By IANS,
Dharamsala : With just two days to go for the Beijing Olympics, the police here have stepped up vigil in areas where Tibetans-in-exile reside in Himachal Pradesh, a senior police official said Wednesday.
The police are keeping a close watch on the activities of Tibetan leaders, Dharamsala’s superintendent of police Atul Kumar Fulzele told IANS.
“Tibetans living in exile are expected to stage protests against the Olympics during the inaugural ceremony of the Games. We are keeping tabs on the activities of various youth organisations like the Friends of Tibet and the Tibet Youth Congress,” said Fulzele.
As a precautionary measure, the police have detained Friends of Tibet chief Tsundue in Mandi district.
Similarly, 56 Tibetan activists, mostly monks and nuns, have been detained from a village close to the Chinese border in Lahaul and Spiti district.
Lahaul’s superintendent of police Prem Kumar Thakur said the Tibetans had planned to stage a protest against the Chinese authorities at Tabo, 425 km from the state capital of Shimla.
He said they have been booked under sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC and sent to judicial remand till Aug 11.
Last month, the central government refused to allow spiritual leader the Karmapa Lama, the only major monk reincarnate recognised by both the Dalai Lama and China, to visit areas close to the China border ahead of the Olympics.
The 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorjee, had sought permission to visit various monasteries in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. He too, like the Dalai Lama, lives in Himachal Pradesh, at Sidhbari monastery.
The Dalai Lama along with many of his supporters fled Tibet and took refuge in India when Chinese troops moved in and took control of Lhasa in 1959.
The Dalai Lama has ever since been heading the Tibetan government-in-exile from here. That government, however, is not recognised by any country.