Govt ups alert to avert incidents by Tibetans 

KOSH RAJ KOIRALA

 
KATHMANDU, March 10: Amid heightened concern that Tibetan exiles could unleash ´untoward´ incidents to mark Tibetan Uprising Day, the government has stepped up security vigilance and increased the presence of police at various ´sensitive places´ in Kathmandu Valley.

Highly placed government sources said the government increased the security presence at sensitive places such as Bouddha, Swyambhu, Jawalakhel, Baluwatar (where the Chinese embassy is located) and Hattisar (location of consular section) amid credible intelligence reports that more Tibetan activists are preparing to self-immolate.

Sources said the government decided to adopt additional security measures to foil any such bid after a Tibetan youth, Thundup Dopchen, died a few hours after attempting self-immolation in Bouddha on February 13.

Government officials say his personal particulars and the motive behind the self-immolation are yet to be independently verified as no kin or relative has approached to receive the dead body.

“We have kept police on duty in areas deemed sensitive on high alert and also increased the presence of police personnel in such areas,” said a senior police official, asking to remain unnamed.

Exiled Tibetans celebrate March 10 as the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising that took place in Lhasa in 1959. There were apprehensions in Nepal that Tibetan activists would resort to more self-immolation bids, also in view of China´s annual legislative session that began early this month.

Sources said the Home Ministry lodged a separate complaint with officials from the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) in Kathmandu after intelligence confirmed that the Tibetan youth who self-immolated last month had gone to Boudhha from the UNHCR-run Tibetan Reception Center. Home Ministry officials in a meeting with UNCHR officials asked them to closely monitor such activities on the part of Tibetans taking refuge at the Center.

As Tibetan exiles spearheaded anti-China demonstration in Kathmandu in March, 2008, marking the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against the Chinese takeover of Tibet, China has grown very assertive about the Tibet issue in Nepal.

Officials said the recent self-immolation case has made China more wary, leading it to pile additional pressure on Nepal to effectively curb such activities by Tibetans.
A few days after the self-immolation incident, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had sent a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), asking the government of Nepal to effectively curb such ´anti-China´ activities. The diplomatic note also reminded the Nepal government of its commitment to a ´One-China´ policy.

Nepal recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) as an integral part of China under its ´One China policy´. “It is the long-standing policy of the Nepal government not to allow any activities that are detrimental to the interests of our neighbors. We have made necessary security arrangements in areas deemed sensitive to foil any untoward incidents,” Home Ministry Spokesperson Shanker Koirala told Republica. He, however, declined to divulge details of what security measures were adopted to contain such activites.

Nepal has recognized all Tibetans who entered Nepal before 1990 as refugees. According to a census conducted in 1993, the number of Tibetan refugees living in 21 various districts in Nepal stood at 12,540. Authorities say the figure might have reached over 20,000 by now.

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