Chinese authorities in the western Tibetan county of Dhingri have detained a prominent local figure after he saved large numbers of sheep and goats from the slaughterhouse, sources in the region said.
The reason for the arrest of Pempa, who is known by a single name, was not immediately clear, the source said.
“The reason for his arrest is unknown. The officials gave no reasons to his family for his detention,” the source said. “But I heard that the local Tibetans are presuming that the Chinese authorities suspected his action to save sheep and goats from the slaughter was meant as an action to ensure the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
Pempa, who is in his fifties, was the head of Tsakor village in Dhingri county, where he was detained for a few days before being taken to the region’s second city, Shigatse.
Head of village
One source said Chinese police searched Pempa’s house and found two audio CDs of the Kalachakra teachings of the Dalai Lama in India in 2005.
“They also took away all the sheep and goats that Pempa saved from the butchers, or that were donated by those Tibetans in Nepal and border areas who were sick and old, in order to acquire merit,” he added.
A second source in the area confirmed Pempa’s detention. “He is certainly detained in Shigatse though no decision was made about his sentence or punishment,” the source said. “I also heard the he was detained for saving sheep from slaughter.”
A local county leader said he didn’t know the details of the case. “You shoud ask the head of Dhingri county’s political and legal affairs committee,” he told RFA’s Tibetan service. The head of Dhingri county is not here. He has gone for the Chinese New Year celebrations.”
But the head of that committee said he too was unfamiliar with Pempa’s case.
Officials ‘unaware’
“I recently joined Dhingri county,” he said. “I don’t know about it. I reported for my new assignment at Dhingri county but I am presently in Shigatse. Therefore I don’t know about that case.”
Calls made during working hours to police offices in Dhingri and Shigatse went unanswered.
Local residents said a teashop run by Pempa had been closed since his detention, and that his family had not been able to visit him. His detention happened shortly after a change of government in the county, they added.
The Dalai Lama appealed to Tibetans inside China during his traditional Kalachakra teachings in Amaravati, northern India, in 2006 to protect endangered animals in Tibet and stop using animal skin on their costumes.
Sheep- and goat-saving is common among Tibetan Buddhists, who believe that saving the lives of other sentient beings will prolong their own lives. Saving the lives of animals destined for slaughter is frequently prescribed by lamas to devotees as a form of spiritual practice.
Original reporting by RFA’s Tibetan service. Director: Jigme Ngapo. Translated by Karma Dorjee and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
