By Robbie Barnett
Kathmandu, July 6 11:30am – Attempts by Nepalese Police to enforce a ban on Tibetan celebrations of the Dalai Lama’s 68th birthday in Kathmandu were abandonned today amid cheers and revelry after hundreds of Tibetans defied the government order and gathered at the stupa in Boudha to burn incense and chant songs in honour of the Tibetan leader.
Tibetan woman, many in tears, argued with police and after about 30 minutes of high tension, eventually persuaded them not to break up the celebrations. Police leaders, accompanied by a small force of only about 20 men, gave up ordering the Tibetans to leave, and did not order a baton charge or call in reinforcements. Sherpa community leaders helped to mediate between the two groups.
The incident ended in harmony and good humour, with Tibetan nuns throwing barley flour over laughing police while hundreds of women in Tibetan dress danced and sang around the stupa, with up to a thousand others watching..
Tibetans avoided provoking more serious reactions from the police by not displaying prominent pictures of the Dalai Lama, and not showing the Tibetan flag, practices which Nepal has banned for several years on sensitive anniversaries such as the 6th July birthday. The Tibetans also did not attempt the traditional practice of holding a procession around the stupa.
The Nepalese goverment also backed down at the last minute on one of the three events it banned late on Friday night. After coming under heavy pressure from Himalayan and Nepalese Buddhist Associations in Nepal who protested the ban, the Nepalese government agreed to allow the Tibetans and other Nepalese Buddhist groups to hold a celebration at the Sherpa monastery in Boudha on Saturday morning, currently taking place. But a ban on an evening reception for diplomats and other dignitaries is still believed to remain in force.
One elderly man, believed to be a Tibetan, was apparently detained by about 15 police in Boudha earlier in the day, before police gave up trying to enforce the ban, and his situation is still being checked.
Celebrations are still continuing in the streets of Boudha.
Robbie Barnett can be contacted at rb25@MINDSPRING.COM
