Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - As they mark the start of the Year of the Horse, thousands of Tibetan refugees in Nepal are demanding religious and cultural freedom.
For the first time, Nepal's Tibetan community will celebrate the Lunar New Year together with their Nepali hosts, particularly ethnic Tamang, whose ancestors came from China, and with whom they share the same calendar.
This is an important fact because, more and more often, Nepali authorities oppress Tibetans in every way possible, because of the country's economic relations with China.
The Tamang name for the New Year is Lhosar. Lho means year, and Sar means new or fresh. Like the Chinese, this Nepali ethnic group celebrates the first day of the new moon.
"Today we are very excited to be with the Nepali community and hear their support for our freedom," said Gyalbo Lama, a Tibetan.
"Usually we live confined to a few areas, where the police and the security forces carefully monitor our activities," he told AsiaNews. Sadly, "We do not have the right to assembly, nor the freedom to move. We are treated differently."
Yet, "The international community and human rights activists are a good guide for us," he explained.
Indeed, the "pope is our protector since he always supports peace, dialogue and freedom. But China's government is not listening to us and Nepal is treating us inhumanly under Chinese pressure."
"We are with Tibetan refugees with their rights to culture and religious freedom," said Bijaya Lama, a Nepali member of the organising committee. "We are happy to celebrate this occasion with Tibetans. Everybody should be free to celebrate their culture and faith."
Nepal is home to more than 20,000 exiled Tibetans. But fearing they might organise demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet, the government does not allow them to assembly.