Blasting Beijing for ‘false’ leadership, the lyrics yearn for freedom for the Tibetans.

-by Radio Free Asia 

“In this land where the Victorious One is absent, 

Leaders exist, but false ones.

The Tibetans are bereft of direction, 

Like a deer lost in the midst of a fog…”

A Tibetan performer who sang these lyrics, publicly yearning for the Dalai Lama and blasting Chinese leaders as “false,” was arrested in early February in China’s Sichuan province, two sources with knowledge of the situation said.

Gyegjom Dorjee, in his early 30s, sang “Tearful Deluge of a Sorrowful Song” alongside other artists at concert on Jan. 15, as part of pre-Losar, or Tibetan New Year, celebrations, said the sources on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The song alludes to life under Chinese government rule, likening Tibetans to “birds confined in a cage.” The use of “Victorious One” refers to the Dalai Lama, seen by Beijing as a separatist. Even carrying a picture of the leader of Tibetan Buddhism is considered a crime.

In a video of Dorjee’s performance, an audience of more than 100 Tibetans can be seen clapping and cheering uproariously at the end of his two-minute song.

But nearly a month later, Dorjee was summoned to a police station in Khyungchu county, or Hongyuan in Chinese, in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and subsequently arrested, the sources said.

Since then, his whereabouts remain unknown, they said.

“The Chinese government said his song had political connotations and raised concerns about its lyrics,” the first source told Radio Free Asia. Click here to read more.