Journey through Tihar

Eight days after the Tibetan People's Mass Movement, and 7 days after the arrest of 9 young Tibetans at the Chinese Embassy in Delhi, I finally got to go to Tihar Jail (The Central Jail) to visit at least Lobsang Shastri, one of those nine, who's name my friend Migmar, who has also been an inmate in the Tihar twice for protesting against the Chinese, knows. (The rule says: one person could visit only one person)

Standing in queue at the window number 7 (jail number 7 is for the temporary prisoners, prisoners of lighter crimes & and where most of the political prisoners are kept and maybe that's the reason why it's next to the Women's cell!). I almost lost hope when the officer behind the window said "Use koi pehle se mil chuke hai"(someone already came to see him). What the hell was I waiting for since 7.30 in the morning! It was around 10 at the time. And then he asked me, "Kal kyu nahi phone se visiting time book kiya?"(Why didn't you book the visiting time on the phone yesterday?) Maybe, there is a way, I felt and I replied back in English, "I only got here this morning!" The guy looked at me and then with a sigh, told me to call my friend Migmar who has to submit his ID.

The visitors in the jail, young and old, rich and poor, who's joy I could see in their face, the joy of seeing their dear ones and yet there was this face of sorrow and shame for they've ended up in this line of people waiting to see criminals, some who were there for what they did and some for things they haven't done. Amidst of all, I was standing there with pride for I was going to see someone I've never met, a young gentleman, who may have been emotionally driven, but went in solely for being a voice for all those unheard voices in Tibet.

The visit was brief and was monitored by officers and senior inmates. During this short meeting, through those iron bars covered with net, I could see Lobsang a meter away. Lobsang had stories to tell, of the police beating them in Chanakyapuri Police Lockup, and then the political discussions they had in their cell, planning actions for future and of course of all nine of them participating in 15th August Celebration, where they performed two songs, "Hum Hai Vikasi" (a song dedicated to the Tibetans who lost their lives in Kargil war and Bangladesh War) and "We shall over come". They started the song by saying, 'India and Tibet has been close for centuries and today is India's Independence Day, India has a history of Freedom Struggle. Us being here is a part of our endeavor to bring Freedom to Tibet and to the Tibetan People. We are happy that we could celebrate India's Independence, but may our dream of Tibet's Independence too come true." And all the high- ranking officers gave a standing ovation. The energy he had while telling us all that they did while in Tihar was so overwhelming. And then, the officer came in to tell us that our time's over.

Meanwhile, TYC and the 4 NGOs did what they planned, SFT conquered Beijing, Tibetan NGOs and Supporters throughout world Championed Tibet's cause. Some went for action, some ended up talking big.

** While waiting for Migmar outside the Jail early morning, the security requested me to go to the visitor's canteen for I guess one can't stand at one place for a long time outside the Jail. But there! I saw this young boy in the canteen who came to me and asked me, "What do you want?" the boy was wearing a T-shirt that said "Athens 2004 Olympics, Torch Relay" Such a clear sign! Beijing, see you at the torch relay!