Tibetan exiles hold rally in India

Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala in the north Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh observed a candlelight vigil on Wednesday to express solidarity with their compatriots in Tibet who had committed self-immolation to protest against Chinese rule.The procession was attended by young and old monks as well as other Tibetan exiles, who took to the streets to protest against 23 self-immolations that have taken place since March 2011.The latest incident took place on Monday (February 13), when Lobsang Gyatso, a 19-year old monk, set himself on fire in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province.A spokesperson for the Tibetan Youth Congress, Tenzin Norsang said that the Tibetans deaths had been effective in mobilizing exiles all over the world, and the most notable expression of dissent would be the Tibetan communitys decision to forego celebrations of Losar, their new year.Their self immolation tried to bring some changes (and) this happened. So we are here together to express solidarity to all those Tibetans who made sacrifices for the Tibetan cause. At the same time, the Tibetan New Year is coming up, and the Tibetan Youth Congress made a press statement earlier, in November, that we are not going to celebrate this New Year, to express solidarity, Norsang said.