Chinese authorities have detained two monks in connection with the painting of Tibetan independence slogans on boulders amid a crackdown in a restive county in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and have tightened controls on monasteries in neighboring Qinghai province, according to sources.
Lobsang Thargyal, 19, and Lungtok Gyaltsen, age unknown, were seized by police on March 13 “on suspicion of involvement in the painting of Tibetan independence slogans on boulders near a local iron bridge” in the TAR’s Sog (Suo) county in Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture, a source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
The two monks from Drilda monastery were held after failing to return “on time” from a trip to purchase supplies and were taken to the Sog county detention center, where their present condition is unknown, he said.
“The iron bridge in Trido township where independence slogans were written in red paint is meanwhile being watched by the Chinese police,” he said, adding, “Several hundred Chinese police and paramilitary troops are now stationed at Trido.”
Thirteen others have also recently been detained in Sog county, sources said.
On March 14, Tsering Samphel, 18, and a resident of Sog county’s Triru township, was detained on unknown charges, and Budrak, age unknown but also from Triru, was taken into custody on suspicion of having shared songs by popular Tibetan singer Sherten, the source said.
Also detained in Sog this month, Drilda monastery monks Kalsang Tsultrim and Thubten Palden were taken into custody on March 6 along with area residents Norbu Dondrub, Monlam Gyatso, and Tsering Tharpa, according to another source.
“They were detained on suspicion of having shared photos and other information on Tibet-related ‘incidents,’” the source said.
“Their family members have no information about where they are being held or what their present condition is.”
Meanwhile, on Feb. 3, six young Tibetans from Trido township were detained, with four—Sisum Dorje, Lhakpa, Jamyang Gyatso, and Dorje—released on condition of reporting each day to township authorities.
“The other two—Margong of the Wukguma family and Asang of the Norphel family—have still not been released, and their families have no idea where they are being held,” he said.
New restrictions on monasteries
In Qinghai, authorities have tightened controls on monasteries in Tibetan-populated Pema county, sources said.
The six affected monasteries include Akyong monastery in Pema (in Chinese, Banma) county in Qinghai’s Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where a 20-year-old Tibetan, Tsering Gyal, burned himself to death in protest in November 2013.
“The monasteries have been told that they cannot enforce their own rules and regulations,” an area resident told RFA this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“They also have no right to initiate religious programs, organize language classes for young Tibetans, or listen to news from outside sources,” he said.
“The monasteries must also seek official approval for the movements of their monks,” the source said, adding that “new restrictions” have also been imposed on Internet and phone communications in the area.
One Akyong monk, Dongak Tenzin, was recently “secretly taken away” on suspicion of involvement in Tsering Gyal’s protest, a second local source said, also on condition of anonymity.
“And on March 9, police raided a local restaurant and Internet café, severely beating many of the Tibetans who were present,” the source said.
Burning protests continue
At the weekend, two Tibetan monks set themselves on fire on the sixth anniversary of a deadly crackdown by Chinese authorities in Sichuan province’s Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Lobsang Palden, 20, from Ngaba’s restive Kirti monastery self-immolated in the prefecture’s Ngaba county while another monk, whose name was not immediately available, set himself on fire in Tsekhog (Zeku) county in Qinghai province's Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the sources said.
Sunday's burnings brings the number of self-immolations this year to four, with a total of 129 Tibetans having set fire to themselves to date in protests in challenging Beijing’s rule in Tibetan areas of China.
Another six have set themselves ablaze in India and Nepal.
Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests in Tibetan populated areas, arresting and jailing Tibetans whom they accuse of being linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years.
Reported by Kunsang Tenzin and Rigdhen Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.