Teenage monk of Kirti monastery arrested in Ngaba County for lone protest
DHARAMSALA, Mar 18: A young Tibetan monk was arrested by Chinese police on Mar 17 in Ngaba County in the traditional Tibetan Province of Amdo after he staged a lone protest challenging Chinese rule in Tibet.
According to Kanyak Tsering, spokesperson of the exile seat of Kirti monastery here in Dahramsala, Lobsang Kalsang, a 19-yr-old monk of Kirti monastery in Ngaba County staged a solitary protest around 3:40 pm (local time) on Mar 17 on the County’s main street. Carrying a portrait of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he threw prayer flags in the air and shouted “Freedom for Tibetans” and “Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.
Within minutes, Chinese police arrived at the protest site and arrested him. His current whereabouts remain unknown.
Born to father Tsering and mother Dechen, Lobsang is a resident of Chuglay Gapma Village in Charuwa Township, Ngaba County. At a very young age he enrolled at Kirti monastery as a novice monk.
On Mar 8, another young monk of the same monastery, Gedun Phuntsok, 18 was arrested by Chinese police for similar protest.
Carrying a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama adorned with a yellow khatak(Tibetan ceremonial scarf), Gedun called for the return of His Holiness to Tibet, equality and freedom for Tibetans in Tibet.
