Kathmandu, April 28 - Over 4,000 Tibetans supported by dozens of local Buddhists and several foreigners marched from Mustang Monastery, Swayambhu to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Chauni, Kathmandu this afternoon in order to submit a factual report on the number of confirmed deaths, detention and the current situation in Tibet requesting immediate action.The silent solidarity march organized by the Nepal Tibetan Solidarity Forum (NTSF) marking the 49th day of Tibetan protests worldwide, saw participation from elders, government officials, monks, nuns, students and general public who walked in two rows with candles, banners and flags for around 3 hours covering a distance of about 12 kilometers. The oldest person was an 81 year old Tibetan woman and the youngest were students from Namgyal Middle School.The silent march was led by three men wearing traditional Tibetan dresses representing the three provinces of Tibet namely Dotoe, Domey and Utsang followed by a monk carrying a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Many of the marchers wore white t-shirts with slogans that read 'Free Tibet', 'Save Tibet', 'Stop killing in Tibet' and 'Wake up UNO'.At the end of the walk, all gathered at the monastery and MP Ven Yungdrung Gyaltsen of NTSF briefly addressed the gathering thanking everyone especially non Tibetans for supporting the rally, he also said that OHCHR would be sending their report and request to the concerned UN bodies tomorrow who have been observing almost all the Tibetan protests in the Capital. The event which saw the largest participation to date came to an end with the Tibetan National Anthem.One of the participants and core protestor in the past days, Nima Dolkar while talking to Phayul said, "I am very happy to see so many people come together for today's solidarity walk, I am convinced that Tibetans here in Nepal are united in our cause, it gives us lot of encouragement to continue our struggle". The NTSF in its press release have said, "Many Tibetans succumbed to death under the lethal use of force by the Chinese Government since March 10, 2008. We the Tibetan community in Nepal pay our homage to all those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet and salute them for their selfless courage and determination and stand in solidarity with our brethrens in Tibet". In the statement they also appealed to the international community to urgently dispatch fact finding delegation to Tibet.

By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent