DHARAMSHALA March 18: Seven Tibetan monks have been arrested in Sog County on March 14 as Chinese police clamped down on Sog Tsenden monastery, Ngawang Tharpa, a Tibetan living here said.
Tharpa said the monks arrested were Namgyal Tsultrim, Lodoe Tenzin, Tsultrim Gojhay, Tsultrim Namgyal, Thabkhay Lhundup, Jigme Tsultrim, and Jigme Drakpa.
Tharpa added that the police did not give any specific reasons for their arrests. He said there are over 50 CCTV cameras installed in the monastery premises to monitor the movement and activities of the monks of Tsenden Monastery.
Tharpa said Namgyal Tsultrim had already been detained for seven days in 2011 for alleged contacts with the “exiled separatist forces”. He was arrested again on October 6, 2012, and had been detained for almost 5 months in Nagchu County and for 3 months 11 days in a detention centre in Toelung near Lhasa.
Tharpa expressed concerns that the monks have to live in constant fear amid heavy surveillance and monitoring. “With cameras all over the monastery campus, monks are subject to constant harassment even at night when they move around to use the restrooms,” said Tharpa.
He also said the Chinese authorities are prohibiting Tibetans below 18 years of age to enroll into the monastery.
Tharpa also recalled his sources reporting about Chinese government’s crackdown on social networking sites and mircomessaging applications in the region since the start of this month.
