DHARAMSALA, AUGUST 13 – Exile Tibetan sources say that whereabouts of the two Tibetan youth from Driru County in Tibet’s Nagchu region who were arrested from Lhasa in October last year remain unknown.
Tashi Chowang, a nephew of Gudrup who died after setting himself ablaze on October 4 last year, and his friend Aphu Sonam were arrested by the officers from the Public Security Bureau on October 6 last year. Both were students of Dhungkar school of language in Lhasa.
Tashi Chowang had gone to Beijing for further studies but harassment by Chinese authorities in Beijing forced him to return to Lhasa, said the source.
Tashi’s uncle Gudrub, 43, torched himself in Nagchu town in central Tibet at around 10 am (local time) on October 4 last year. He passed away at the site of his protest.
Gudrup raised slogans for Tibet’s freedom and the return of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama before setting himself on fire.
Eyewitnesses have said Gudrup shouted, “Wherever we go, we have no freedom, freedom for Tibet, let His Holiness the Dalai Lama return to Tibet.”
Gudrup had left a message addressed to all Tibetans Chinese social networking site qq.com calling for unity and pride in one’s race.
“My brothers and sisters of the land of snows, although, looking back at our past, we have nothing but a sense of loss, anger, sadness, and tears, I pray that the coming new year of the Water Dragon brings you health, success, and the fulfillment of aspirations,” Gudrup wrote.
“We must distinguish and give prominence to our pride in ourselves as a people and even in the face of loss and suffering, must never lose our courage and spirit in our endeavour to uphold our unity.”
Gudrup is a native of Driru in Kham eastern Tibet and was a writer who read Tibet’s history extensively.
