Dharamshala, 15^th July: According to RFA’s Tibetan sources, Chinese officials in a Tibetan-populated district of Sichuan have arrested two Tibetans for celebrating exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s 86th birthday this month. According to Golog Jigme, a former political prisoner now living in Switzerland, the duo, Kunchok Tashi and Dzapo, both in their 40s, were apprehended in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Kyaglung town.

“They were arrested on suspicion of being part of a group on social media that shared images and documents, and encouraged the reciting of Tibetan prayers on the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” According to Golog Jigme, who cited regional sources. There were no immediate details on the date of the pair’s arrest or where they are being kept. Another 20 to 30 Tibetans were imprisoned this year for celebrating the Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6, “but due to strict restrictions on communications in the region, nothing more is known about their names or where [they were arrested], However, they were all arrested sometime around His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday” Golog Jigme added.

Tibetans who display the Dalai Lama’s photo, celebrate his birthday in public, or share his teachings on mobile phones or other social media are frequently punished harshly. Chinese authorities keep a tight hold on Tibet and Tibetan-populated areas in western China, banning Tibetan political activity and peaceful expressions of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to incarceration, torture, and extrajudicial deaths.

China WANTS To Choose the next Dalai Lama:

The irony is that China an atheist country wants to select the next Dalai Lama which is met with strong criticism from all over the world. US Ambassador Sam Brownback strongly condemned Chinese interference in choosing the next Dalai Lama. Ambassador Brownback declared at a virtual international conference that only Tibetan Buddhists can choose the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and not China. On China’s proclamation over the right to select the successor of the next Dalai Lama, Ambassador Brownback told that the matter of reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama is the concern of Tibetan Buddhists only and China has no religious base to pass judgments in that matter.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering said that China’s government has no right to choose the next Dalai Lama, particularly because China’s communist leaders do not believe in religion, while the succession of the Tibetan spiritual leader is deeply religious matter. Tsering’s remarks came against the backdrop of China’s demand that the next Dalai Lama be chosen on Chinese soil. China has argued that the Dalai Lama’s successor should be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn in Lhasa, but the present Dalai Lama, who turns 86 in July, has refuted this.

Image Courtesy: CTA

Share this on