DHARAMSHALA, AUGUST 8: A Chinese court in Chengdu has sentenced a Tibetan singer to four years’ imprisonment for his songs.
Kalsang Yarphel, a popular Tibetan singer from Machu County, was arrested from the Tibetan capital Lhasa in July 2013 for organizing musical concerts with a theme to promote Tibetan language, according to Lhamo Kyab, a former political prisoner now living in exile.
Public Security Bureau officials from Sichuan County took Kalsang to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, where he was held under detention. Sources say that there were three others including his music arranger Pema Rinzin who got two years’ imprisonment. It is not known if the other two were also sentenced or not.
Yarphel, 39, is accused of organizing “Khawai Metok” (Snow Flower), a series of concert that took place in October and November 2012. The concert was aimed at encouraging people to speak and write Tibetan. Yarphel had already faced arrests and interrogation a few times in the past regarding the concert and his song called “Tibetans” that he sang at the concert. Authorities accuse him of singing songs that have political overtones.
One of his songs calls on the Tibetans to learn and speak Tibetan, and work towards creating unity among Tibetans.
“Tibetans! We must learn Tibetan, speak Tibetan, It is our responsibility to learn and speak Tibetan, Tibetans! We must unite…” a portion of his lyrics says.
Many singers and artistes performed at the concert “Khawai Metok” in 2012, and video of the concert was distributed widely in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunan Provinces. A month later, the video was banned by the Chinese government.
Kalsang Yarphel is a native of Mukhag Tara in Machu County. Yarphel, son of Gonpo Tseten and Makho, is married to Tsezin Palmo, and has three children aged 21, 19 and 18.
Yarphel has a sizeable fan following in Tibet, especially in Machu County. He started learning singing at the age of 15 and has released several records till date.
