Fifteen Tibetan youths are on a 15,000km motorcycle rally across 20 states with a call to free Tibet, end cultural genocide and environmental pollution there by China.

They are also demanding a resolution by the Indian Parliament on Tibet.

The rally organised by the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) started from the Bum-La Pass at the Indo-Tibet Border along Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh on November 22.

It passed through Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Bengal and parts of Bihar to reach Patna on Sunday, chanting “Tibet ki azadi, Bharat ki suraksha” (Tibet’s freedom is India’s security).

The participants met Bihar governor Rajendra Arlekar and later interacted with the people under the aegis of Bharat Tibet Maitri Sangh, an Indo-Tibet friendship society, to spread awareness about the cause, before leaving for Bodh Gaya and then to Jharkhand.

“Today is the 24th day of our rally. We will travel for around two months and end the rally at New Delhi. We are seeking Tibet’s Independence, as well as, an end to the cultural genocide and environmental pollution by China there,” TYC president Gonpo Dhundup told The Telegraph.

Dhundup said the rally members were meeting various MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other people on their way to seek their support and also draw international attention towards their cause.

“We are thankful that India has provided us shelter and support. Our demands also include a resolution by the Indian Parliament that Tibet was an independent country and has been illegally occupied by China since 1959,” Dhundup added.

Speaking further, the TYC president pointed out that his acquaintances in Tibet keep narrating how Chinese officials snatch away Tibetan children that are over five years of age and pack them off to boarding schools where they are brainwashed and made to learn Mandarin instead of Tibetan language.

Dhundup added that the Chinese are destroying the forests on the eastern side of Tibet and the area that borders Arunachal Pradesh. They are also indulging in massive mining of gold and lithium in various areas of Tibet.

“The Chinese are either destroying the monasteries in Tibet or imposing a limit on the number of students admitted to them. Religious and cultural festivals have been banned. Those who teach Tibetan art, culture and traditions are imprisoned. China is systematically indulging in cultural genocide,” Dhundup said.

According to the latest census, the population in Tibet is around 80 lakh. Over 60,000 Tibetans are living in India, and several thousands are living in the US, Canada and the European countries.

Bharat Tibet Maitri Sangh’s Bihar unit president Harendra Kumar sought complete Independence of Tibet and appealed to the central government to award Bharat Ratna to Tibetan spiritual guru, the Dalai Lama. He also demanded that the Dalai Lama should be invited to address the Bihar legislature.

The Sangh’s national vice-president Surendra Kumar, social activist and professor N.K. Chaudhary and others also spoke on the occasion.

“Tibet’s independence and India’s security are linked. We express solidarity with Tibet and support the freedom struggle,” Chaudhary said.