ID :
49928
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 19:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/49928
The shortlink copeid
Tibetan exiles in Nepal mark 50th anniversary of uprising
+
KATHMANDU, March 10 Kyodo -
Some 800 Buddhist monks and nuns in saffron robes gathered at a monastery in
the outskirts of Kathmandu and chanted prayers Tuesday to mark the 50th
anniversary of an uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.
The mass prayer at the Samten Ling monastery in Boudha nearly ended in violence
after some 50 Tibetan youths chanted ''Free Tibet'' slogans at the end of the
prayer, police said.
After a brief scuffle, police bundled up the youths, some of them monks, in a
truck for detention, but later freed them after they complied with a request by
the police to mark the day peacefully.
Police have cordoned off the Boudha area, which is heavily populated by Tibetan
exiles, to prevent Tibetan youths from entering central Kathmandu.
A large number of Nepalese security personnel guarded the Chinese Embassy and
its visa office in Kathmandu to thwart possible anti-China demonstrations.
The government has banned rallies and protests around the two embassy offices,
which were targeted by anti-China protesters last March, and has tightened
security along the Nepal-China border in Liping town, some 125 kilometers
northeast of Kathmandu.
Jhumpa, an official of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Kathmandu, which
used to serve as an office of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said there are
no plans to organize protests to mark the anniversary this year.
''We will mark the day peacefully. There are no other planned programs except
the mass prayer at Samten Ling monastery in Boudha,'' the official said.
Last year, months of anti-Chinese protests in Kathmandu ended after the
government threatened to deport Tibetans from the country.
Earlier this month, the government hinted at a zero-tolerance policy on
anti-China activities by handing over nine Tibetans who could not produce valid
documents to live in Nepal to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees.
There are over 20,000 Tibetan exiles living in Nepal legally, but thousands
more are believed to be living here illegally. For the past 50 years, Nepal has
been lenient on Tibetans living illegally in the country.
==Kyodo
2009-03-10 20:42:06
KATHMANDU, March 10 Kyodo -
Some 800 Buddhist monks and nuns in saffron robes gathered at a monastery in
the outskirts of Kathmandu and chanted prayers Tuesday to mark the 50th
anniversary of an uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.
The mass prayer at the Samten Ling monastery in Boudha nearly ended in violence
after some 50 Tibetan youths chanted ''Free Tibet'' slogans at the end of the
prayer, police said.
After a brief scuffle, police bundled up the youths, some of them monks, in a
truck for detention, but later freed them after they complied with a request by
the police to mark the day peacefully.
Police have cordoned off the Boudha area, which is heavily populated by Tibetan
exiles, to prevent Tibetan youths from entering central Kathmandu.
A large number of Nepalese security personnel guarded the Chinese Embassy and
its visa office in Kathmandu to thwart possible anti-China demonstrations.
The government has banned rallies and protests around the two embassy offices,
which were targeted by anti-China protesters last March, and has tightened
security along the Nepal-China border in Liping town, some 125 kilometers
northeast of Kathmandu.
Jhumpa, an official of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Kathmandu, which
used to serve as an office of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said there are
no plans to organize protests to mark the anniversary this year.
''We will mark the day peacefully. There are no other planned programs except
the mass prayer at Samten Ling monastery in Boudha,'' the official said.
Last year, months of anti-Chinese protests in Kathmandu ended after the
government threatened to deport Tibetans from the country.
Earlier this month, the government hinted at a zero-tolerance policy on
anti-China activities by handing over nine Tibetans who could not produce valid
documents to live in Nepal to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees.
There are over 20,000 Tibetan exiles living in Nepal legally, but thousands
more are believed to be living here illegally. For the past 50 years, Nepal has
been lenient on Tibetans living illegally in the country.
==Kyodo
2009-03-10 20:42:06
