By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, July 7: Four of the 27 Tibetans detained last month for protesting against an “illegal” mining by Chinese miners in Chabcha County in Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture are still held in detention for leading the protest, reported the Radio Free Asia.
27 Tibetans were detained for protesting against the mining activities that ran beyond the expiration of its contract and had begun to encroach on sacred sites in Karsel village. Tibetans had pledged to block the Chinese mining activities that had begun to affect the local environment.
Of the 27 Tibetans, four were released immediately while 23 were held back for further investigation. The Chinese authorities later released all of them except four who, sources said, are held for leading the protests. They are currently detained in a prison close to Xining in Qhinghai.
A number of illegal mining have been reported in the past few months with Tibetans continuing to resist the escalating rate of illegal mining in Tibet. In May, a 32-year-old Phakpa Gyaltsen died on the spot after stabbing himself and jumping from a building in protest against Chinese mining activities in Tongbar region of Zogang County in Chamdo.
On Monday, several Tibetans were beaten and at least nine arrested by Chinese police in Dechen County in Tibet’s Kham region following protests against mining operations in Martak village in Yama Township.
Since 2009, 131 Tibetans have immolated themselves in protest against Chinese government, its policies in Tibet and religious repression. The Tibetan government in exile maintains that the self-immolations “represent a new threshold of Tibetan despair and resentment” and attributes the current crisis in Tibet to China’s policies of “political and religious repression, economic marginalization, social discrimination, cultural assimilation and environmental destruction in Tibet.
