Security was stepped up around Kathmandu as Tibetan refugees gathered at Jawlakhel for the festivities of their spiritual leader Dalai Lama's 79th birthday on Sunday.
"We have tightened security to prevent other activities by the Tibetan refugees here," Sashi Shekhar Shrestha, CDO of Lalitpur told Nepali Times. "We will not tolerate activities that are not in line with our country's policy."
A Tibetan woman walks past a group of policemen at the Jawlakhel refugee camp, during the celebration of Dalai Lama's 79th birthday.(Photo: Basil Edward Teo)
Security personnel have been on alert in Tibetan refugee settlement areas in Jawlakhel, Bouddha and Swyambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu.
"The police are surprisingly well behaved today, there have been no confrontations or scuffles," said a member of the celebration
organising committee at Jawlakhel who identified herself as 'Choezin'.
Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Aryal said that security personnel have been deployed heavily around Jawlakhel for security reasons. "Like any other event, we are here to ensure just the security of the program," said Aryal.
Nepal is home to over 20,000 Tibetan refugees. Last year, during the anniversary of the 1959 rebellion against China's rule in Tibet, 18 people had been arrested in Kathmandu on suspicion of anti-China activities. Nepal has witnessed three self immolations so far, two in last year alone.
Nepali authorities have prevented exiled Tibetans from celebrating Dalai Lams' birthday in the past over concerns that gatherings would turn anti-Chinese.
