By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, May 18: A young Tibetan monk from Tawu Nyitso Monastery was reportedly arrested by the Chinese authorities who said they suspected the monk of planning a self-immolation protest against the Beijing’s rule in Tibet on May 16.
23-year old monk Jampa Gelek was detained by Chinese police around 8:24 p.m. (local time) from a park surrounding the Namgyal Stupa in Tawu County in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The police searched his monastic quarter that evening and took him to a detention center in Dhartsedo.
According to Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy’s (TCHRD), the monk was in possession of a photo with a huge Tibetan national flag at the background. Moreover, Jampa had told his friends that he would self immolate for the sake of Tibetan religious and political cause, according to TCHRD source. But his family members stopped him from committing self-immolation.
The source added that the local Tibetans believe that the authorities had arrested him to stop the self-immolation protest. Since 2009, there have been 145 cases of Tibetans resorting to self-immolation as an act of protest against the repressive Chinese rules in Tibet.
Jampa Gelek is a first-year student of the Buddhist studies at Nyitso Monastery. He hails from Ziye village in Tawu County, where his parents, Tsering and Donley, and two siblings, live.
He also volunteers as a teacher teaching Tibetan language and traditional knowledge for local Tibetan children.
