The Chinese government has been escalating tactics to abolish Tibetan core identities by targeting Tibetan language and religion, and by arbitrary detentions of people working towards preserving or promoting the Tibetan language, followed through with long sentences without proper trial. The recent series of reports on the sentencing of Tibetan writers and intellectuals Rongwo Gendun Lhundup, Thupten Lodoe and Rongwo Gangkar are all illustrations of the Chinese government’s systematic crackdown on Tibetans intellectuals. In many cases, news of detentions and sentencing of Tibetans can take many months to reach the outside world under the Chinese-imposed crackdown of communications within Tibet, and particularly for Tibetans attempting to communicate with the outside world.
Rongwo Gendun Lhundup, 48, also known as Lhamkok, a prominent Tibetan monk and writer, was sentenced to four-year prison term on a charge of “inciting separatism” on December 1, 2021 by the Xining Intermediate People’s court, reports the Dharamshala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). In addition to the four years of imprisonment, he was given two years of “deprivation of political rights”. He was initially detained on November 11, 2020 from Rongwo Monastery in Rebkong, Amdo [Ch: Qinghai] and kept in an undisclosed location for almost two years. Gendun is known for his Tibetan language expertise and for his love and concern for the status and future of the Tibetan language and culture. He travels frequently all over Tibet teaching and participating in panel discussions on Tibetan culture, said the TCHRD report. He also administers a popular website called Tsenpo. He was detained soon after publishing his latest collection of poems, Khorwa which translates as the Buddhist concept of the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
In May, Radio Free Asia reported that he was reportedly undergoing China’s political re-education programme under which he is required to translate Tibetan Buddhist scripts into Mandarin Chinese. He had been arrested several times in the past and was under living under surveillance.
A separate report by TCHRD gives details of Thupten Lodoe also known as Sabuchey, 34, a well-known Tibetan scholar, writer and intellectual, who has been sentenced to a four and a half year prison term. He was detained in October last year. Until his sentencing on June 14on charges of “inciting separatism”, “endangering state security” and “harming ethnic unity,” he was held in unknown place for more than eight months. He is from Bum-nying village in Dzachuka, Kardze. There is still no information about where he is being held or under what conditions. According to TCHRD’s report, he is proficient in both the Tibetan and Chinese languages and is a prolific writer, publishing his work on Tibetan online platforms. He is considered as one of the most respected and influential writers among his generation, focusing his writing focused on socio-economic subjects and situation inside Tibet. Prior to his detention, he had been warned about his online posts by local security officers.
“After carefully studying Sabuchey’s writings dating back to 2016, TCHRD researchers have found that most of his writings were analyses and opinions related to social and livelihood issues, language and economic conditions, as well as traditional and modern knowledge systems. None of his writings broke any laws, let alone the ones for which he was eventually imprisoned such as ‘inciting separatism’,” said TCHRD in their report.
Rongwo Gangkar, 48, another prominent Tibetan scholar and writer who disappeared last year, is confirmed as having been arrested by the Chinese authorities in early 2021. His current whereabouts and his health condition are not known, reports Radio Free Asia. He is a popular Tibetan writer known for his works such as The Knot and An Interview with Gendun Choephel and is also celebrated for his skill as a translator. He is the latest confirmed victim of a crackdown by China on Tibetan intellectuals and cultural leaders. Gangkar is from Rebkong county in Malho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and is a monk from Rongwo Monastery.
“A long list of Tibetan writers and scholars has been arrested or sentenced by the Chinese government for merely asserting their national identity and exercising fundamental rights, including Go Sherab Gyatso, Dhi Lhaden, Rongwo Gendun Lhundrup, Pema Tso, Seynam, Rinchen Tsultrim and Kunsang Gyaltsen among others, with some of them having been punished with long imprisonment terms,” said the Human Rights Desk at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). The CTA has called on the Chinese government to stop its cultural assimilation policy, to release all Tibetan writers, intellectuals and cultural leaders who are being held immediately and without any pre-conditions, and to guarantee human rights and constitutional rights for Tibetans living under their régime in Tibet.
Print
Email