The Chinese authorities have detained 59 people in Tibet for allegedly spreading subversive rumours and playing “separatist” songs.

Since violent anti-Chinese unrest erupted across the region in early March, Beijing has implemented a widespread crackdown in Tibetan areas to prevent any similar revival of that challenge to its control. Much of the blame has been placed on the Dalai Lama.

Xin Yuanming, deputy chief of police in the capital, Lhasa, said his men had cracked 48 cases of rumour-mongering, detaining a total of 59 people. “A number of people with ulterior motives have deliberately spread rumours and fanned ethnic sentiment,” he was quoted as saying. Such official statements are widely understood as coded references to the Dalai Lama.

Mr Xin said the rumours “seriously undermined the image of the party and the government and harmed the public’s sense of security”.

Some people had downloaded “reactionary” songs from the internet and sold them on compact discs and in MP3 format in markets in Lhasa.

The report did not specify which songs had aroused the ire of the authorities. But it is not the first time that music has infuriated officials in Lhasa; Tibetan music blares out from shops across the old city, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Tibetans, and people flock to music halls to hear their favourite folk singers.

A couple of years ago a song in praise of the Dalai Lama’s younger sister, Gzunpelma, became a huge hit in Lhasa with pirated CDs on sale across the city. At first the tune, with lyrics such as “You are our mother, you build our future”, escaped the notice of the authorities and the tune could be heard on every street corner and in every home. When the authorities became aware of the words, the song was banned and one person was arrested for selling the CD.

Many songs in Tibet praise the Dalai Lama, even though his picture is banned in the region and he has been the target of a fierce vilification campaign. Often he is referred to in song as the “great treasure” — a reference that all Tibetans understand.

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