By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, June 19: A Tibetan monk who had a brief stint in detention has been arrested again and apparently ‘vanished’, according to a report by Radio Free Asia, in Mangra County.
The monk, Choesang Gyatso, from the Lutsang monastery in Mangra County, was taken away by Chinese authorities on May 29.
The source, who asked not to be named, said, “The reason for his detention is unknown, and no information is available about his present condition though friends and relatives are asking where he is being held.”
Gyatso who leads an organization that promotes education among children from the nomadic regions was detained earlier for over 30 days and then releasedby the authorities who did not give any reasons for the detention. The monk is also the editor of the Tibetan journal, ‘The Sound of Hoofbeats’.
China’s crackdown on key minority identities such as language, and targeting of individuals who advocate language and cultural rights is not new. In March this year, a Tibetan businessman, Tashi Wangchuk who advocated teaching Tibetan language in schools across Tibet was arrested and charged with ‘inciting separatism’.
