Nepali police arrest 11 for ‘anti-China activities’

DHARAMSHALA, March 11: Police in Nepal arrested 11 people on suspicion of “anti-China activities” on March 10, the day marked world over as the 54th Tibetan National Uprising Day. “Some of the people we arrested were Tibetan but we have not interrogated all of them yet,” police spokesman Uttam Subedi was quoted as saying by reporters. Nepal, which is home to some 20,000 Tibetans, has accommodated Tibetan exiles for decades, but has come under increasing pressure from China to crack down on political protests in recent years. Home ministry spokesman Shanker Koirala told local journalists last week that the government was making “necessary security arrangements in areas deemed sensitive, to foil any untoward incidents.” There have also been reports of a letter being issued to Tibetans activists in the valley by the chief of Kathmandu’s district administration asking them not to publicly observe the March 10 anniversary. However, talking to reporters, the district administration chief neither confirmed nor denied the letter, but said he gave the Tibetans a verbal warning last week against organising a protest “because activities against China violate Nepal’s law.” Nepali officials are yet to return the body of Tibetan self-immolator Drupchen Tsering who set himself of fire protesting China’s occupation of Tibet on February 13 near the Boudha stupa. A senior police official, who refused to give his name, had earlier confirmed to the Nepali newspaper The Himalayan that the body of Druptse was still at the hospital and authorities were waiting for the kin of the monk to receive the body. “Some four Tibetan organisations operating from the Kathmandu Valley came to us to claim the body. But, we did not hand over the body to them after their authenticity and kinship with the monk were not established,” the paper quoted his as saying. Speaking at the March 10 rally in New Delhi, senior Indian political leader and President of the Janata Dal United, Sharad Yadav said that he has written a letter to Nepali PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai, urging him to hand over Druptse body to Tibetan representatives. Since 2009, as many as 107 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.