By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 10 2008: At least 8 monks and 2 lay men have been arrested by Chinese police in Lhasa today, a source having the knowledge of the incident told Phayul.com.
The source said that the Tibetans were arrested between 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm today for staging pro-Tibet demonstration in Barkor area in Lhasa.
The source also said several monks from Drepung Monastery had been arrested today when hundreds of monks from the monastery made attempts to go to Lhasa. Armed police forces have been deployed in the monastery area putting a strict vigilance over the monks.
Armed police forces are also patrolling Barkor and placing strict restrictions on people’s movement in the area.
Situation in Lhasa is said to be tense following the twin incidents, but no further details of them could be obtained.
Tibetans around the world held protest demonstrations on Monday to mark the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising against Chinese occupation of Tibet. Hundreds and thousands of Tibetan staged first major uprising in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, on March 10, 1959, to protest against Communist China’s continuing presence in Tibet after Chinese Communist troops marched into Tibet in 1949.
In India, “100 Tibetan core marchers”, accompanied by thousands of Tibetans and supporters, left Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, on Monday, for a peaceful return march to Tibet to protest China’s continuing occupation of their homeland ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The marchers will station at College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah, after their day one walk.
