And the Olympic torch run, which is due in India on April 17, has raised security concerns for the Indian government, as it presents a great opportunity for anti-Chinese protests by Tibetan exiles and their supporters. “We are here to make it clear that we are not against the Olympics in China, but the brutality inflicted upon our people in China,” said Tenzin Samten, a Class XII student of the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Byllakupee, Mysore.

Tenzin Namgyal, another protestor, however, said: “The Olympics are the only platform we have to show the world what the Tibetans have been going through for the last 60 years.”

“As a child growing up in Tibet, I had no access to proper education. I am not at all surprised by the recent protests by Tibetan students in all parts of China and Tibet. I can empathise with them, because I too know they are considered second class citizens in their schools, just like I used to feel,” said Choedak, one of the organizers. “Why is the Tibetan Antelope one of the mascots for the Beijing Olympics? It is only as a part of their propaganda to legitimise their claims over Tibet that the Chinese will take the torch till Mt Everest from China,” said Tenzin Thonpa, a final year Law student from Delhi University.

Nangsyal, another Tibetan exile in India, said they were not fighting the Chinese people, who themselves “are suffering authoritarian rule in China”. “We are fighting that 50-people politburo in Beijing that controls the whole nation, and is responsible for genocide in our country,” she said.

Even though the Tibetans expect more protestors in Delhi with the coming of the Olympic torch, they say their protests have till date been non-violent and will continue to be so. “Calling the Dalai Lama ‘a fox in a sheep’s robe’ is only a part of Chinese propaganda. The government in China has been saying it is the Dalai clique that is against the games in China,” said Tenzin Namdol, another Law student from DU. “But the Olympics are not just a domain of the Chinese, they are the responsibility of the entire international community. We only demand an independent and fair investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Tibet.”

“The Tibetan youth in exile are all very hot-blooded and frustrated at the moment. We are definitely capable of turning violent to get what is legitimately ours. The Dalai Lama is the only man holding the floodgates and the entire nation together with his insistence on non-violence, love, humanity and compassion. He is the only leader who still speaks in favour of China and the Olympics,” said Nangsyal.