By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, October 22: Chinese authorities in Wonpo region of Dzachukha Eastern Tibet have arrested 11 monks of Wonpo Monastery.
Jampa Younten, a Tibetan monk from Sera monastery in South India with close contacts in the region told Phayul that the Chinese authorities arrested six monks on Saturday and five monks earlier today. The five taken into custody today were from Ngaba Kirti Monastery on academic visit to Wonpo Monastery to study Buddhist dialectics.
The six monks of Wonpo monastery were identified as Thapmey, Phagdrol, Sherab, Dawa, Gonpo and Kyapo. However, there is no additional information on the five monks of Kirti Monastery.
“Following the arrests, the Chinese authorities raided the personal quarters of the monks and confiscated 60,000 Chinese Yuan,” said Younten.
The same source said a Tibetan layman named Lobsang Phuntsok and nine others were reportedly arrested and taken to an undisclosed location by the Chinese authorities.
The ‘arbitrary detention’ of Tibetans in Wonpo region continues following a Tibetan flag raising protest by Tibetans in September this year.
Tibetans in Wonpo had pulled down a Chinese flag and replaced it with the Tibetan national flag at a school in Wonpo on September 7 this year. Leaflets carrying the words ‘Freedom for Tibet,’ written in red ink were also found scattered in the school premises.
No arrests were made after the flag raising protest but officials vowed to probe into the incident.
“All the monks were made to write in Tibetan language so that the Chinese authorities could match their handwritings with the ones that were found on the pamphlets scattered during the protest,” the same source had told Phayul earlier.
The source also confirmed the identity of the five monks arrested on October 15 as Gyaltsen, Lobsang Tsunpa, Lhagyal, Gyatso and Lhabum.
It is also reported that three of the monks detained earlier last week from Wonpo have been taken to Sershul County.
The situation in the Wonpo region is being described as “very tense” and under “strict surveillance.”
In just a week, 33 Tibetans were arrested in Wonpo region.
