It is becoming hard not to draw parallels between Tibetan freedom campaigner Tenzin Tsundue and British anti-war activist Brian Haw. Admittedly, one is in Elle magazine’s top 50 style hotlist (Indian edition) and has been compared favourably to Johnny Depp, while the other will have soon spent 2000 nights sleeping rough in the centre of London, and - erm - looks like he’s slept rough for the best part of a decade.

What unites these two peaceful protesters is that they have become powerful symbols of the state repression of freedom of speech. The draconian Serious Organised Crime and Police Act was formulated to evict Haw from Parliament Square, where his vocal opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was upsetting MPs.

This week Tenzin Tsundue has been served an order by the Indian police, at the request of the Government of India, barring him from leaving the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala until the upcoming state visit by Chinese president Hu Jintao has finished. It’s clear that the Indian government don’t want yet another embarrassing protest on their hands.

Last year, Tsundue unfurled a banner and scattered Free Tibet leaflets from a clock tower at the Indian Institute of Science and Technology as Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao arrived at the university. In 2002, he climbed scaffolding to the 14th floor of a Mumbai hotel to deliver his protest to Wen’s predecessor Zhu Rongji during an addresss to business leaders.

So the Indian government now has a dozen policemen assigned to keeping Tsundue under 24 hours surveillance until after Hu departs on 23 November. He has been warned that if he breaks his control order, he faces deportation to Tibet, which is more than a little odd given that Tsundue was born in India and has lived there his whole life. He has visited Tibet once, on a “fact-finding trip”, where he was arrested by Chinese forces, beaten and threatened with being blinded by a hot poker, before being deported back to India.

Tsundue’s response to this recent madness? “This issue is not about me but it is about the six million Tibetans who are suffering every day under Chinese rule and who are deprived of their voice to speak out against the occupation."

SFT India is among a coalition of Tibetan groups organising mass demonstrations for Delhi on 20 November to coincide with Hu Jintao’s arrival. If you are also subject to a control order, or simply stuck in the wrong country, you can show your support via the SFT online action network.

Bod Gyalo!