A detained Tibetan contested right to keep Dalai Lama picture in Tibet. The Tibetan youth living in northwest China’s Qinghai province was held by police for two weeks for the having kept the photo of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The young Tibetan is reported to have defended his right to possess the picture of his spiritual leader.
“A young Tibetan living in northwest China’s Qinghai province has been released after being held by police for more than two weeks over his possession of a photo of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, RFA’s Tibetan Service has learned.” said the report in Radio Free Asia.
The Tibetan youth told the news agency that he defended the right to keep the picture of his spiritual leader. He told that he has absolute faith in the Dalai Lama and he had contested against the authority considering his possession the spiritual leader’s photo as illegal.
“During the 15 days of my detention, the police interrogated me on a variety of issues related to my possession of those incriminating pictures, particularly the Tibetan national flag, and asked me many questions,” said the Tibetan youth.
Though he wasn’t physically assaulted by the police during the two weeks of interrogation under detention, he was seriously warned against keeping contact with Tibetans outside China occupied regions of Tibet.
The young Tibetan’s interrogators warned him not to listen to or read news coming from media sources outside China, however, adding that even if he came across this by accident, he should be careful not to share it with others, he said according to the report.
“And they told me that if they ever found me in possession of pictures like this again, I would be in big trouble,” he said.
The Dalai Lama escaped to exile in 1959 after China occupied Tibet through military attack. While a large number of Tibetans in exile have voiced the struggle and repression imposed upon the major proportion of Tibetans inside Tibet, China strictly prohibits Tibetans from following their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, doing so by even keeping the Dalai Lama picture has resulted to serious consequences for them.
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