By Sherab Woeser
Lobsang Ngodup, a youth in his mid 20s was reportedly beaten till he lost consciousness by Chinese security personnel after he carried out a lone anti-China demonstration in Kardze on July 29.
Five days after Lobsang Ngodup carried out his valiant protest proudly displaying a photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and raising slogans for Tibet’s independence and the Dalai Lama’s return, news of his arrest was broken to his brother Lobsang Tsering.
Tsering who is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at Mysore University, south India was heartbroken upon hearing the news. Although his family had endured such experiences earlier as well but Ngodup’s arrest was especially traumatic as it came only days after a long awaited family reunion since 2008.
Tsering’s eldest brother Loga was arrested in 2008 during the spring demonstrations that swept the entire Tibetan plateau. He was later sentenced to three years in prison on charges of subversion. Just three days after Loga was freed from prison and stepped into home, Ngodup took to the streets of Kardze town distributing pamphlets calling for an end to Chinese rule in Tibet.
“Our family has borne immense hardships over the years and at this painful moment I cannot even talk properly with my family,” said an emotional Tsering.
He had tried to speak to his old mother but the phone lines for some reason weren’t holding for over a minute at a time.
“I just want to console my parents but its getting more difficult each time I make an attempt,” Tsering told phayul.
Eyewitnesses in Kardze have told sources in exile that Lobsang Ngodup continued to raise slogans calling for Tibet’s independence even while Chinese security personnel severely beat Ngodup until he lost consciousness.
Ngodup is reportedly jailed in the Kardze prison at present and Tsering is hoping that his old parents won’t have to see another of their sons suffer torture and long years of imprisonment.
“I appeal to human rights groups and activists around the world to take up the case of Lobsang Ngodup with the Chinese government,” Tsering pleaded.
“My brother did nothing illegal. He was only expressing the genuine aspirations of the Tibetan people peacefully”.
