US Ambassador worried over Nepal’s harsh handling of Tibetans
Friday, 2 May 2008, 12:12 p.m.
Nancy Powell, the US ambassador to Nepal |
Dharamshala: The United States
Ambassador Nancy Powell called on Prime Minister Koirala Thursday to
express official concern about the treatment of Tibetans by Nepali
authorities, besides discussing the current political-economic
situation in the wake of the final election results.
Ambassador Powell urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the right
to peaceful protest was maintained and that the human rights of
Tibetans in Nepal are respected. She welcomed the respect accorded to
Tibetans during their 28 April protest at Swayambunath.
Lodi Gyari, special envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama said
the government of Nepal, which shares a long history with Tibet, has
behaved in a most reprehensible manner, cracking down on Tibetans who
live in Nepal and have been protesting in solidarity with the brothers
and sisters inside Tibet.
“Nepal is acting almost as an extension of the brutal regime on
the other side of the Himalayas, a reaction that has many Nepalese
deeply disturbed and ashamed for their government,” the envoy stated in
his testimonial on Tibet in Washington, DC on 23 April.
Earlier on, the Sherpa Himalayan community of Nepal voiced
their serious concern on the Nepalese government’s repressive handling
of peaceful Tibetan demonstrators.
Terming the actions as both inhuman and repressive, they said,
it is also a very serious violation of the Interim Constitution of
Nepal, which upholds the dignity of the basic human rights.
They said Tibetans shares same religion, culture, language and
tradition with us and we are pained to see beating of protesting
Buddhist monks whom we revere very highly.
The Sherpa community have urged the government of Nepal to stop the double standard of dealing with the Tibetan refugees.