In another crackdown on Tibetan cultural and religious expressions, Chinese authorities have arrested a Tibetan man, identified as Tsultrim, for the second time in less than a year, this time for possessing a photo of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, according to a report by Radio Free Asia.
Sources with knowledge of the situation reveal that Tsultrim, a resident of Tsaruma township in Ngaba’s Kyungchu county, was detained in February 2023 after authorities discovered pictures of the Dalai Lama on his mobile phone.
The possession of images of the Dalai Lama, who has resided in northern India since 1959, has long been considered an act of separatism and is punishable in Tibetan-populated areas of China. Tsultrim, who had previously faced a similar ordeal in July 2022 for sharing a picture of the Dalai Lama on social media, was detained until April 2023, when he was sentenced to two years in prison by the People’s Court of Ngaba, a Tibetan region in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, also known as Aba in Chinese.
Chinese authorities exercise strict control over Tibet, stifling political activities and suppressing cultural and religious expressions among Tibetans. This policy has led to allegations of discrimination and human rights abuses by authorities and accusations of efforts to erase Tibetan national and cultural identity.
Information flow in and out of China’s Tibetan regions is tightly controlled, making it challenging for the international community to stay updated on incidents such as Tsultrim’s arrest. The Tibetan man, whose age remains undisclosed, is currently serving his sentence in Yaknga Prison, with no visitation rights granted to his family and friends.
Tsultrim, a graduate of Northwestern Minzu University in 2016, was known as an advocate for the preservation of the Tibetan language, according to sources. Before his recent detention, he had already experienced a harrowing two-month imprisonment in 2022 when he was arrested for sharing a photo of the Dalai Lama on social media and storing it on his mobile phone. Sources close to him reveal that during his previous detention, he endured physical abuse and hardship, prompting him to wish for his demise.
This incident follows other cases in which Chinese authorities have targeted Tibetans for possessing Dalai Lama images. In May, two Tibetan monks in Sershul county, also known as Shiqu in Chinese, were sentenced on separatism charges for possessing photos of the Dalai Lama on their phones, with one receiving a three-and-a-half-year jail term, and the other three years.
These arrests underscore the ongoing struggle of Tibetans in China to freely practice their religion and preserve their cultural heritage in the face of a repressive government stance that seeks to suppress their identity and allegiance to the Dalai Lama. International human rights organizations continue to call for an end to such punitive measures against Tibetans and the respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Leave a Reply