Dharamshala: Chinese authorities have forcibly expelled around 80 Tibetan monks from two monasteries in Tibet’s Tsongon Prefecture (Ch: Qinghai Province), according to the Tibet Times.

According to the report, on 21 and 22 October 2021, 30 monks from Jakyung monastery and 50 monks from Ditsa monastery in Bayan County (Ch: Hualong), Qinghai Province, were expelled and sent back to their respective homes following a police raid.

The authorities have accused the monasteries of violating the decree, which forbids any individual, who is below the age of 18 years, from enrolling in monasteries to become a monk, claiming that they should instead be sent to schools.

The Chinese officials have reportedly instructed the expelled monks to further refrain from putting on the monk robes again and to quit attending school in the future.

Chinese authorities are also undertaking similar expulsion drives in other monasteries across Tibet to reduce the population of monks studying inside them.

Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and institutes are not only the symbol of Tibetan Buddhism, culture, and identity but more than that, for centuries, it is the place, where Tibetan Buddhism has been conserved and prospered. By forcing these monks out of the monasteries, Chinese authorities have deliberately denied them the freedom of religion and belief and disrupted the passing down of Tibetan Buddhism and cultural knowledge to the newer generation.

 It is a clear indication of China’s assault on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism whereby monasteries will likely face a scarcity of monks and nuns in the future.

-Filed by the UN, EU, and the Human Rights Desk