Muzzling Monks

Tibetan protesters were paraded in public after handing down various sentences.


Ngarong, March 18.

7 Tibetans, who are involved in a peaceful protest earlier in Kham Ngarong, were handed down various prison terms and they are paraded in public.

On January 23, during the Chinese Lunar New Year, Tibetans protested against the Chinese government. Subsequently around 17 Tibetans are arrested, out of them 7 Tibetan were sentenced by a relevant court in Sichuan province. Sentences ranging from 12years, 10 years, 8 years were announced.

On March 18th, those 17 Tibetans arrested are brought to Ngarong County from Tridu, and paraded in public in an apparent attempt to intimidate the local populace.


A Tibetan monk requesting anonymous said to our reporter:

The names and pictures of those 17 arrested Tibetans were put up in public by the Chinese officials. Sentences handed down range from 12, 10, and 7 years for 7 of those Tibetans. On March 18, those arrested Tibetans were paraded in public in Drango and urging the Tibetan locals to watch it.



Chinese work team have arrived in Ngarong, which has exacerbated the situation.



Besides, recently after setting up the Chinese work teams in Ngarong County, they go from village to village to and urging the people to report to them any problem they face. The families were also asked about if they have family members living abroad and India. Particularly senior monks, who are better educated, are target of intense scrutiny by keeping their snaps by the Chinese work team. One by one Tibetans are required to register in the township, which caused great hardship for Tibetans. Three young Tibetans deliberately wrote “Tibetan Independence” while filling in the forms, consequently, they are pursued ,arrested and severely beaten. The names of the three youths are Tashi Dorjee, Rinzen Dorjee, Tashi Tsering. They are currently detained, and the Chinese took this incident very seriously.



In an another incident,

Monks of Kham, Pashoe Samdup Dekyi Ling monastery were undergoing patriotic reeducation campaign while a Chinese national flag were newly erected in front of the monastery. Beginning from March 17, monks’ living quarters were searched, and monks are enforced educational indoctrination. The reason for the search was to assure that the monks are displaying the pictures of Chinese leaders as imposed on them sometime earlier and also to ascertain if the monks are keeping pictures of the Dalai Lama. The pictures of Chinese leaders were enforced to display in the monastery shrines and halls as well. The majority monks of the monastery were assembled daily to watch videos of political reeducation such as following leadership of CCP and denouncing the Dalai clique and separatist. Besides the daily political reeducation, the monks’ movements were severely restricted. The monastery monks had to obtain permission from the local and county level authorities for any outside activities’ and religious engagements. Without due permission from the monastery management committee, they are not allowed to visit homes and perform puja.



Officials of monastery management committees were permanently stationed on top of the monastery’s pray hall. In the night the Chinese work team along with few other monks inspect the monks’ residential quarter one by one.