2 Tibetans missing, China censors Internet and books in Ngaba
[Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 4:34 p.m]
DHARAMSHALA:
The Chinese government has stepped up repression on Ngaba in
northeastern Tibet as authorities confiscated and burned books at a
school and detained two Tibetans, monks at Kirti monastery in
Dharamsala having contacts with sources in Ngaba reported.
On 22 April, the Chinese authorities raided a Tibetan upper middle school in Barkham in Ngaba during which textbooks published without official approval were confiscated and burned.
The authorities have
also imposed indefinite restrictions on the students from going out the
school for their homes during summer vacation.
The authorities had
earlier confiscated cell phones and blocked Internet connection at the
school following the students’ hunger strike to protest the death of
Phuntsog, a monk of Kirti Monastery. Phuntsog burned himself to death
on 16 March to protest China’s crackdown on peaceful protests which
shook Tibet in 2008.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of one Tibetan remain unknown, but many fear he is in Chinese captivity.
Choegyam, 33, resident
of Choeleygong in Ngaba, went missing on 15 April. A group of Chinese
intelligent agents and police from Chengdu raided his mother’s house on
3 May, which indicates that Choegyam might be detained in Chengdu.
Choegyam has a wife and a one-year-old son.
Another monk named Sherab, a writer, also went missing and was later released after detention.
The authorities have
also tightened restrictions on people visiting the monastery. The
elderly people in the age group of 50 to 60 were allowed to visit Kirti
Monastery only once in a week given they have proper permit cards.
The security forces and police stand guard at every residential quarter in the monastery.
