Young Tibetan monk arrested for solitary protest in Ngaba

DHARAMSALA, Sep 8: A young Tibetan monk was arbitrarily detained yesterday in restive Ngaba county after he staged a solitary protest in restive Ngaba county in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo in eastern Tibet.

Lobsang Kelsang, 19 from Ngaba’s Kirti monastery staged his lone protest around 3 pm on Sep 7 on the streets of Ngaba town. Holding a huge portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama over his head Lobsang raised slogans calling for freedom for Tibetans. Within minutes he was manhandled by around ten policemen.

An undated photo of Lobsang Kelsang.
An undated photo of Lobsang Kelsang.

A group of Tibetans walked towards the police station and protested against Lobsang’s detention but they were beaten and chased away by baton-wielding policemen.

Lobsang Kelsang’s whereabouts and condition remain unknown.

Sources within Tibet further claim that police also detained a Tibetan layman in the streets of Ngaba. The man’s identity remains unknown.

Sources suggest the arrest and sentencing of many Lobsang’s his near and dear ones in the past led to his solitary protest.

Lobsang Kelsang’s maternal sibling and roommate at Kirti Monastery, Lobsang Tenpa, was sentenced to two years in prison last year following his protest against the Chinese government in the streets of Ngaba.

His maternal uncles, Shangwo Tsedak and Chophel, were sentenced in 2008 to six and four years prison term respectively.

Lobsang Kelsang, a native of Meuruma town in Ngaba County is the second eldest among four children born to Tsering Tenkho and Lhakyi.

 

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