[The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UCPN- Maoist had urged all 601 CA members not to accept invitations by the Tibetan community to attend the birthday celebrations. It may be recalled that the government and the political parties had drawn flak from China after some CA members met the Dalai Lama in Dharmasala , India
By Sabin Chandra Acharya
KATHMANDU: Nepal Police on Tuesday detained at least 200 Tibetan exiles on their way to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 75th birthday elsewhere in Kathmandu .
Superintendent of Police Ramesh Prasad Kharel, in-charge, Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka, informed that they were briefly detained to figure out if the Tibetan exiles included the 'police list' and released later following an interrogation. He, however, did not divulge who the listed Tibetans were. Scuffles and injuries were not reported.
DSP Pradhumna Karki, Kathmandu Operation in-charge, said that over 200 arrests were made from Bouddhanath Stupa area, Swoyambhu, Kalimati, Maharajgunj and other places. "We detained them for a few hours and dropped them to their respective refugee camps so as to restrict their illegal activities in line with the existing law," he informed adding that the police did not intervene in their closed-door celebrations.
Despite a tight vigil on Tibetan exiles, they organised prayer meets in Jawalakhel refugee camp in Lalitpur and other monasteries to pray for the spiritual leader’s good health and longevity. The police had carried out random checking on the road and barred around 100 Tibetan monks, nuns and others from reaching Jawalakhel to attend the celebration by vehicles.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UCPN- Maoist had urged all 601 CA members not to accept invitations by the Tibetan community to attend the birthday celebrations. It may be recalled that the government and the political parties had drawn flak from China after some CA members met the Dalai Lama in Dharmasala , India
