By Tenzin Choephel
Kathmandu, May 8 – About 300 Tibetan protestors reached the gate of the Chinese Consulate for the first time in recent attempts today. They rapped the metal gate calling on China to respond to their continued protests demanding a resolve in the Tibet crisis and intervention from the international community. Over 100 Police personnel responded swiftly by arresting all the protestors but restraining from the use of brute force. However a Tibetan was injured in the minute scuffle that followed and some activists were again punched, kicked and pulled by the hair into police vans.
The protestors came in five buses near the Chinese Consulate in Hattisar at about 2.30 pm and rushed towards the Consulate gate raising slogans for a Free Tibet. They urged the Chinese authorities to stop massacring innocent Tibetans in TAR and called for His Holiness’s long life.
A total of 214 people were arrested with 166 detained at Metropolitan Police Barrack No. 2, 15 at Anam Nagar Police Station, 13 at Tinkune Police Station and 20 at Durbar Marg Police Station. All the detainees were later released at 7 pm the same day. Jampa, whose finger was broken by the police during an earlier protest at the Chinese Embassy in Baluwatar, was back on the scene with a plastered hand.
Another protestor told Phayul, “There are more people today because we also want to protest the carrying of Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Everest”.
Many familiar faces were monks and nuns from previous rallies. One of them told Phayul, “We are protesting because there is no freedom in Tibet. Monks and nuns in particular are suffering a lot right now, they are locked up in monasteries and we don’t know what’s happening to them. We want to pressure China to open Tibet and talk to the Dalai Lama”.
