By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, August 12:The Chinese officials overseeing the demolition at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy are forcing monks and nuns from the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) studying at the institution to return to their homes, according to a report by RFA.
A Tibetan source told RFA that the officials have so far targeted those dwellings inhabited by students coming from Lhasa, Ngari, Nagchu, and Chamdo, which are regions situated in TAR.
Monks and nuns from Driru County in Nagchu were the first to be forced out by the authorities. They were even warned of serious consequences upon their family members if they refused to leave, the source added.
The penalty included ban from collecting Cordyceps, also known as Caterpillar Fungus, which is of high medicinal value and a major source of income for the Tibetans.
“The family members of the students from these regions have been ordered to come to the institution to receive their kin,” the source said.
The same source said that students from these regions were also subjected to interrogations and harassment with ‘political education’ classes for weeks.
However, monks and nuns students from the Tibetan-inhabited regions outside TAR including Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces have not yet faced any such harassments and expulsion.
The demolition of Tibet’s largest Buddhist Academy, which aims at cutting the center’s strength to 5,000 from 10,000 by 2017, began on July 20 and since the students have been subjected to various harassments. A nun named Rinzin Dolma studying at the institution hanged herself in protest on the day of the demolition.
The authorities have also imposed restrictions and heavy monitoring of communication in the area in order to curb the flow of information from the demolition site.
Yesterday, the US Government has called for an immediate stop of all demolition activities at the Buddhist academy situated in Serthar County in Tibet’s Kardze region.
