Tibetan monks, nuns hold 12-hour hunger strike in Dharamshala India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Tibetan monks and nuns residing at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh are outraged over the alleged execution of four Tibetan activists by the Chinese administration over their role in last year's riots in Lhasa. On Sunday, a group of activists staged a protest by holding a 12-hour hunger strike to draw public attention and condemn the alleged executions. Activists of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) also participated in the hunger strike to express their solidarity with the suffering Tibetans in China . “We are here today for the solidarity for the people who are suffering in Tibet and especially those who are sentenced to death penalty in Tibet ,” said Tenzin, a monk participating in the strike. Meanwhile, the activists also organised a mass signature campaign and called for the intervention of international community to condemn the death penalties being meted out to helpless Tibetans in China . “ China is the only country where maximum number of death penalties have been given. So, we believe it is the time that US Government, UN Human Rights Council and European Commission to pressurize, oppose and strongly condemn such kind of death penalties being given to innocent Tibetans and ethnic Chinese,” said Sonam, President of Regional Tibetan Youth Congress. Though, China is yet to confirm the executions, according to the information received by Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), as many as four Tibetans were executed for their alleged involvement in the 2008 anti-China unrest in Lhasa . Repeated calls to get a confirmation of the executions from Chinese Government offices in Lhasa were not answered.