China purges Tibetan officials
Friday, 10 August 2007,1:00 p.m.
Dharamshala:According a latest information by Associated Press, a Hong Kong based activist group says China is cracking down on pro-Dalai Lama sentiment in Tibet by firing dozens of Tibetan officials and criticizing others who don’t speak out against the exiled spiritual leader.
Hong Kong’s Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy says since July, Communist party secretaries from 54 of Tibet’s 74 counties have been fired and replaced by cadres from elsewhere in China.
The group says China is beefing up numbers of non-Tibetan government personnel by appointing 853 volunteers from 17 Chinese provinces and cities to act as government cadres for three years.
It says government promises of bonuses and generous stipends for living expenses helped attract more than 10,000 volunteers.
Tibetans are especially concerned that an influx of China’s Han majority, which has grown since a new railway linked Beijing to Tibet’s capital Lhasa, will overwhelm the region’s unique Buddhist culture.
Runggye Adak |
Meanwhile, Runggye Adak, for his calls for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, is currently under detention by Chinese authorities.
The 52 years old Runggye Adak was born to late Rungye Sog and late Tamdin Dolma, in Yonru Khashi Village, Ponkhog in Lithang in eastern Tibet, now incorporated into the Chinese province of Sichaun.
His wife Sonam Dolma is 47 years old. After their marriage, the couple had 13 children. Two of them passed away. Presently they have 11 children. The latest child was born a week before his arrest.