Dharamshala, India — Two Tibetan protesters have been arbitrarily detained by Chinese police following a non-violent demonstration in front of a Chinese Police Station in Sershul County, Dzachukha, eastern Tibet on November 21, 2019.
While peacefully marching toward the Police station in the occupied Tibetan territory, the two have allegedly scattered leaflets and shouted slogans calling for Tibet's independence from the People's Republic of China.
The two immediately taken into custody by a group of Chinese police when they were staging a peaceful protest in the courtyard of a Chinese police station in Wonpo Village of Sershul County, Dzachukha, eastern Tibet and scattered leaflets calling for Tibet's independence from China,' Ven Jampa Yonten, a Tibetan monk living in exile told the TPI, on Friday.
'The two young Tibetans are identified as Yonten and Choegyal and their peaceful protest took place at around 2:30 p.m. in Wonpo village in eastern Tibet (Ch: Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province),' Ven Yonten added, citing contacts in the region. 'They scattered leaflets in the air and called out for Tibet’s independence in a peaceful protest against China's occupation of Tibet.'
Before staging their non-violent protest, video clips showing a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, together with a song of praise for His Holiness and the words “Independence for Tibet” written in black and red ink in leaflets, were posted on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat, Ven Yonten further added. "They made separate videos to express their incomparable reverence and thoughts for their Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and expressed their infinite desire and yearning for freedom in Tibet."
The arrests came after four Tibetans monks from the same village detained in a similar protest on November 7, 2019. The four Tibetans who allegedly distributed leaflets are identified as Kunsal, 20, Tsultrim, 18, Tame, 18, and Soeta, 18 and the four monks were seized in their rooms at Dza Wonpo Ganden Shedrub Dhargyelink Monastery in Sershul County, Dzachuka, eastern Tibet (Ch: Kardze Ganzi, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture),' he further added, citing sources in the region.
However, Chinese security forces, many in plain clothes, have poured into the Tibetan township following protests calling for Tibet’s independence from rule by the communist regime of China. "Disguised as businessmen, beggars, and ordinary people, Chinese police have also spread out across the town to spy on local people’s activities and sentiments," the source said.
For this demonstration, they have already prepared for not only the slogan leaflets of 'Tibet independence' written in red and black on many papers with their photos, they also wrote short verses titled "My Own Directions" and "Discourse", under their pen names. Yonten known by his pen name "Yangchenpa" and Choegyal known by his pen name "Drongdzi", shared with their photos on Chinese social media WeChat.
Yangchenpa: My Own Directions
- Heroes who sacrificed their lives for the welfare of our nationals,
- And the fighters who continue their struggle for independence of Tibet,
- I have had heard you were gone through the genocide, torture, and tyranny,
- Because our compatriots from Wongpo village are now fighting for freedom,
- They were forcefully brought into the dark prison, I felt deeply saddened,
- I will also come up later, my compatriots!”
Drongdzi: Discourse
- I have no knowledge of magnificent prosody,
- I have no exquisite writing skills,
- I also have no education of high-ability and knowledge,
- But our national great pride lies on our shoulders,
- Never give up!
The widespread campaign began this year across Tibet including Sershul County, Dzachuka of eastern Tibet and local Tibetans in Sershul County were told that they must replace the photographs of the Dalai Lama in monasteries, temples, and homes with those of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong.
Officials were said to be verbally warning local Tibetans that they must recognize the improving the economic well-being of Tibetans under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. So the resettled-nomads are forced to praise China’s ruling Communist Party in public speeches which are then filmed and distributed to Chinese state-run media.
However many nomads have also refused to participate in these Chinese government propaganda campaigns, causing tensions between those who take part and those who refuse. In this way, the Chinese have created divisions among Tibetans in the local community,” the source concluded.
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.