Tibetan refugees halt protests until polls
Tibetan refugees in Nepal have suspended their demonstrations in Nepal
taking into consideration the nearing constituent assembly election.
News agencies quoted refugee activists as saying that the protests have
been suspended after the government warned that the protesters would be
detained to prevent unrest during polls.
"We have called off our anti-China protest in Kathmandu in view of the
upcoming elections in Nepal," Thupden Tenzing Jamphel, chairman of the
Nepal Tibetan Volunteer Youth for Free Tibet group told AFP.
Tibetan refugees have been organising demonstrations in Kathmandu since
March 10 demanding "free Tibet" and protesting the clampdown on
demonstrators in Lhasa.
Several protests of Tibetans outside the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu were
thwarted by the police. Following the protests, Chinese envoy on Wednesday
issued strong statement asking the government to ban further
demonstrations against China.
Meanwhile, the CPN-Maoist has condemned the protests of Tibetans.
According to the communist magazine, Workers World, the party has "strongly condemned the incident that put at risk the freedom and
sovereignty of the Chinese people".
The party has extended unequivocal support to China in the face of what it
called U.S.-sponsored violence in this country.
The magazine writes, "The U.S. and its imperialist allies support a false "liberation" struggle in Tibet against the Chinese government while
opposing an authentic revolutionary movement in Nepal against the remnants
of an autocratic feudal monarchy."
It further says, "In neither instance does imperialism genuinely care
about democracy, freedom or human rights. In both instances the goal is to
undermine China's independence and influence in the region and to ensure
that the revolutionary momentum in Nepal does not spread to India,
Bangladesh or Bhutan so that private property and capitalist profits will
be protected against the legitimate interests of the oppressed peoples."
nepalnews.com ia Apr 04 08
