Tibetan Farmers in Karze Stop Farming in Protest, Authorities Issue WarningSunday, 22 March 2009, 11:55 a.m.
Dharamshala: Tibetan
farmers in Karze county in Karze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture
(incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province) have launched a civil
disobedience campaign in the form of “farming boycott” to express their
extreme desperation as their young family members capable of doing
farming are put behind bars.According to Tibetan Centre for
Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a human rights watchdog based in
Dharamshala, since March 2009, at least 28 incidents of protests were
reported from the Karze region and more than 60 Tibetans were detained
and arrested for their involvement in the peaceful protest
demonstrations. The Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamshala, India, has appealed to the local Tibetan farmers to resume farming.Far
from addressing the genuine grievances, the local Chinese government
has warned that any family that abandons farming would end up getting
arrested and their land confiscated. The announcement was made during a
meeting of local authorities and local farmers on 17 March.Moreover,
27-year-old Jampa Dhondup, a monk of Tse-Tsang monastery in
Phogyis-nang Tseg-leg village, Lhoe-pa township, Kardze county, was
arrested for his alleged role in taking part in the boycott campaign.
According to sources, he was picked up by Public Security Bureau (PSB)
officials at around 3:00 p.m. (local time) on 19 March. Sources said there is lack of man power in Tashi Namgyal’s family to undertake farming.Several members of Jampa Dhondup’s family have been involved in peaceful protest march in the spring 2008 in the Karze region.Tashi
Namgyal, Jampa’s elder brother has been on the run after he
participated in a peaceful protest in Sertha county on 17 March 2008
and an arrest warrant was issued against him by PSB. His elder
sister, Lhagha, a nun of Pangri-na nunnery was arrested for
participating in peaceful protest march in Karze County on 14 May 2008.
Though she was released later on, she has to present herself before
county PSB officials every week. A 60 year old mother, a sister and a
wife and two small children of his elder brother Tashi Namgyal, are the
only family currently at home. Sources
said the farming activities in Phugyi in Karze has been severely
disrupted since many of the youth in the area are arrested for
participating in protests. (Inputs from TCHRD)
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