65 Tibetans detained in Nepal
Nepalese authorities on Monday detained some 65 Tibetans, including 32 women, who were travelling from India to the capital, police said.
The Buddhist monks and nuns, who were travelling in a bus, were detained at Nagdhunga on the outskirts of the capital as they failed to produce valid identification and travel documents, police said.
The police released 62 of them after preliminary investigation, a senior security official said, adding that three monks were arrested as they failed to produce valid travel document.
They had managed to dodge the immigration office along the porous Indo-Nepal border while entering the country and several security posts along the route to the capital. Ahead of the landmark visit of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on January 14, over 150 Tibetan exiles were arrested in Kathmandu to prevent anti-Beijing protests.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had underlined his government's "one-China policy" that views Tibet as an integral part of China during his meeting with premier Wen. He made it clear that Nepal would not allow any activity directed against his giant northern neighbour on its soil.
Nepal is home to around 20,000 Tibetans and the exiled community has carried out anti-China protests here in the last few years, amid stepped up pressure on the government from Beijing to halt such activities.
Every year some 2,500 Tibetans illegally enter Nepal, crossing Tibetan border on their way to Dharamshala to meet their spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Post new comment