Tibetans protest at Chinese embassy against Lhasa crackdown, arreste

New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) Nearly 50 Tibetans were detained this morning while moving to protest at Chinese embassy in Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi district against the massive crackdown in Lhasa by armed forces.

The agitators were arrested in the evening after being kept detained for some hours, according to the police.

''They have been taken for medical examination.'' Earlier in the day, the protestors were stopped several yards away from the Chinese embassy while moving in a protest march at about 1100 hrs, according to a senior police official.

''Nearly 50 Tibetans, protesting against Chinese crackdown in Lhasa, were detained while trying to move towards the embassy for protest demonstration.'' They later tried to break the police cordon but sufficient security arrangements prevented matters from getting out of hand, he said adding that the move was necessitated as they were moving in a prohibited area.

''The protestors included women,'' he said in reply to a question.

Shouting anti-China slogans, holding pro-independence placards and denouncing violent crackdown on monks in Lhasa, the agitators wanted to hand over a memo to the Chinese embassy officials here but were stopped from doing so.

A spokesman for the protestors said they were demonstrating against the Chinese government's move to stiffle the voice of democracy in Tibet and stamp out any signs of independence - which was their sole aim.

''The protests there were actually manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people choked under the present Chinese government.'' The protest here was against the use of brute force against pro-independence peace-loving monks, by Chinese soldiers, in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet which left more than ten people dead, he added.

Yesterday, about 50-odd Tibetans had been rounded-up by the police at the same place while trying to move towards the Chinese embassy.

Also, on the 49th Uprising Day of Tibet on Wednesday last (March 12), nearly three dozen Tibetan women activists were detained when they moved to barge into the Chinese embassy.

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