By KUNA
Tokyo : A group of Tibetan monks disrupted a tour of foreign journalists in Lhasa on Thursday, shouting that the Dalai Lama is not involved in the violence that rocked the city this month and that the Chinese government is lying, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported from the Tibetan capital.
About 30 young monks at Jokhang Temple also told the journalists’ group, which includes a Kyodo reporter, that they want religious freedom as well as freedom to leave the temple premises.
“The Dalai Lama is not involved (with the riots),” some monks shouted, as 26 foreign journalists, the first to be allowed into Tibet in the wake of the deadly riots, were listening to the manager of the temple explain developments since the violence started, according to the report.
China blames this month’s violence in Tibet and its nearby areas on Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. But the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who lives in exile in India, denies being behind the rioting.
The young monks, some of whom were tearful, said they have not been allowed outside the temple since March 11, a day after protests were held to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama going into exile.
The protests on March 10 later turned violent, leading to attacks on ethnic Han Chinese and the torching of buildings on March 14.
The journalists were taken to the temple, the most important and sacred in Tibet, as part of an organized tour.
The foreign media team, consisting of journalists and cameramen from nine organizations, flew into Lhasa on Wednesday for the three-day trip. It includes members from the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal from the US, Britain’s Financial Times, and South Korea’s KBS television.
Up until this visit, China had barred foreign reporters from visiting Tibet or the surrounding regions where violence has spread.