Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – As Nepal celebrates the dawn of its democracy its government is busy cracking down with force those who want the same democracy for Tibet, this according to Norbu Tenzing, who was beaten by police a few days ago when he was demonstrating in front of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal against Chinese repression against Buddhist monks and Tibet’s population.
Nepal’s government, now led by Maoists who just won recent elections, has taken a decidedly pro-China stance and banned all demonstrations against the Chinese regime. On Tuesday police arrested more than 150 demonstrators; yesterday another 250.
“We shall never allow anti-Chinese activities. We shall be harsh with anyone taking such attitudes. This does not mean that we are against democracy. We have warned demonstrators of the risks they run,” government spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AsiaNews.
By pure coincidence yesterday was also Loktantra Divas (Democracy Day), a year to the day from last year when King Gyanendra announced he was giving up power.