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Tibetans cast shadow on Olympic torch ceremony

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Agencies

Posted online: Monday , March 24, 2008 at 04:00:13
Updated: Monday , March 24, 2008 at 04:22:50


Beijing, March 24: The fortnight-long protests against Chinese rule in Tibet that have reverberated worldwide overshadowed the Beijing Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday as the communist giant vowed to take strict security measures to thwart any move to "sabotage" the event.

Tibet activist groups have called for stopping the Olympic torch relay from passing through the restive Himalayan region swamped by the Chinese military to crush the most volatile protests against its rule in two decades.

Apprehending trouble, around 1,000 police officers were deployed in ancient Olympia, where the games originated 3,000 years ago, for the traditional torch lighting ceremony.

The torch is to be carried through 20 countries, including India - and scale 8,848-meter high Mount Everest in Tibet in May for the games that will begin on August 8.

Ahead of the ceremony, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said there was "no momentum" for a boycott but hoped that China will change by opening the country.

"The major political leaders don't want a boycott.... There is no momentum for a boycott," said IOC president Jacques Rogge.

The Olympics, he said, while "not a panacea for all ills", were a force for good that could prompt change.

According to China, at least 19 people have been killed and over 700 injured in the protests that coincided with the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. Tibetan groups claim the death toll is 130.

Meanwhile, Tibetans staged a demonstration in Kolkata on Monday condemning the cruelty on Tibetans by Chinese troops in Lhasa and other areas.

At least 50 Tibetans, including women, held placards demanding a 'free Tibet' and shouted slogans in favour of the Dalai Lama.

They also demanded 'freedom' for Panchen Lama from Beijing and a peaceful settlement of the Tibetan crisis.

60 Tibetans, rights activists arrested in Kathmandu

At least 60 Tibetans, including monks, were rounded up on Monday as hundreds of Tibetan refugees staged demonstration against China in two different places including one near the United Nations office in Kathmandu.

Police baton charged to disperse some 400 demonstrators who were protesting against the killing of Tibetans by Chinese troops in Lhasa since March 10.

After the police dispersed the agitators in front of the UN building, some 200 Tibetans including women and aged people gathered at Maitighar-Mandala near the government secretariat and staged demonstrations demanding probe into the crackdown by Chinese military in Lhasa on different occasions since March 10 while observing their Uprising Day.

Meanwhile, some eight to ten Nepalese human rights activists were also arrested as they assembled at Maitighar Mandala to extend support to the Tibetan protestors, eye-witnesses said.

CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda has extended support to Chinese government's suppression of the Tibetans saying that it is China's duty to control separatist violence.

"We cannot term the Chinese government's step to check violence unleashed by the separatists in Tibet as 'crackdown,'" he said.

"We regard Tibet as inseparable part of China," Prachanda told reporters on Monday.

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Chinese are Aggressors! by SLB on 25 Mar 2008

Chairman Prachanda has lost a sense of history.  Tibet has never been a part of China.  The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China is 472,000 square miles, while historic Tibet region, which includes parts of neighboring Chinese provinces, is about 965,000 square miles.  All this area of Tibet has been annexed and usurped by China since 1950.  Tibet has been effectively an independent country before Chinese Communist troops entered. Greed, cruelty and deceit have been the Chinese communists' ruling passion, never satisfied with anything, always restless. They have been the worshippers of their lower selves, and do not scruple to deluge the world with blood to satisfy their senses. The only practical, non-violent way to stop these Chinese demons is to boycott their products world wide. Their economy and their arrogance of power will start tumbling down in no time.

We pepul are different by Debosheesh on 25 Mar 2008

Communism is pride of Bongol and pepul not liking chin are not bhelcom to listen Robindro Songeet olso !!!

tibet strugglefor freedom by trsubramanian on 25 Mar 2008

all the peace loving countries should boycot the olympic events to be held in china

tibet and chinese action by trsubramanian on 25 Mar 2008

it is shame on the part of india to support China for the blatant inhuman attach on tibatans. china is one of the most unreliable country in the world in any aspect. boycot all products and also cut all the relationship with them immediatelythey are nothing but agressors into Tibet.

CPN-Maoist Chairman is a puppet of the Chinese and is a traitor to Maoism by aol.com on 25 Mar 2008

CPN_Maoist chairman would like to answer whether the Chinese were passive when the Japanese occupied them. Buddhism came to Japan from China and if Tibet is part of China because Buddhism came from Tibet to China then China is Japanese since Buddhism came to Japan from China. Also Chinese is an intellectual language for the Japanese unlike for the Tibetans. There is more closeness between Japanese and Chinese people than between Tibetans and the Chinese. Prachanda is not a spokesman for the Tibetans and is a puppet of the Chinese any way. For him china can occupy the whole world and no one can protest. But the Maoist leader must explain how the present day Communist China is Maoist and why he is still a puppet of that regime. Communists abandoned Mao many years ago and now are capitalists of the first order without the accompanying check of a democracy. It is a far cry from what Mao would have wanted. The only tie to Mao and present day china is the oppression of the people.

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