-by Radio Free Asia
Chinese authorities have arrested four Tibetans from Ngaba county in Sichuan province, accusing one monk from Kirti Monastery of making dedication prayer offerings outside Tibet and two laypersons of maintaining contact with Tibetans outside the region, two sources told Radio Free Asia.
The arrests in early September come close on the heels of monastic school closures at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba county and Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Dzoge county, as well as the forced transfer of over 1,600 students, aged 6-17, from the Buddhist schools into state-administered “colonial style” boarding schools. More than 1,000 students were affected by the closure of the school at Kirti Monastery.
In the wake of the school closures, authorities have intensified surveillance and imposed tight restrictions on Tibetans in Ngaba county, including a crackdown on communication with the outside world.
“After the school closures in July, a high-ranking official from China’s United Front Work Department was stationed in Ngaba county for several months, implementing even stricter control measures over both the monastery and the local community,” the first source told RFA on the condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
Of the four arrested in September, two are Buddhist monks — Lobsang Samten, 53, and Lobsang Trinley, 40 — from Kirti Monastery. Samten was arrested for allegedly contacting someone outside Tibet for the purpose of dedicating prayers, while the reason for Trinley’s arrest is still unclear, said the sources.
The Chinese government restricts communication between Tibetans and their family members and friends abroad, saying it undermines national unity.
Tibetans, in turn, have decried surveillance by Beijing, saying Chinese authorities are violating their human rights and trying to eradicate their religious, linguistic and cultural identity. Click here to read more.
