occupation, this sounds like a fantasy but all of us want to go home and be with our people. In this endeavour, we are willing to face any challenge, be it police beating, prisons or even guns. We are committed to non-violence and we will not resort to any verbal or physical violence. We know with Budhha in our heart and Gandhi in our mind, no power can stop us, we will soon be home. We are willing to die for our cause, but we are not willing to kill. The Dalai Lama has no gun, we fight with truth. Let it be known that our fight is not against the people of China but the continued occupation through brutal control by the Chinese state.

The torch relay will go on but it has already become a symbol of Chinese suppression of Tibetan freedom. Today8217;s torch run, therefore, was our success.

Tsundue, 33, is a Tibetan activist and author of two books Kora and Semshook, collections of poetry and essays.