KATMANDU, Nepal — Police scuffled Friday with about 1,000 protesters, including dozens of Buddhist monks, during a rally in Katmandu in support of demonstrators in Tibet. About 12 monks were injured.
The protest began as a candlelight rally at a prominent Buddhist shrine. It quickly became an angry march, as protesters tried to make their way Friday evening to the Chinese embassy. Police scuffled with the protesters to stop them from marching.
“Today we are demonstrating to support our people in Tibet,” said Gampa Lama, a monk from Nepal’s community of Tibetan exiles. “We are urging the Chinese government for a peaceful resolution.”
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said about a dozen monks were injured, none seriously.
Nepal’s mountainous border with China is a key route for Tibetans fleeing Chinese rule. Most of those refugees eventually move to India, where Tibet’s government-in-exile and spiritual leader the Dalai Lama are based.
The Katmandu demonstration came as protests by Buddhist monks in Tibet flared into violence, with shops and vehicles burned and gunshots fired in the streets of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. A radio report said two people had been killed in what have become the largest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing’s nearly 60-year rule over Tibet.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
