Click to play videoNew Delhi: China on Saturday told Tibetan protesters to surrender by Monday as clashes continued in Tibet capital Lhasa for another day and protesters burnt shops and vehicles on the streets.
The response came following torrid protests on Friday, which flew in the face of official claims that the region was immune from unrest as Beijing readies to hold the Olympic Games in August.
Officials at the Tibetan law-and-order department said they would offer leniency for participants who turn themselves in by Monday midnight.
“Criminals who do not surrender themselves by the deadline will be sternly punished according to the law,” a notice on the Tibetan Government website (www.tibet.gov.cn) said.
It added that those who 'harbour or hide' them also face harsh treatment. The government has also offered rewards and protection for informers.
On Friday, bloody confrontations between the protesters and Chinese security forces had left many injured, Chinese media reports said.
On Saturday, police used tear gas to disperse groups of protesters at the city centre, but the demonstrations were on a smaller scale compared to Friday. The Chinese police also reportedly shot dead two protesters.
Beijing on Saturday said 10 people have been killed in the clashes so far. They were hotel and shop owners who were burnt to death in fires that accompanied bitter street clashes in the remote, mountain capital on Friday. Chinese officials said no foreigners died.
However, Tibetan government in exile based in Dharmsala (India), quoting unconfirmed sources claimed that 100 demonstrators have been killed and many many more injured during protests against Chinese rule.
But a source close to the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile suggested China's death toll of 10 was not the full story. He said at least five Tibetan protesters were shot dead by troops. Other groups supporting Tibetan independence have claimed many more may have died.
The US Congress-sponsored Radio Free Asia reported that Chinese military vehicles are patrolling Lhasa. Xinhua said electricity and telephone services, cut for much of Friday, were being restored.
The International Campaign for Tibet cited unconfirmed reports that scores of Tibetans have been killed. John Ackerly of the group said in an e-mailed statement he feared "hundreds of Tibetans have been arrested and are being interrogated and tortured."
The top government official in Tibet, Qiangba Puncog, however, told reporters in Beijing that Tibetan authorities had not fired any shots to quell the violence.
He also denied reports that the province is under martial law. "The situation there will ease. We didn't fire any gunshots," he said.
The protests have erupted as the Olympic torch is set to arrive in Lhasa in a matter of weeks. The pro-independence demonstrations have been the worst that Tibet has seen in the last 20 years.
Initially led by Buddhist monks, as in the case of Myanmar last September, the protests have swelled, attracting the general population, who apart from demanding independence for Tibet, are also calling for the release of the Panchem Lama and criticising China for constructing the rail road to Lhasa.
(With agency inputs)
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