Nepal police arrest Dalai Lama’s representative

Monday, March 08, 2010

TNN
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KATHMANDU: Nepal police on Sunday arrested Thinley Gyatso, the representative of the Dalai Lama in Nepal, in a bid to prevent anti-China demonstrations in Nepal on March 10, observed by Tibetans worldwide as Tibetan Uprising Day.

On this date in 1959, Tibetans rose up in arms against the Chinese annexation of their kingdom but the resistance ended in a bloodbath with an estimated 86,000 people dying. The suppression of the uprising also led to the Dalai Lama’s flight to India and a dogged guerrilla nettle against the Chinese with the Tibetan warriors receiving arms and training from the US and operating from Mustang, Nepal’s northernmost district.

China, which has refused to withdraw from Tibet or even allow it autonomy, has been raising the spectre of fresh attacks against it from Mustang. Under Chinese pressure, a succession of Nepal governments have been clamping down on the Tibetan diaspora in Nepal.

Since last month, Nepal police have arrested nearly three dozen Tibetan refugees trying to escape to India and Gyatso’s detention is likely to be followed by the rounding up of more leaders of the community, the diaspora fears.

While Tibetans have been heartened by American President Barack Obama holding a meeting with the Dalai Lama in New York despite Beijing’s displeasure, China has retaliated in Nepal by pressuring the Nepal President, Foreign Minister and other ministers into staying away from the anniversary celebrations of an ancient and renowned Tibetan monastery in Kathmandu.