“We want the Chinese government to leave our country [. . .]. We will continue to fight until this is achieved,” said Tsultrin Tenzin, a demonstrator, who added that no Tibetan could ever forget China’s invasion and the cruelty it inflicted on innocent people.
Tibetan exiles say that the Chinese invasion cost the lives of a million people, because of military action, persecution and famine.
Following the occupation of Lhasa in 1951 and the Dalai Lama’s flight in 1959, Nepal has received waves of Tibetans seeking refuge.
Since the fall of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 and the rise to power of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), Nepal has sought closer economic ties with Beijing.
The Nepal government has also banned all anti-Chinese protests. In 2008, when protests were held to mark the Beijing Olympics, the government cracked down with force.
This morning, police confirmed the arrests. Chief Administrative Officer Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that four people were sentenced to 90 days in prison; the case of the other 30 would be determined after a background check with the government eventually deciding what to do.
Dhakal added that on the eve of the demonstration, the Dalai Lama’s representative to Nepal, Thinley Gatso, had urged people to protest peacefully out of respect for the host country.