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For their own freedom, Nepalis should protest seizure of Tibetan ballot boxes

By Tenzin Nyinjey | Tibet Sun

Tenzin Nyinjey Photographer unknown

Once again Nepal has proved that it is a failed state.

The seizure of Tibetan ballot boxes by Nepal police has clearly shown China’s overbearing influence in the tiny Himalayan country.

Nepal is now a client state of China — not able to make its own independent decisions. It has lost its sovereignty. By kowtowing to the dragon and acting on its behest, the country has lost all its respect. It doesn’t exist anymore! It is no more a free and independent nation.

What’s worse is that Nepal’s civil society, including the media, is keeping total silence over the thuggish behavior of their government — something we can imagine occurring only in rough and pariah states like Sudan and North Korea.

In fact, some of the editorials in the country’s leading dailies are even supporting this heinous and reprehensible act of their government. It shows how deep Nepal has sunk from the ideal of being a democratic nation.

These are trying times for the people of Nepal. The country has lost all traces of conscience. Its “soul has turned to steel,” to quote Bob Dylan. Indeed, shameful and sad to be a citizen of Nepal today!

All is not lost, however, provided the people of Nepal stand up and act to reverse the evil trend on which their government is taking them.

Citizens of Nepal — including journalists, civil servants and intellectuals — must come out in the streets to protest this unlawful act of their government, trampling upon the basic human rights of the already persecuted Tibetan refugees. They must pressure their government to return the seized ballot boxes to the Tibetans.

Most important of all, they must protest their leaders’ open sell-out of Nepal’s sovereignty to the communist mandarins of Peking.

This is in the long-term interest of the people of Nepal — for their freedom, democracy and territorial integrity.

Otherwise, the day won’t be far when, instead of Nepali police in riot gear, we would see PLA soldiers rounding up Tibetans (and Nepalis) in the open streets of Kathmandu.

Copyright © 2010 Tenzin Nyinjey

Published in Tibet Sun