Police said the women, all members of Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), were marking the 49th Tibetan Women Uprising Day on Wednesday.

Three women injured in the police lathicharge that ensued were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where their condition is said to be stable, officers said.

Police said that around 10 am, the women, with their faces painted with colours in the Tibetan flag, raised slogans against China and painted “Free Tibet” and other slogans on the Embassy’s walls.

When contacted, the vice president of TYC, Dhondup Dhorjee, told Newsline that the women were holding a peaceful demonstration.

“In 1959 on this day, thousands of Tibetan women, led by Kunsang, gathered in Lhasa just two days after the failed Tibetan National Uprising Day in 1959. They displayed their patriotism by risking their lives while protesting against the illegal occupation of Tibet by China,” Dhorjee said.

Dhorjee said the women were trying to show solidarity and respect for the women who sacrificed their lives, at that time, for Tibet’s Independence and continue their struggle.

Police said that after the women protested for 40 minutes, they were forced to use water canons to disperse the protesters.

Dhorjee said that the police force which came to control the women protesters were mostly male personnel, who dragged some of the elderly women.

“All the 36 women have been arrested and booked under Section 107/151 of the CRPC. Mild lathicharge and water canons had to be used to disperse the crowds,” a senior police officer said.