Dharamshala, 16th December: According to RFA, a Tibetan monk arrested more than a year ago in western China’s Sichuan province is being held incommunicado, with no word from police regarding his whereabouts or likely trial date. Tenzin Dargye, a monk in his 30s from the Barong monastery in the Sershul (Shiqu) county of Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was apprehended in September 2020, according to contacts in the region.

According to an RFA, whose source spoke on the condition of anonymity, Dargye was charged with keeping images of exiled spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other politically sensitive material on his phone.

“It has now been more than a year since his arrest, but his family still has no information about where he is being held or whether he has already been tried or not,” The RFA source said.

The source believes Dargye was arrested alongside several other monks.

“But due to tight security and surveillance in my hometown, it is really difficult to obtain more information right now,” the source added.

Chinese policymakers regard the Dalai Lama as a separatist bent on separating Tibet from Beijing’s administration. In 1950, the formerly sovereign Himalayan kingdom was invaded and forcibly absorbed by China. The Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, claims that all he wants is for Tibet to have more autonomy within China, with certain protections for Tibet’s language, culture, and religion. In Tibet, having or displaying images of the Dalai Lama, as well as disseminating his teachings or information about him, is punishable by death.

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