By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala, January 19 – News have emerged from Tibet that a Tibetan monk had hanged himself to death in his monastery quarter in Sog County in November 15, 2010, a Tibetan living here with contacts in the region told the Voice of Tibet radio service.
Lobsang Palden, a 48 year old monk of Dradhel monastery in Trido township in Nagchu prefecture’s Sog County, was found dead in his quarter on November 15 last year.
Lobsang had hung himself to the ceiling of his quarter after Chinese officials from the local Religious Affairs Bureau constantly harassed and threatened him on grounds of his connection with the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, whom he met during a visit to India in 2007, the Tibetan source said who requesting anonymity. China reviles the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama as a “separatist” and “a wolf in monk’s robes”.
The officials from the Religious Affairs Bureau had subjected him to several hours of questioning days before his death, according to the source. “He was threatened against living in the monastery by the officials before his death. Several monks and residents had seen his suicide note,” he added.
Lobsang had initiated several developmental works in his monastery and his town for which he was loved and respected by the local Tibetans. Lobsang’s death has shocked the local Tibetan residents who deeply mourn his death, the source said.
Local Tibetans who knew Lobsang described him as a very loving and respected monk of the monastery, and several families in Trido township voluntarily offered post-death rituals and prayers for him, according to the source.
Meanwhile, the same source said that another Tibetan from the same locality was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for what the Chinese government described as “connections with outside separatist forces”. Kalsang Norden was arrested in 2009 for using the popular Chinese chatting website called qq.com and charged with “separatist” behavior. It is not known if he had contents that the Chinese government had banned like pictures of the Dalai Lama on his page. In October 2009, Chinese government arrested 3 Tibetan men from Sog County for allegedly posting pictures of the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama and his speeches on their profiles on qq.com.
