BEIJING (AFP)--China has detained 59 people accused of fabricating subversive rumors in Tibet, state media said Thursday, blaming forces allied to the Himalayan region's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.
Since unrest broke out in Tibet in March, police have cracked 48 cases of " rumor-mongering" and detained 59 people, the Chinatibetnews.com Web site said, citing Xin Yuanming, deputy chief of police in Tibet's capital Lhasa.
"A number of people with ulterior motives deliberately spread rumors and fanned ethnic sentiment," he was quoted as saying, adding that the alleged rumormongers had been urged on by people close to the Dalai Lama.
The report said the rumors "seriously undermined the image of the party and the government and harmed the public's sense of security." The term "rumors" in China is often used to refer to anti-government views.
In one example mentioned in the report, unidentified people had downloaded " reactionary songs" from the Internet and sold them in compact disc and MP3 format in markets in Lhasa.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since fleeing his homeland after a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule. China has ruled Tibet since 1951 after sending troops to the Himalayan region the previous year.
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