A group of nearly 500 Tibetan protestors, most of them women, were arrested by the police in Nepal on Sunday 11 May just before what would have turned out to be the first all-women rally against the Chinese atrocities in Tibet. These Tibetan exiles were participating in a peaceful rally. A police officer informed that the group was arrested because they were carrying the Tibetan flag and donning head bands bearing the caption ‘Free Tibet’.

 

Officer Sarbendra Khanal informed that of the 559 Tibetan people arrested, 535 are women and the rest men. Nepal explicitly holds that Tibet is a part of China and is stern about any ant-China activities being carried out in its precincts. The small Himalayan nation says that it does not want to tarnish its relations with China by allowing Tibetans to protest. The UN and various international groups have rebuked Nepal for what they term as excessive use of force to halt the anti-China protests by Tibetans. It is leant that the Nepal police also used baton on the protestors.