Dharamshala: Former political prisoner Thubten Yeshi passed away on the evening of 28 September 2024, in Lhasa, according to sad news that has emerged. 

He was born in 1950 in Gyama Dhashar, Maldro Gungkar County. From age eight to fourteen, he attended elementary school, after which he stayed at home doing farming work. 

In June 1992, coinciding with the start of what was called the “Socialist Education Campaign and Staff Selection Conference,” he and four companions went to the conference where they raised the flag of Tibet in the sky and shouted slogans such as: “Tibet is a completely independent nation,” “Chinese communists must leave Tibet,” and “Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

As a result, they were arrested. The so-called Intermediate People’s Court of Lhasa City sentenced him to 15 years in prison, and he was imprisoned in Drapchi Prison until June 2007. 

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members and pray for his rebirth in the higher realms.