A Tibetan monk arrested more than a year ago in western China’s Sichuan province is being held incommunicado, with no word given by police to his family concerning his whereabouts or possible date of trial, RFA has learned.
Tenzin Dargye, a monk in his 30s belonging to the Barong monastery in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Sershul (Shiqu) county, was taken into custody in September 2020, a Tibetan living in exile said, citing contacts in the region.
Dargye was then charged with keeping pictures of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and other politically sensitive material on his cell phone, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It has now been more than a year since his arrest, but his family still has no information about where he is being held or whether he has already been tried or not,” the source said.
Several other monks may also have been arrested with Dargye, he said.
“But due to tight security and surveillance in my hometown, it is really difficult to obtain more information right now,” he added.
The Dalai Lama is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a separatist intent on splitting Tibet from Beijing’s rule. The formerly independent Himalayan country was invaded and incorporated into China by force in 1950.
The Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, says that he only seeks a greater autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with guaranteed protections for Tibet’s language, culture and religion.
Possession or display of photos of the Dalai Lama and the sharing of his teachings or information about him are harshly punished in Tibet.
Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. https://www.rfa.org.
