Chinese authorities go for defiant Tibetan thinkers for upholding culture

 

When Tibetans in exile gathered in Dharamshala and celebrated the 109th anniversary of 'Tibetan Independence Day.

 

The Chinese authorities are arresting Tibetan thinkers, who have been speaking out in favour of their culture and rights which Beijing sees as an act of sedition.

Tibet press reports that Chinese authorities have been lodging Tibetan thinkers in secret prisons as part of its “cultural assimilation” policy.

According to the reports, the Chinese government has placed constant surveillance on Tibetan thinkers as it considers expressing views for preserving the Tibetan language and culture as secession.

The latest report of the Central Tibet Administration says a famous Tibetan poet and writer Rongwo Gendun Lhundup has been handed over four years in prison while writer Thupten Lodoe aka Sabuchey has been imprisoned for four years.

Writer Gendun Lhundup was assigned to translate Tibetan Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese language.

In February this year, Tibetans in exile gathered in Dharamshala and celebrated the 109th anniversary of 'Tibetan Independence Day'.

On February 13, 1913, the 13th Dalai Lama declared Tibetan independence in the declaration of the "Proclamation of Independence" and since then Tibetans mark February 13 as an important day in Tibet's history to educate people on the significance of Tibet's history.

The activists accused Beijing of ordering a widespread crackdown on citizens of Kham Drago, a province in Central Tibet, demolishing schools, Buddhist statues and monasteries, in an attempt to "Sinicise" entire China-occupied countries.

According to a Center for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR) report published in May, arbitrary arrests, maltreatment in custody, torture, sterilisation and forced abortion frequently opted for repressive strategies against Tibetans by Beijing.

Another report by Reuters indicates that China has ruled Tibet with an iron hand since 1950 when troops marched in.

An article published in 2014 said Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who regarded by Beijing as a dangerous separatist, fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

As a result, Chinese security authorities frequently detain activists or place them under house arrest ahead of important anniversaries, public events or state visits.

Several lawyers and activists had been detained in the same year ahead of the 25th anniversary of the government’s bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square.

When former U.S Secretary of State John Kerry visited Beijing, he was informed that a prominent writer who had angered China by advocating Tibetan rights and her husband had been placed under house arrest.

Kerry raised the issue of human rights in a “direct, candid way” with senior Chinese officials citing individual cases, including arrests made over the last several months.

“He described our perception of a trend in China, with an increase in arrests and an increase in harassment of individuals who are expressing political views,” a senior U.S official said.

Kerry also discussed the treatment of minorities as well as the situation in the western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet.

Despite the talks, many of Tibetan thinkers continue to face Chinese detention.

They include Rongwo Gangkar, Go Sherab Gyatso, Dhi Lhaden, Rongwo Gendun Lhundup, Pema Tso, Seynam, Rinchen Tsultrim and Kunsang Gyaltsen.

Several media outlets have reported that intellectuals are further subjected to mental and physical torture and forcefully tutored with lectures on ‘patriotism’ and hard labour.

A large number of Tibetans are held in the notorious Mianyang Prison of eastern Tibet for correcting their views in favour of the CCP’s ideology.