Dharamshala — Chinese authorities arrested a Tibetan monk from Kirti monastery in eastern Tibet, who protested against the Chinese government's oppressive policy in Tibet and called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and for religious freedom in Tibet. He disappeared after his arrest.
Chinese authorities arrested a Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery, Eastern Tibet, who protested against Chinese government's oppressive policies in Tibet and called for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and need for religious freedom in Tibet. He disappeared after his arrest.
According to a source, a Tibetan monk called Pema was arrested after protesting against China's harsh policies in Tibet on a street in Ngaba County. "Pema was immediately arrested by Chinese police in Ngawa (Ngaba) County while he was staging a peaceful protest with a portrait of the Dalai Lama on a road known as the “Martyrs' Road” in Ngaba county," the source said.
Peaceful protests and demonstrations are not allowed in Tibet, Tibetans inside Tibet who keep a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader in exile, are illegal in Chinese-occupied Tibet, and those who do face imprisonment, torture and even death in detention or prison in China. Therefore, there is no freedom of protest or religious freedom in Tibet, making Tibet is the least free country in the world.
“Pema protested against the Chinese government on March 26, 2024, by staging a peaceful solo demonstration holding a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the road known as the "Martyrs' Road" in Ngawa County, eastern Tibet. He was immediately arrested by Chinese police in Ngawa County while he was protesting on the road", said the source.
“Tibetans who were near the road heard Pema was calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, religious freedom in Tibet, and praying for a long life for His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” the source added.
After Pema's arrest, there was no further news of him, his whereabouts or his state of health, as the Chinese authorities are in the habit of severely beating and torturing demonstrators after their arrest, and even killing them under torture. Following his arbitrary arrest, the Chinese authorities stepped up their controls and restrictions in Ngaba county, particularly in the village of Soruma and the Kirti monastery.
According to the source, Pema, a Tibetan monk in his forties, comes from the village of Soruma in Ngaba County in eastern Tibet. He teaches at Kirti monastery in Ngawa County, where he is pursuing advanced Buddhist studies. Kirti monastery has the highest number of self-immolators and people who have taken the brave step to protest against the Chinese government's repression in Tibet and called for religious freedom.
China-Tibet: The one-thing you need to know
Over the past 70 decades, there has been ongoing political repression, social discrimination, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation, particularly due to Chinese migration to Tibet which is fueling intense resentment among the people of occupied Tibet.
The communist-totalitarian state of China began its invasion of Tibet in 1949, reaching complete occupation of the country in 1959. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, 20% of the nation's population of six million, have died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation. In addition, over 99% of Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, temples, and shrines, have been looted or decimated resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures.
Until 1949, Tibet was an independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse of the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of Buddhism. Religion was a unifying theme among the Tibetans -- as was their own language, literature, art, and world view developed by living at high altitudes, under harsh conditions, in a balance with their environment.
