Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Nepalese police yesterday arrested 600 female Tibetans, among them many Buddhist nuns, who were peacefully protesting against Chinese repression in Lhasa. Participants held three separate anti-Beijing marches, which were quickly broken up by police.
Police chief, R. P. Dhamala, confirmed the arrests: the first group was immediately halted shortly after they had gathered on one of the main streets of the capital Kathmandu, while a second group of people was arrested as they prepared banners. A 70 year old woman among those arrested questioned: “We are not against Nepal. Our protests are against China. So why are they arresting us?"
Nepal regards Tibet a san inalienable part of China and has been long aligned to the Chinese position on the issue. Kathmandu needs Beijing, a stalwart ally and essential commercial partner, and strongly clamps down on all anti-Chinese protests in its territories.
Over 20 thousand Tibetan exiles, who fled the failed anti-Chinese uprising of 1959, live in Nepal. For years they have been seeking national and international backing for their return to their homeland, but Beijing considers them “unwelcome agitators” and denies them entry visas.