By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent
Kathmandu, November 28 – A group of journalists from Aljazeera English TV based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were in Kathmandu for the past two weeks to shoot a program about Tibetan refugees, specifically about Tibetans coming to Nepal from Tibet and the kind of dangers and challenges invloved. It would be broadcast in third week of December.
On Sunday, Aljazeera presenter Teymoor Nabili invited phayul correspondent Tenzin Choephel, Kapil Shrestha, former member of National Human Rights Commission, Nepal, and Mikel Dunham, author of Buddha’s Warriors at Boudanath Stupa for a discussion regarding the problems of Tibetan refugees and the Chinese and Nepalese government’s policy towards Tibetans.
Earlier on Friday, according to their local crew, a cameraman and a producer of Aljazeera went to Kodari at Nepal-Tibet border to get some footages of the Friendship Bridge from the Nepalese side but were spotted and manhandled by two Chinese officials demanding the recorded tape; however, the cameraman managed to swap the tape with another one.
The crew also tried to get permission to film the Tibetan Reception Center and some newly arrived Tibetans but authorities denied them permission.
The idea of airing a Tibetan issue program according to Teymoor is that, the whole agenda of Aljazeera is to give a voice to stories, people, ideas that mainstream western media doesn’t spend very much time with. “We have a broadcast center in Kuala Lumpur with more than 120 people dedicated to cover Asia as a region in a way that hasn’t been done before, thus we have much more time, many more resources to explore issues like Tibetan, Nepal and the refugees, in a way that other stations simply don’t do”.”
