By IANS
New Delhi : Over 50 Tibetan activists were detained Saturday afternoon when they tried to storm the Chinese embassy here – the third time in a week – to protest the crackdown on demonstrating monks in Lhasa, in Tibet.
The protestors, under the banner of the Tibetan Youth Congress, tried to march towards the embassy in Chanakyapuri at around 11.30 a.m. with their faces smeared with white paint.
Carrying Tibetan flags, placards, banners and spray paint, the activists chanted anti-Beijing slogans and attempted to barge into the embassy, but were whisked away by police personnel and Delhi Police’s anti-riot cell.
The Tibetans, including women, came mostly from Manju ka Tilla and others parts of north Delhi. They were later taken to the nearest police station.
“We have detained nearly 50 protesting activists for staging demonstration in a prohibited area,” a police official told IANS, adding that they could be arrested.
Police had late Friday arrested more than 40 Tibetans from outside the Chinese embassy for holding a candlelight rally. A large posse of policemen had prevented their “peace march” from the American embassy to the Chinese embassy.
On Wednesday, police had arrested a group of nearly 36 women activists after they tried to storm the Chinese embassy.
Early Friday, violence erupted in Lhasa as the Chinese government deployed riot police to control protests initiated by Buddhist monks.
The protestors beat at least three fire fighters and several police officers and tore down a Chinese national flag in the square outside Lhasa’s Jokhang temple, the holiest shrine in the city for Tibetan Buddhists, a witness said.
The protests began Monday, the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.