On Olympics eve, Nepal cracks down on Tibetans
Posted by barunroy on August 8, 2008
FROM BANGKOK POST
Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepalese police Thursday arrested hundreds of Tibetans taking part in anti-China protests a day ahead of the official start of the Olympic Games in Beijing, as Nepalese government hinted of even tougher action against the protestors.
The arrests in the capital Kathmandu came during the biggest anti-China protests organised by Tibetan exiles in Nepal since their protests began in March.
Police moved to clear the area on the eastern outskirts of the city after giving the protestors until 2 pm to leave.
Minor scuffles broke out between police and Tibetan exiles but no injuries were reported.
“We have detained nearly 580 Tibetans from the protests,” Kathmandu police said. “They were detained after refusing to leave the area of protests.”
Police dragged several protestors to near-by trucks, to be driven off to detention centres, but said they expected most to be freed again by Thursday night.
Earlier in the day an estimated 2,000 Tibetans including monks, nuns and school children, gathered near a Buddhist temple to express their anger over the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protestors in Lhasa earlier this year.
Many protestors wore headbands and T-shirts calling for “Free Tibet” and staged a sit-in protest for several hours.
We timed the protests just ahead of the Olympic Games as it is the right time to highlight the cause of Tibet” said Lakpa Tenzin, chairman of Tibetan Young Buddhist Association. “We want China to guarantee religious freedom and human rights in Tibet.”
The organisers said they feared a renewed Chinese crackdown in Tibet once the games were were over.
The demonstrations came as the Nepalese government announced a ban on demonstrations around the Chinese embassy consular section which has been the scene of frequent Tibetan protests.
The official Rashtriya Samachar Samiti news agency (RSS) quoted unnamed high ranking government officials as saying “very strong action” would be taken against anti-Chinese protestors.
“In the past, the so-called Tibetan independence activists were arrested and freed immediately. But now, the protest leaders and professional demonstrators will be detained and kept in the cell for much longer,” the news agency quoted the official as saying.
The report also said identities of the arrested protestors would be checked and measures taken accordingly.
“Those who do not have proper identity documents will be sent to where they came from,” the news agency said.
Nearly 20,000 Tibetans in Nepal are officially classified as refugees. The Nepalese government, however, stopped giving refugee status to Tibetans arriving in the country after 1989.
There have been frequent anti-China protests by Tibetan exiles since March despite Nepalese police breaking up demonstrations and detaining protestors.
In July, US-based Human Rights Watch said the Nepalese government was cracking down on Tibetan protestors because of pressure by the Chinese government.
The group also said more than 8,000 Tibetans had been arrested by Nepalese police since the protests began nearly five months ago.
The charge has been denied by the Nepalese government but says it will not allow anti-China protests in the country because it would effect its relations with the northern neighbour.
Nepal recognises Tibet as an integral part of China.
