Dharamshala — The Chinese authorities detained two Tibetan monks from the Chukha-Ma monastery in Machu County, Kanlho, north-eastern Tibet, in early 2025.
Their families are deeply concerned for their whereabouts and condition. Source indicates that they were detained for sharing images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and possessing the Tibetan flag. Sharing and possessing images of the Dalai Lama is banned in Tibet by the Chinese authorities.
According to a reliable source to TPI, Tibetan monks Samten Gyatso and Jamyang Samten, both from the Chukha-Ma Monastery in Machu County, Kanlho, north-eastern Tibet, were detained by Chinese police in early 2025. They were held incommunicado for over a year, leaving their families extremely concerned for their health and safety.
According to Article 64 of Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, "Within 24 hours after a person has been detained, his family or the unit to which he belongs shall be notified of the reasons for detention and the place of custody." However, Tibetan monks detained for over a year have not been informed by the Chinese police of the reasons for their detention and their whereabouts. Therefore, the Chinese police are breaking their own law.
The families and the monastery tried to find out the whereabouts of the monks, but they could not find the monks' current location or condition. The Chinese police arrested one monk from his monastery, the Chukha-Ma Monastery, while the other monk was lured to a police station under the pretext of collecting his confiscated phone, after which he was detained and never returned.
Even though, the reason for detaining the two monks remains unknown, but the source know to the monks said that, Samten Gyatso had posted a photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his WeChat Moments multiple times, and he has been interrogated and search his room on several occasions the Chinese police. Samten Gyatso’s book, <<The Buddha Came to the Land of Snow>>, was also confiscated.
Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief. However, the PRC has banned photos, teachings and books related to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, thereby violating its own constitution. Tibetans who express their devotion to the Dalai Lama continue to be detained, arrested, tortured and imprisoned for years by Chinese authorities.
To mark the anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Samten Gyatso wrote a short tribute. He was subsequently summoned to a police station and subjected to a severe interrogation, though he was released without prolonged detention.
Samten Gyatso’s short tribute on his WeChat Moments as following: “from the land of snow, with hands folded in faith, I await the noble one, the protector whose eyes never close.” རབ་དཀར་ཁ་བའི་ལྗོངས་ནས།། དད་པའི་ཐལ་མོ་སྦྱར་ནས།། འཕགས་མཆོག་མིག་མི་འཛུམ་པ།། སེམས་ནས་རེ་སྒུག་བྱས་ཡོད།།
According to the source, the Tibetan monk Jamyang Samten set up a WeChat group for sharing public announcements. He was subsequently arrested for publishing a book without government authorisation or an ISBN number, though he was released on that occasion.
The reasons for the monks' detain remain unclear. However, local Tibetans have reported that images of the national flag 0f Tibet were found on the monks' phones during a police search. Prior to this arrest, the monks are reported to have been detained and interrogated multiple times at a police station on false charges. The Tibetan flag is banned by the Chinese authorities because it symbolises Tibet's independence before China’s illegal occupation of Tibet in 1959.
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.
