China has jailed Tibetan monk for unapproved religious activities

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China is found to have jailed for three years a Tibetan Buddhist monk it arrested in the historically Tibetan region of Sichuan province in 2021 for among other reasons leading prayer ceremonies during the Covid-19 lockdown and refusing to fly the Chinese national flag at his monastery, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Jan 23, citing local and other sources.

The report said Lobsang Tashi, 43, former religious chant-master of Kirti Monastery in the prefecture’s Ngaba county, was also found guilty of making offerings on behalf of pandemic-deceased persons to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and also to the India-based abbot of his monastery.

The monk was arrested on Jun 10, 2021 and tried in secret during few months after that, the report cited a local source and two exiles who were formerly Ngaba locals, as saying, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

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However, the date and venue of his secret trial could not be ascertained, the sources have said.

Tashi was stated to be most recently the monastic administrative head of the Dharma centre at Kirti Monastery. He is known to be serving his jail sentence in Menyang Prison, located near Sichuan capital Chengdu.

He completes his jail sentence later this year. (TR)