By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, August 21: A Tibetan political prisoner was transferred to an emergency care facility at the Qinghai Red Cross Hospital in Xining following complaints of severe stomach pain, reported the Radio Free Asia.
Phuntsok, 50, was arrested in connection with the self-immolation protest by a Tibetan monk named Dhamchoe Sangpo in February 2012.
Phuntsok was one of the three tantric practitioners arrested during the Chinese authorities’ mass arrest drive after Dhamchoe’s self immolation.
Dhamchoe was a monk Bongthak Ewam Tare Shedrup Dhargey Ling monastery in Tsongon, Amdo. The monastery began to face severe repression from the local Chinese authorities after one of its monks, Kalsang, protested against a silver mining project in the region.
Dhamchoe set himself on fire on February 17, 2012 to protest Chinese repression on his monastery and particularly the cancellation of a traditional prayer festival of his monastery.
Phuntsok and his fellow tantric practitioners at Sang-ngak Tengye Norbu Ling practice center, Jampa and Sherab, were detained for their alleged involvement in the protest following Dhamchoe’s self immolation and passing on the news abroad. He and his friends were sentenced to four to six years of rigorous imprisonment.
“Recently, Phuntsok, the oldest of the three, suffered from severe problems with his stomach, and he has been transferred from prison to the Qinghai Red Cross Hospital in Xining,” RFA quoted its source who requested anonymity. According to the source, he is kept under surveillance of armed police officials at the hospital and the family members are not allowed to visit him.
Chinese authorities have arrested family members, relatives and friends of Tibetans who have carried out self immolation protests in the past. In Zoege County, the authorities issued a circular listing 16 articles that warn Tibetans of harsh punishments for any link to self immolation protests in 2013.
The 142 Tibetans have resorted to self-immolation as a form of protest against the Chinese government since 2009.
