New York—On April 11, 2011, Chinese security forces faced off against the Tibetan townspeople of Ngaba County in Sichuan Province, PRC, as the Tibetans blocked all entrances into Ngaba Kirti Monastery to protect the monks from forced removal and holding by the Chinese security forces.
Since the self-immolation of the 20 year old monk Phuntsok on March 16th, 2001, Ngaba County’s main monastery Kirti Monastery has been under security lockdown.
The events of April 11 have escalated the situation drastically. The Office of Tibet in New York expressed deep concerned that if tension continues to escalate between the security forces and the local Tibetans, the security forces may start firing upon the unarmed Tibetans.
Mr. Lobsang Nyandak, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, said: “We hope the Chinese authorities will seek to humanly diffuse the urgent situation in Ngaba County and bring normality to the townspeople as soon as possible.”
“Since the situation in Tibetan areas inside PRC has seriously deteriorated since 2008, the international community should closely monitor the situation inside Tibet and work to prevent further deterioration,” added Mr. Lobsang Nyandak.
The latest situation in Ngaba County was triggered by the Chinese authorities’ announcement on April 11th stating that all monks between the ages of 18-40 years were to be removed from the monastery on the following day and taken to an unknown location for “patriotic education”, which usually involves re-education through torture.
Kirti Monastery, which has between 2500-3000 monks, is Ngaba County’s main Monastery, with monks between 18-40 years old numbering in the hundreds.
In the evening the townspeople, fearing for the monks’ safety, surrounded the monastery to block and protect it.
Around midnight, when the People’s Armed Police as well as Chinese army forces arrived, the townspeople refused to move and barred them from entering Kirti Monastery.
The police brutally beat the people and set police dogs upon them but they refused to disperse and maintained their vigil around the monastery.
Tibetans from the surrounding towns also arrived to join the vigil; the Tibetans have also blocked all roads leading out of Ngaba County.
Earlier, Chinese forces had restricted the Kirti monks’ movements and cordoned off the monastery, allowing no one to go in or out of the monastery. Around 800 additional troops had been brought into Ngaba County to secure the clampdown.
The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported the arbitrary arrest of over 33 Tibetans.
Because of the cordon, the monastery had serious shortage of food and the townspeople feared that if the restrictions continued, the monks of Kirti Monastery would face starvation.
In this tense atmosphere, the news that young monks from Kirti were to be removed to an unknown location galvanized the Tibetan public into acting to safeguard the monastery and protect the monks.
