Authorities Interrogate Individual Tibetan
By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent
Kathmandu, March 19: Nepal Police today arrested 21 Tibetans protesting before the UN House at Pulchowk as crackdown on peaceful Tibetan demonstrators continued for the 9th consecutive day since March 10 here in Kathmandu.
Tibetans in Nepal have been regularly staging anti-China demonstrations as they remain extremely enraged by killings of fellow Tibetans demonstrators inside Tibet by Chinese authorities. The demonstrators in Kathmandu have also been demanding Communist China to end its decades of repressive rule in Tibet.
The Tibetan demonstrators arrested here were detained at Jwalakhel Police Station before freeing them at around 6:00pm. Tibetan protestors say they remain adamant to continue with their protest until China ends its current brutal crackdown going on inside Tibet and comes out with a meaningful solution to the future of Tibet and Tibetan people.
Two groups of Tibetans, one from Jwalakhel and one from Pulchowk, continue their peaceful protests as they were separately escorted by Nepali Police and walked back to Bouda.
Even though Police showed some leniency today after local UN authorities voiced concern over crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators, they did not allow Tibetan protestors to choose the route of protest.
Yesterday the Kathmandu Chief District Officer summoned and interrogated a Tibetan monk Tenzin Jamphel aka Thubten and a Nepali monk Gyalpo Lama Tamang of Drubthok / Saraswati Monastery, Swayambhu.
Thupten said: “I was arrested around 9.30am by the Swayambhu Ward 15 Police. They interrogated me for about an hour and took me to the Nepal Police Headquarters at Naxal where I was interrogated again. I was then taken to the CDO where I was interrogated again. They asked me questions like ‘who do you work for, why you are doing demonstrations, is the Tibetan Government-in-Exile telling me to do this’. They forced me to sign a paper and threatened me that if I take part or lead any future demonstrations, then they would take away my Registration Certificate and send me back to Tibet”.
Thupten says he has been actively involved in many Tibetan demonstrations in Nepal since 1990 and wants to continue his involvement in it, and said was not afraid of any intimidation by Nepali authorities. He said he was prepared to face any consequences for the cause of Tibetan freedom.
In a separate case, a 25 year old Tibetan man from Bouda who wish to remain anonymous due to safety concerns has been hospitalized with fractured bones on both his feet. He was severely hurt when Police baton charged several hundred Tibetan demonstrators in Bouda on Friday night. It was only discovered today after he could not walk and, went to hospital and x-rayed his feet. He is now financially supported by individual Tibetans for his medial treatments.
In Swayambhu, where a bulk of Tibetans in Kathmandu reside, over 300 older Tibetan folks gathered today at a Tibetan Nunnery to offer prayer for Tibetans killed inside Tibet since March 10. They recited Buddhist mantras and prayers from 9:00am to 5:00pm and held candle light vigil around Swayambunath stupa later in the evening.
