Monks protest in Xining, 2 nuns arrested in Kardze

Monks protest in Xining, 2 nuns arrested in Kardze

Phayul[Friday, April 03, 2009 14:10]

By Kalsang Rinchen The banner reads "appealing to the court to conduct fair judicial proceedings in accordance with the law" Dharamsala, April 3 - Six Tibetan monks sat on a peaceful sit-in protest yesterday in front of the High People's Court in Xining, Qinghai province, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said today. The monks held a large banner with wordings that appealed to the court for fair judicial proceedings for Tibetan protesters. The monks who began the sit-in around 8AM (Beijing Time) were reportedly taken away by the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers, said the centre that monitors human rights situation in Tibet, adding that their current whereabouts are not known. In another incident, two nuns of Dragkar Nunnery in Kardze were arrested on March 24. Yankyi Dolma and Sonam Yangchen staged a peaceful protest at the main square of the market in Kardze county around 3PM (Beijing Time), calling for the ‘return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet,’ ‘human rights in Tibet’ and 'religious freedom in Tibet'. Yankyi Dolma (TCHRD photo) Citing unnamed sources, the centre said Yangkyi Dolma distributed handwritten pamphlets during the short protest. The Chinese People’s Armed Police (PAP) immediately detained both the Tibetan nuns and beat them indiscriminately with rods and electric batons before putting them in security vehicle. Around 7 PM in the evening, security forces stormed into Yangkyi’s home roughing up the portrait of the Dalai Lama and ‘rebuked the family members for being supporters of ‘separatist forces’. Two Chinese security officials summoned her brother Tsangyang Gyatso to the Kardze County government headquarters the following day (March 25), the centre said, adding that there is no information about what happened thereafter. Yangkyi Dolma was born to Hormeytsang Dargay (father) and Pema Khando(mother) in Roltsa Township, Kardze County, Kardze “TAP” Sichuan Province. Apart from sporadic incidents of protests a major civil disobedience movement is gaining momentum in Kardze with farmers continuing to defy authorities’ orders to till their farmland in protest against China’s repression, the centre said. According to sources, the local Chinese authorities in Drango County in Kardze have given ultimatum to the Tibetan farmers to till their farmland before 11 April failing which their farmland will be confiscated by the government. Since March 10, around 28 known incidents of protests were reported from Kardze alone with arrests of around 60 Tibetans, the center said, adding that many other protests, beatings and arrests went unaccounted for due to strict control on the flow of information.