Nepal bans Dalai Lama birthday celebrations

Nepali authorities have banned exiled Tibetans from celebrating the birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, as they fear the gatherings could turn into an anti-Chinese rally.
 
Hundreds of riot police were out in force to prevent the Tibetans from entering a school in the north of Kathmandu where the celebrations were due to take place.
 
Police also arrested three men who were trying to hold a prayer meeting on the street.  According to sources a brief scuffle broke out but nobody was hurt.
 
Nepali fears were probably substantiated as Tibetan gatherings often turn into anti-Chinese protests, where they shout slogans demanding an end to Chinese rule of their homeland.
 
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.  This year for his 76th birthday he is in the United States for an 11-day Buddhist ritual, known as a kalachakra. It is expected that upwards of 10,000 followers a day from America, Asia and Europe will attend the event.

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