By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Ignoring the international furore created when Chinese troops shot at unarmed fugitive Tibetans, resulting in the killing of a Buddhist nun last year, Beijing continues the firings as part of its “normal border management”, says a rights group.
On Oct 18, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) patrolling the China-Nepal border fired on a group of Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns, while they were trying to cross into Nepal, International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Several of the fugitives, trying to escape to India, were arrested, including three monks in their 20s from eastern Tibet.
The shooting took place just a year after a 17-year-old nun, Kelsang Namtso, was shot dead by the border guards on Sep 30, 2006, in an incident that led to widespread condemnation of China after it was captured on film by a climber.
“The shooting on Oct 18 indicates that firing at unarmed Tibetans escaping into exile, including children, is still regarded by the Chinese authorities as ‘normal border management’,” ICT said.
Over 30 Tibetans had braved cold, hunger and the peril of being shot dead or arrested, to cross the glaciated Nangpa Pass at nearly 19,000 ft when they were spotted by PAP troops guarding the border.
A monk in his 20s, and other members of the group, told ICT that they saw several people starting to chase them, carrying what they described as “long guns”.
A Tibetan nun said at least one bullet whizzed past and she was “happy not to be hit”.
Though most of the group arrived safely on the Nepal side of the border, seven Tibetans who were finding it difficult to finish the journey were captured and detained.
This included a Tibetan in his late 20s, who fell sick during the journey.
Tibetans captured while attempting to escape from Tibet face beatings and imprisonment in detention centres or military barracks for periods ranging from several weeks to several months, in some cases longer.
Ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be hosted by Beijing, China has begun intensifying curbs on Tibetans who in defiance of Beijing continue to revere their exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.
Earlier this month, Beijing arrested Tibetans and laid siege to a monastery for celebrating the leader receiving a medal of honour awarded by the US Congress.
Every year, nearly 2,500 to 3,500 Tibetans make the dangerous journey through the Himalayas into exile in Nepal, and from here to India.
For many, the main or only purpose of their journey is to see the Dalai Lama. A high percentage of the new refugees are children sent by their parents to study in Tibetan exile schools due to inadequate or unaffordable schools, and monks and nuns seeking to practice their religion in exile following persecution or repression of religious practices in Tibet.
Tibetans fear that as China’s influence grows on Nepal’s government, Kathmandu too would increase crackdowns on the refugees.
China says it doesn’t consider the fleeing Tibetans as refugees but as illegal immigrants who should be dealt with accordingly.