Gangtok, March 23: Six organisations in Sikkim have started a three-week long prayer for the victims of the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

The prayer at the Drophenling monastery at Chandmari on the outskirts of Gangtok started on Thursday and will continue till March 26. It will be followed by a similar prayer at the Guru Kubum Lakhang monastery at Deorali from the next day.

The six organisations are the Tibetan Freedom Movement, Tibetan Youth Club, Tibetan Women’s Association, U-Tsang Association, Do-Toe Association and the Do-Mey Association. They will recite mantras and hold puja continuously throughout the day and night till April 9.

“Prayers are important as we are invoking the blessings of the god. In the wake of the Chinese atrocities on the peaceful protesters in various regions of Tibet, hundreds of innocent and peace-loving Tibetans including monks, women and children are being mercilessly killed and thousands are injured, not to mention the countless number of arrested and imprisoned,” said an executive member of one of the six organisations.

In another development, police have set up two barricades at the Bengal-Sikkim border town of Rangpo to prevent 450-odd Tibetans from entering the state. Armed police have been deployed at the checkpost to prevent untoward incident.

Tibetans from different parts of the Northeast, Bhutan, Darjeeling and Sikkim had started their March to Nathu-La from Salugara, near Siliguri, on March 20 with an intention to reach the 14,400ft pass in East Sikkim separating the state from TAR.

Led by the North East Tibetan Youth Congress, the protesters, who include senior citizens, today reached Tarkhola, 7km from Rangpo, after four days of marching. “We will reach Rangpo tomorrow morning,” said Zimba Pencho, the president of the Sikkim Tibetan Youth Club, one of the participants in the rally. “We will try to enter Sikkim by non-violent means. If we are not allowed, we will begin hunger strike at the border,” he said.

Members of the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association and various Tibetan youth clubs of the region are participating in the march.