A Tibetan girl has been denied admission to a school over the fact that her father had participated in a protest against the Chinese government in the northwestern China’s Gansu province nine years ago. The father who was released from prison in 2013 is now bedridden with a failing health condition at his home in Gansu’s Machu county.
“Authorities in northwestern China’s Gansu province are refusing to allow the school enrollment of a Tibetan girl whose father was jailed for taking part in political protests nine years ago, a rights group based in India says.” report the Radio Free Asia on Thursday.
The officials have said that 8 old Namgyal Dolma can not be admitted to the school because her birth date was entered improperly on an application according to the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Though such cases have been quickly and easily resolved, the local authorities have told Dolma’s parents the real reason she has not been admitted is her father’s participation in protests calling for Tibetan freedom.
Shonu Palden, Dolma’s father was imprisoned by the Chinese for taking part in political protests calling for Tibetan freedom was released from jail in 2013 fearing about him dying behind bars after his health conditions deteriorated from prison torture. However, despite going through two major surgeries, he is still suffering from blocked arteries, failing eyesight, and breathing and hearing problems, and his family is struggling to meet the costs of his treatment according to the rights group.
“The case of Palden’s daughter Namgyal Dolma is extremely serious. This is not only a case of a government not taking responsibility, but of discrimination. Under international law, violating the human rights of people holding different political views, or practicing racial discrimination against them, is completely against the law,” said the TCHRD director Tsering Tsomo according to the report.
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