17-yr-old Tibetan monk detained in eastern Tibet

DHARAMSALA, Feb 10: A young Tibetan Buddhist monk was brutally beaten and detained for staging a peaceful protest against the Chinese government in eastern Tibet.

According to a reliable source, Pema Dorje, a 17-yr-old monk of Gonsar monastery in Dege County in traditional Kham Province staged a peaceful protest on Feb 6 in Kardze County seat in the same Province and raised slogans calling for the long life and return of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

“Within minutes 7-8 Chinese policemen arrived at the protest site, beat up Pema indiscriminately until he bled from both his mouth and nose, and took him away,” the source said.

Pema Dorje’s current condition and where he has been detained could not be ascertained immediately.

Born to father Lhagya and mother Meyang, Pema Dorje had earlier studied at Larungar Buddhist Institute in Kardze Prefecture’s Serta County.