By IRNA
New Delhi : More than 100 Tibetans were arrested and over a dozen others injured as police used batons to disperse a major protest against the Chinese rule.
Around 1,500 Tibetans, carrying placards bearing “Stop killings in Tibet”, “Stop holding Olympic 2008 in bloody China” had gathered to stage a sit-in near the UN building starting early morning today where police lathicharged, PTI reported here.
They were opposing the crack down in Tibet where more than 100 people are reportedly killed as they demonstrated against China.
The crackdown began as the Tibetans observed the Uprising Day on March 10, the day thousands of Tibetans revolted against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. China took control of Tibet in March 1959, when Dalai Lama fled from Tibet.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Government has stopped expeditions to Everest as requested by Chinese authorities ahead of the 2008 Olympics, China is going to host in April.
Meanwhile, Tibet’s exile spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has called or an international investigation into, what he says, is cultural genocide committed by the Chinese.
Speaking from his home in northern India, he said, he felt helpless and worried about the deadline Monday for the protesters to surrender.
As night fell, chanting Tibetan exiles held a candle lit procession to mark the conflict.
The Indian government may come under greater pressure from Beijing to ensure that none of the protesters cross the mountain border from Tibet. At present, the Chinese pressure on New Delhi is restricted to ensuring that the Dharmasala-based Tibetans don’t cross over to Tibet.
Many of the protesters in Lhasa would ignore the Monday midnight deadline for surrendering to the authorities, who have sweetened the offer by promising leniency to those who surrender.
The Tibetan refugees here are planning to raise voice against China’s action on the protesting tibetans in Lhasa on 14 March.
The Tibetans at the ISBT Monastery market in Central Delhi has also urged the Indian government to intervene in the matter and help them in getting their country free from the clutches of China.
On Saturday 50 Tibetans were detained as they tried to storm the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. In a separate protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, a group of nearly 200 Tibetan exiles began a hunger strike on Sunday. About 4,000 Tibetan monks took out a peace march and sat on a hunger strike in Karnataka’s Mundgod.