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DEHRA, India (AP) - More than 100 Tibetan exiles began a hunger strike Thursday after police in northern India dragged them away from a six-month march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games.
The demonstrators had vowed to march from India to Tibet to coincide with the start of the Aug. 8-24 Games. Indian officials fearing the march would embarrass China banned the exiles from leaving the Kangra district that surrounds the city of Dharmsala the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.
The exiles resisted arrest by sitting or lying down, but they were hauled into police buses here in the town of Dehra, about 12 miles from the district boundary. Some wept or shouted "Free Tibet!" and other slogans, but there was no violence, witnesses said.
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