Prominent Tibetan monk-writer arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities
DHARAMSALA, 5 April: A prominent Tibetan monk-writer from Kirti monastery, Go Sherab Gyatso has been arbitrarily detained by the Chinese authorities on unknown charges.
“Celebrated Tibetan writer Go Sherab Gyatso has been arbitrary detained by the Chinese secret agents in January earlier this year,” VOA quoted a source as saying.
According to the report, Gyatso was arrested by Chinese secret agents from Lhasa from Chengdu in January.
The charges on which he was arrested, where he is being held and his whereabouts following his arrest remains unknown, the report added.
Further, the source stated in the report that, the Chinese authorities have issued a “stern warning” to Gyatso’s family and relatives not to disclose any information on his arrest, threatening that failure to do so will amount to the breach of law. “
Go Sherab Gyatso debuted with his book titled “Time to Wake up” in Tibetan in 2009. The book became hugely popular in Tibet as well as in the exile diaspora earning him a legion of fans.
He was previously arrested by the Chinese authorities in three instances.
First in 1998 for defying China’s “re-education” programs which resulted in 4 years prison sentence, later during the 2008 Pan-Tibet uprising he was arrested again for leading a group of Kirti monks protesting in the streets of Lhasa for which he was subjected to over a year-long prison sentence.
And in 2011, amidst a report that he went missing after a self-immolation protest in Ngaba by a fellow Kirti monk, it was reported that he was held incarcerated in Chengdu by the Chinese authorities.
